Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Mistress of Rome

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn

7 reviews

kamrynkoble's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars! I really enjoyed this one. It’s my first novel set in Ancient Rome, and I loved the setting. I’ve been to Rome and the coliseum which only made it more special.

I found myself rooting for these characters, and truly hoping they would get what they wanted. I feel attached to them, especially Thea, after watching her endure so much over the span of many years. I love a book that can make me do that.

I also enjoyed the multiple POVS. All of the different characters took me a second to understand, but I was impressed by how the author managed to weave them all in. This is such a high-stakes setting that I was on the edge of my seat often.

The ending was particularly good. One “twist” made me turn my head away and cover my mouth in shock. The rest was so tightly plotted from there, and I liked that this had such a good resolution chapter.

I’ll definitely read more from this author!

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estherrosedq's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

As much as I loved the characters of Vix, Thea, and Arius, and the overall storyline, I found this book incredibly hard to get through and I probably wouldn't read it again because of the amount of violence discussed in this book. It was incredibly heartbreaking to have to read

the parts about the years of abuse that Thea suffered through.

Even though it was so dark, I found myself staying up until 2am to read the whole second half of the book because I was just unable to put it down until I made sure that they had at least somewhat of a happy ending so that I could stop worrying about Thea. Overall, the storyline is great and this time period was totally out of my wheelhouse but Quinn does a great job keeping everything understandable.

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ylienna's review

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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thefoxcharmer's review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I am on the fence about whether to give this two stars or three stars.

I would not call the writing masterful but it's not entirely cheap either. The constant switching of voice didn't really do it for me. It switched frequently, and often without much reason, from first to third person and among different characters. When in third person it would be from a single character's perspective and the only character in first person was Thea. I was consumed by this choice.

Pick a voice (first or third) and stick with it!

It reminded me of a gas station book. You know when you're on a road trip and need something to read so you pick whatever book looks vaguely interesting from the rack beside state-themed souvenirs.

It could have been a good 100 or 150 pages shorter. The story itself could have really benefited from being tightened up.

And yet I didn't hate it. I'm didn't mind it. Didn't love it. Will probably continue reading the series. Gas station books don't have to be master pieces to still be entertaining.

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