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A review by little_red_dragon
Empress of the Seven Hills by Kate Quinn
3.0
Update:
After a re-read, the 3 star rating still holds. I would add another issue, which is that Sabina is just so unlikeable, but not in a good way. She's not a character that you love to hate (that would be Empress Plotina). Instead, she is supposed to be our heroine, but is constantly using Vix for her own ends. She knows it, he (eventually) knows it, and yet it continues throughout the whole book. This is not to say that Vix is a particularly easy hero to root for, either. But there is so much actually love and affection missing in their relationship that they make me want to bang my head against a wall sometimes.
Original Review:
I had such high hopes for this book and perhaps that was the problem. Mistress of Rome was so powerful because of Thea's voice and Empress of the Seven Hills simply doesn't have a narrator that can take up Thea's mantle. Instead, the story skips back and forth between several narrators, though only Vix's portions are told in first person. This constant shifting of narrators moves the story along and reveals several important plot points, but also creates a choppiness that makes the whole thing a bit difficult to read.
With that said, it was definitely enjoyable and had all the plots/political intrigue/general sassiness that made Mistress of Rome so interesting. It's also incredibly well researched. I probably would have loved it a lot more if my expectations weren't quite so high.
After a re-read, the 3 star rating still holds. I would add another issue, which is that Sabina is just so unlikeable, but not in a good way. She's not a character that you love to hate (that would be Empress Plotina). Instead, she is supposed to be our heroine, but is constantly using Vix for her own ends. She knows it, he (eventually) knows it, and yet it continues throughout the whole book. This is not to say that Vix is a particularly easy hero to root for, either. But there is so much actually love and affection missing in their relationship that they make me want to bang my head against a wall sometimes.
Original Review:
I had such high hopes for this book and perhaps that was the problem. Mistress of Rome was so powerful because of Thea's voice and Empress of the Seven Hills simply doesn't have a narrator that can take up Thea's mantle. Instead, the story skips back and forth between several narrators, though only Vix's portions are told in first person. This constant shifting of narrators moves the story along and reveals several important plot points, but also creates a choppiness that makes the whole thing a bit difficult to read.
With that said, it was definitely enjoyable and had all the plots/political intrigue/general sassiness that made Mistress of Rome so interesting. It's also incredibly well researched. I probably would have loved it a lot more if my expectations weren't quite so high.