A review by urbanheron
The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Very engaging verse novel which can be enjoyed  as a fun romp through Roman London but does actually get quite deep as a study of the main character. Loved the use of 00s London dialect (which largely still feels modern) integrated with Latin-esque words (I've never studied the language but could tell some words were made up!).  There are some quite graphic sections which were not as easy to read for me but make sense for the overall narrative. The way certain characters are described is dated at best, and I found the ending a bit of a let-down, so this is my least favourite of Evaristo's books I've read
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