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Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Malina is a Dacian dancer who captures the attention of Julian, a Roman general and the nephew to the emperor. Julian does not support the emperor, and he works with others to rebel and assassinate him. Julian installs Malina in his household, but her safety is threatened when the emperor notices how much Julian cares for Malina. This book is written in Julian and Malina's point of views.
I really wanted to like this book. The ancient Rome setting was really intriguing to me, but the book's execution was poor. The book was all telling and no showing. I was not a fan of the instant-love that occurred between Malina and Julian. The sex scenes between the characters was cringey, and I felt like there was not enough relationship building. The worldbuilding was not fully fleshed out and the constant mentions of Malina being a witch didn't feel earned. The magic system in the book was not explained, and it was not consistent. Although the book is written in Julian and Malina's perspectives, the tone and voice in their chapters sounded exactly the same. This is not a good readalike for Jennifer L. Armentrout or Rebecca Yarros.
Content: violence, gore, death, sex scenes
Malina is a Dacian dancer who captures the attention of Julian, a Roman general and the nephew to the emperor. Julian does not support the emperor, and he works with others to rebel and assassinate him. Julian installs Malina in his household, but her safety is threatened when the emperor notices how much Julian cares for Malina. This book is written in Julian and Malina's point of views.
I really wanted to like this book. The ancient Rome setting was really intriguing to me, but the book's execution was poor. The book was all telling and no showing. I was not a fan of the instant-love that occurred between Malina and Julian. The sex scenes between the characters was cringey, and I felt like there was not enough relationship building. The worldbuilding was not fully fleshed out and the constant mentions of Malina being a witch didn't feel earned. The magic system in the book was not explained, and it was not consistent. Although the book is written in Julian and Malina's perspectives, the tone and voice in their chapters sounded exactly the same. This is not a good readalike for Jennifer L. Armentrout or Rebecca Yarros.
Content: violence, gore, death, sex scenes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence