Lady of the Eternal City by Kate Quinn

Lady of the Eternal City by Kate Quinn(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

National bestselling author Kate Quinn returns with the long-awaited fourth volume in the Empress of Rome series, an unforgettable new tale of the politics, power, and passion that defined ancient Rome.

Elegant, secretive Sabina may be Empress of Rome, but she still stands poised on a knife’s edge. She must keep the peace between two deadly enemies: her husband Hadrian, Rome’s brilliant and sinister Emperor; and battered warrior Vix, who is her first love. But Sabina is guardian of a deadly secret: Vix’s beautiful son Antinous has become the Emperor’s latest obsession.

Empress and Emperor, father and son will spin in a deadly dance of passion, betrayal, conspiracy, and war. As tragedy sends Hadrian spiraling into madness, Vix and Sabina form a last desperate pact to save the Empire. But ultimately, the fate of Rome lies with an untried girl, a spirited redhead who may just be the next Lady of the Eternal City . . .

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]

One of the things I’ve always struggled with in Kate Quinn’s Empress of Rome series is the believability factor.  She does take the most sensational gossip about all of the emperors she writes about and portrays it in her novels.  It’s a conscious choice rather than a mistake caused by lack of knowledge but sometimes it really doesn’t sit easy with me as someone who has studied Roman history to a certain extent.  I liked where she took this sensationalism in her first book Mistress of Rome but really didn’t like it in Daughters of Rome because the believability factor with those characters was just not there.  However, I set aside my impressions about the two books in the series that I’ve read (I’ve unfortunately skipped #3 but it wasn’t necessary to understand this story) to read Lady of the Eternal City.  Because whether I agree with her or not on historical matters, Kate Quinn does write a good story.

Here we have some pretty fabulous characters: Vix, who is all grown up and watching his children both biological and adopted grow up, Sabina who is now Empress of Rome, Antinous the rather naive adopted son of Vix and Hadrian the capricious and ruthless emperor.  Of all of these characters, I really did love Antinous the best.  Of course I knew how his story was going to end but Kate Quinn made me love him in a way that I didn’t think was possible.  For all that his naivete was his main flaw it was also his strength and led to some tremendous changes in other characters.  In the cutthroat world of Roman power politics, he stayed innocent and really did believe the best of everyone, even those who mocked and hurt him.  Antinous’ father Vix of course was also a great character.  On one hand he is loyal to Rome because of his years in the legions.  On the other hand, he’d really, really like to slit Hadrian’s throat because of a history of bad blood between the two of them.  Vix is a complicated man and he’s far from perfect as  you’ll definitely see around the halfway point in this book if you do read it.  It makes him more realistic, considering his background.

The plot is not fast-paced even by historical fiction standards but Kate Quinn tells such a good story that you’ll have no problem sailing through the 500+ pages of the novel.  Unlike some historical novels, it doesn’t feel like the unseen hand of the author is moving the characters forcibly down the paths of their historical counterparts.  No, she creates her characters in such a way that it feels like you really know the historical figure and understand why the character chose to go down their particular path in life.  Antinous’ story in particular resonated with me because so little is actually known about him as a person; he was sort of an ornament in Hadrian’s entourage for a number of years.  But Antinous in the story really breathes life into a boy known to history as a wallflower, nothing more.

I don’t necessarily agree with the portrayals of all of the historical figures mentioned in the novel but Kate Quinn is generally very historically accurate.  Her descriptions of everything from the numerous provinces Hadrian visits all the way to the everyday clothes of men and women are just fabulous.  She brings a sort of authenticity to her writing that makes you feel like you’re right there along with the characters exploring the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire.  And the little details she adds in to daily life just make it all the more believable.  Lady of the Eternal City is one of those novels where you can quite honestly say you learned something from it when you’re done reading.

So if you have read and liked the rest of the Empress of Rome series, you will like Lady of the Eternal City.  It reveals so much more about our old friends Sabina and Vix while also introducing an entirely new cast of characters in the next generation of the Roman elite.  As with all of Kate Quinn’s books although it takes some of the most sensational stories from the time it remains true to the general historical facts and Quinn adds in little details that make you feel like you’re right there along with the characters.  And that is one of the best ways to measure the calibre of any historical fiction novel.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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Lazy Sundays: Small Kindnesses Make a Big Difference

One of the things I think we don’t emphasize enough as a society is the importance of being kind to everyone.  This was drilled into me not only by my parents but by a very important role model in my life who practiced what he preached.  And I don’t think it’s said enough: everyday acts of kindness are important.  So I’m going to share my story with you.

