Reviews

Note: tried this on audio but it didn’t work as well for me… the accents were a little too modern (and too much valley girl meets Gossip Girl) … so I went back to a physical read.

In this book we go back in time from Book 1, [b:Mistress of Rome|49570871|Mistress of Rome (The Empress of Rome, #1)|Kate Quinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1576856730l/49570871._SX50_.jpg|6774744], to the Year of the Four Emperors. We follow the lives of 4 Cornelias during that tumultuous time (I see what you did there author

celiapowell's review against another edition

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3.0

Very enjoyable slightly trashy historical fiction - set earlier than the first novel, Mistress of Rome, so you see the development of the super terrible emporer featured in that book. Rated a bit less as I thought the focus on more characters made it not as engaging.

meggenlee's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

malices's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

2.25

rachaellee43's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

erpedraja's review against another edition

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5.0

Katie Quinn again manages to transport the reader back into ancient rome, by featuring four cousins during the time of four emperors.

I found it interesting, having read "Mistress of Rome," to once again meet some of the characters prior to the start of the novel, and see how they evolved into the characters they are in Mistress.

What I most enjoyed though was the constantly changing relationship between the cousins, as their lives were thrust into different directions depending on the current emperor. One cousin is required to marry into each new family, while another plots the downfall of the newest emperor. The third cousin stays naively unaware, and the last tries to manipulate each situation to her choosing, only to have the entire endeavor backfire.

I found it a testament to Quinn's writing ability that these characters grew so much over the course of the novel- the one heroine I found myself most identifying with in the beginning was the one I came to loathe- which is a compliment! The changes to each character seemed so organic and unforced, that I was able to admire her ability to create such complex and three dimensional characters.

Overall a great read!

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