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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book sounded like everything I love; lgbtq+ characters and an ancient Rome setting. But the brothel setting made me so uncomfortable to the point that I was dreading continuing reading. At the point where I stopped all the characters are awful and I didnt like or care about any of them. Very disappointed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery
“Your walls exist for a reason, I imagine. Start by finding someone willing to make the climb.”
Vesuvius is perfect for anyone who has ever been obsessed with reading about prophecies, volcanoes and the end of the world.
The second I heard about this book, I knew I had to pick it up. Two queer boys finding each other as a city is about to fall, is just the kind of tragic love I enjoy. The book starts off by throwing you straight into the plot and it just keeps going (until the final few chapters where it all significantly slowed down).
Loren and Felix were both good characters to follow and their voices and experiences were very different. I liked their scenes together a lot, but I also enjoyed how they interacted with others. This book is dual POV so it was fun to get a glimpse inside both their heads.
My only critique is that I wanted even more volcano content! Other than that this was a very enjoyable read and I’m excited to see what Cass Biehn creates in the future.
Vesuvius is perfect for anyone who has ever been obsessed with reading about prophecies, volcanoes and the end of the world.
The second I heard about this book, I knew I had to pick it up. Two queer boys finding each other as a city is about to fall, is just the kind of tragic love I enjoy. The book starts off by throwing you straight into the plot and it just keeps going (until the final few chapters where it all significantly slowed down).
Loren and Felix were both good characters to follow and their voices and experiences were very different. I liked their scenes together a lot, but I also enjoyed how they interacted with others. This book is dual POV so it was fun to get a glimpse inside both their heads.
My only critique is that I wanted even more volcano content! Other than that this was a very enjoyable read and I’m excited to see what Cass Biehn creates in the future.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I received an eARC from the publishers and NetGalley, but due to issues accessing the ARC, I read a finished copy from my library. All opinions are my own.
Vesuvius is a YA historical fantasy (with light fantastical/mythological elements) following Felix, a thief, and Loren, a wanna-be politician, as they collide on the streets of Pompeii and wrap each other in their lives. Felix has just stolen the helmet of Mercury. Loren has dreamt of this moment and this boy his whole life. Now they’re forced to work together to survive the people who want the power the helmet promises.
This is a book you go into for the characters, not the plot. Felix and Loren’s thoughts and relationship were the main drive of the story. Felix is a thief who never stays in one place for a long time and has little memories of his childhood. He is more your typical YA protagonist with his flightiness and staying by the love interest’s side even has his brain tells him to just leave. Loren, I have much more complicated feelings about, because he’s a more complicated and messier protagonist. He’s selfish, but still caring of those around him. He wears his heart on his sleeve and says what he thinks without much thought. It’s his inaction at the end that really made me not sure what to think, even if I understand his thought process. That inaction, however, really made the 3rd act break-up and reconciliation hard to swallow for me personally.
I think the plot suffered from too many half-baked plots. Returning or understanding the helmet gets put on the back-burner for politics I didn’t fully understand or was happening off page, delving into the characters backstories, the little bit of fantastical/mythological elements we get, and especially the romance. I can appreciate not wanting everything to be focused on the main characters and having it seem like the other side characters had their own lives, but it still didn’t help the plots or help to make side characters feel fleshed out when we only got little pieces of them in building a larger plot.
I was excited to see how the finale would bring in the eruption, but I was a little disappointed how it ended up being more like background set dressing than a disaster movie. That is probably the result of how eruptions actually play out in real life, but it was still a little disappointing. The descriptions of it were lovely, at least.
I rated this book 2.5 stars. I was kind of hoping this would be like the historical fiction of my youth but gay, but that didn’t pan out for me. I can appreciate some of the complicated nature of the characters, but parts didn’t work for me.
I received an ARC through NetGalley and this is my honest review.
I loved the cover and the Pompeii theme, so I was excited about this book - I'd read a lot of books with Greek Gods and heroes, but not many Roman ones.
Unfortunately, it was a bit of a letdown. I did like the two main characters, but I wasn't very invested in their romance. I didn't like the political subplot. I liked the mythology subplot, but it kind of only became relevant later on. There was the big third act miscommunication, then the finale, and then.... the post-finale parts, that felt kind of unnecessary? Overall, the pacing was kinda off, going from a slow build-up to a big peak and then a slow ending.
Aurelia was great though.
I loved the cover and the Pompeii theme, so I was excited about this book - I'd read a lot of books with Greek Gods and heroes, but not many Roman ones.
Unfortunately, it was a bit of a letdown. I did like the two main characters, but I wasn't very invested in their romance. I didn't like the political subplot. I liked the mythology subplot, but it kind of only became relevant later on. There was the big third act miscommunication, then the finale, and then.... the post-finale parts, that felt kind of unnecessary? Overall, the pacing was kinda off, going from a slow build-up to a big peak and then a slow ending.
Aurelia was great though.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't care.