Reviews with content warning for Violence - Mistress of Rome

MISTRESS OF ROME turned out to be an unexpected and very pleasant surprise! Too often I gravitate to historical fiction about people and eras I know quite well. But the Roman Empire is not familiar territory and that made reading this novel a delightfully engaging experience. Awarded four stars but I'd probably go as high as 4.5.

This is the first book in author Kate Quinn's five-novel series entitled The Empress of Rome -- about Rome during the first century of the Common Era. Drawing on a mix of actual historical figures and fictional creations, Quinn has crafted a completely absorbing story with all the elements you could want in a good read. Cruelty, corruption, and vexing moral conundrums. Old grudges, ambitious rivals, secret plots, Vestal Virgins, and sexual obsession. Superhuman gladiators, masters and slaves, spite, and illicit love affairs.

Main characters include:

• Roman Emperor Domitian (51-96): a talented administration with a private cruel streak.

• Thea (fictitious): one of the few Jews to survive the mass suicide at Masada, now enslaved and considered a talented singer.

• Arius (fictitious): a brutal gladiator forced to perform at the Colosseum games, whose success grows out of his ability to harness his deeply rooted anger.

• Lepida Pollia (fictitious): a spoiled heiress whose older husband/Senator buys Thea to be his wife's personal attendant.

The book revolves around how all four of these characters (and a few others) interrelate over the years, as fate causes them to leave and return to each other's orbit. All of them wielding different levels of power at different moments in their lives.

I loved this chance to become immersed in the complex politics of the Roman Empire. Now, having thoroughly enjoyed MISTRESS OF ROME, I do plan to continue with the other books in this series. And I look forward to them.

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vesper93's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A bit of a slow start as you wonder how all the separate characters are going to intertwine, but then becomes gripping. I didn't want to put it down.

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kduffy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny informative tense medium-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? No

4.75

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protovulcan's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

4.5

definitely a book i couldn't put down once i started reading. lots of character death, and towards the end some made me tear up.
i hate paulinus almost as much as lepida, especially at the end.

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megan_mac_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad medium-paced

3.25

Whew, this book is way more violent than I'm use to reading. I could have done without the violence and gore, and there were some characters I abs lutely hated, but still was invested in the story and some characters.

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lehughes19's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative fast-paced

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

4.5

Page turner. I actually picked it up previously and couldn’t get into it, but this time I couldn’t put it down! It was shocking, entertaining, and emotion provoking.

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kamrynkoble's review

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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!

Content Warnings

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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