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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
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.
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This doesn’t read like a debut novel, it earns every one of its pages. It’s historical fiction but doesn’t rely on the history to tell the story, it manages to be something unique and intriguing and has tension all of its own without the added stress of the setting. It has one of my absolute least favorite tropes but manages to make it reasonable and purposeful in a way I, for the first time ever, actually enjoyed what it added to the story.
adventurous
emotional
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
I have anticipated Vesuvius since I learned of its existence a little over ten months ago. Cass has been a great friend to me and I was so incredibly excited to read the story they’d cooked up. Safe to say I was not disappointed!
Vesuvius focuses almost entirely on Loren and Felix with a few side characters sprinkled in, keeping the city breathing without taking attention away from our mains. Knowing how this story inevitably will end didn’t detract from the weight behind these characters’ decisions, which I find is often the case when we know destruction is on its way (retellings, like Song of Achilles, for example.)
I had questions to unravel about Felix until the last few pages; his story kept me turning and turning. Loren is a beautifully flawed character that is still easy to root for. Both of them feel lush and human in a way I don’t normally see in YA.
Many seemed to have issues with the modernity of the language, but it didn’t bother me. Obviously, in universe, the characters are not actually speaking English. Where there were phrases or words that didn’t yet exist, I simply assumed there was a translatable equivalent. I.E., if Felix dropped an F-bomb, I figured I was meant to imagine he was cursing in his own local language.
The middle of the story tends to drag just a bit; I agree with others that this book could probably be 50-100 pages shorter without much being lost. That being said, it never dragged enough to have me putting it down.
I was not expecting references to CSA trauma; I do think this is important to mention and I almost wish the resource numbers provided at the end of the book were moved to the forward as a subtle trigger warning.
This was a lovely queer story with plenty of things to chew on. You can clearly see influences from Captive Prince and Song of Achilles, which was a fun treat! I cannot wait for their next book in 2027!
Vesuvius focuses almost entirely on Loren and Felix with a few side characters sprinkled in, keeping the city breathing without taking attention away from our mains. Knowing how this story inevitably will end didn’t detract from the weight behind these characters’ decisions, which I find is often the case when we know destruction is on its way (retellings, like Song of Achilles, for example.)
I had questions to unravel about Felix until the last few pages; his story kept me turning and turning. Loren is a beautifully flawed character that is still easy to root for. Both of them feel lush and human in a way I don’t normally see in YA.
Many seemed to have issues with the modernity of the language, but it didn’t bother me. Obviously, in universe, the characters are not actually speaking English. Where there were phrases or words that didn’t yet exist, I simply assumed there was a translatable equivalent. I.E., if Felix dropped an F-bomb, I figured I was meant to imagine he was cursing in his own local language.
The middle of the story tends to drag just a bit; I agree with others that this book could probably be 50-100 pages shorter without much being lost. That being said, it never dragged enough to have me putting it down.
I was not expecting references to CSA trauma; I do think this is important to mention and I almost wish the resource numbers provided at the end of the book were moved to the forward as a subtle trigger warning.
This was a lovely queer story with plenty of things to chew on. You can clearly see influences from Captive Prince and Song of Achilles, which was a fun treat! I cannot wait for their next book in 2027!
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC. Unfortunately it wasn’t really what I expected. First, very little of the story is actually about Vesuvius; perhaps Pompeii or something more all-encompassing would’ve been a more fitting title. Second, this felt like at least three books in one. There were the supernatural aspects, which I wasn’t expecting and were explained so obtusely that they were difficult to follow. Tangentially there was the political plot, also obtuse and confusing, and the anticipation of the Vesuvius disaster, which seemed to drag through countless earthquakes before the inevitable eruption. Then there was the love story, which was sweet albeit VERY sudden. I didn’t feel the feels building very much until the boys started making out. It had the pacing of a Hallmark movie where the leads are ready to upend their lives for each other after knowing each other just a few days. I appreciate that the queer characters were not at all ashamed of their sexuality; it wasn’t secret or taboo, just a fact. I wish the book tried to do less, maybe cut the mythology element to streamline the plot and make it easier to follow.