 

I have had body image issues since I hit puberty at nine years old.  I was made fun of by all of my classmates not only for my intelligence but also for my body and more than anything else, the bullying over my looks stuck to me more than anything else.  It has dogged me my entire life.  Fast forward to two years ago when I had to find a dress to go to the opera.

Shopping is stressful enough for me as it is but because of the limited shopping in my area there were very few dresses to be found.  I had gone to four different shops and was on the fifth shop, frustrated at trying on dozens of dresses and having those horrible memories of my bullying resurface over a decade later.  I was in the changing room in this fifth shop trying on yet another dress and wanting to break down into tears because I felt like I was twelve years old again and being criticized for not having C-cup breasts.  I was taken back to when I was fifteen and didn’t want to go to the beach anymore because everyone in my class laughed at my ‘thunder thighs’.  And I was reliving every single romantic rejection over and over again.

But I had to find a dress.

The worst part about the whole thing was that there was no mirror in my changing stall.  I had to get out of the stall, face the other women trying on clothes and walk all the way to the end of the hall which was really only about 10 feet long but felt like a mile at the time.  So I started the slow walk down the hallway, forcing myself to keep my head up but really wanting to crawl into the fetal position and sob my guts out.  As I came nearer to the mirror I noticed a woman also looking at herself in the mirror, also trying on a dress.  When I was just a couple of feet away this woman saw me in the mirror and her face broke out into the most beautiful, most sincere smile I’ve ever seen.  She turned to me and said,

“You’re beautiful!”

That nearly tipped me over the edge but I managed to smile back at her and say ‘thank you’.  I managed to look at myself in the mirror and not see my perceived flaws.  I saw a beautiful young woman in a dress that flattered her.  So I ended up buying that dress and another one in the same style but a different colour.

What this woman did didn’t even take up a minute of her life but it had such a profound impact on me.  I began to finally confront my body image issues.  I accepted that I will never be 5’10” and 120lbs with a C-cup.  After all those years of hating myself for how I looked, I finally began to accept how I looked and I learned to stop hating myself.

All because a woman took a few seconds out of her day to tell a complete stranger she was beautiful.

 

I can’t emphasize enough that being kind to everyone is so important.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that everyone (and I mean everyone) wears a mask in public so you can’t see their innermost self.  And behind those masks people can hide some pretty major things: depression, suicidal ideas, body image issues, etc.  So be kind to everyone because you never know what they’re going through.  Even the most basic human decency can change a person’s life.

I’m the living, breathing proof of that.

 

Discussion: Writing Inspiration/Motivation

Sometimes no matter how hard you try you can’t write.  The words feel like you’re trying to pull rusty nails out of a board and you’re just not getting anywhere with your writing.  No matter what you write, whether it’s blog posts or full length novels, you’ve probably experienced something like this at one point or another.

I personally cope with this by either starting a different blog post, one that I’m more motivated to write (i.e. one for a book I really enjoyed) or just walking away for a little bit.  Walking away can mean saving the post as a draft for as little as an hour or so or as much as a year.  Usually I will come back to a post, particularly if it’s a review but sometimes it’s really hard.  So I try to motivate myself by listening to music I enjoy while writing it or giving myself a little pep talk.  It’s kind of weird but it generally works.

Now what I want to know is this: If you do writing of any sort, what motivates and/or inspires you to do it?  When you’re struggling to find the words, how do you get past your writer’s block?

Book Blast: Letters to Kezia by Peni Jo Renner

9781491755365_COVER.inddPublication Date: January 14, 2015
iUniverse
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 208

Series: Book Two, The Puritan Chronicles
Genre: Historical Fiction

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It is 1693 in Hereford, Connecticut, when Mary Case, the spinster daughter of a Puritan minister, finds herself hopelessly smitten by the roguish thief, Daniel Eames. Betrothed to a man she does not like or love, she is soon compelled to help Daniel escape from jail. Suddenly, she finds herself on the run, not only accused of being Daniel’s accomplice, but also of murder.

The fugitive pair soon finds solace-and a mutual attraction-among the escapee’s Algonquin friends until two men from Daniel’s dark past hunt them down. After Mary is captured and returned home to await trial, a tragedy takes the life of her younger sister, revealing a dark secret Mary’s father has kept for months. But just as Mary learns she is pregnant, she makes a horrifying discovery about Daniel that changes everything and prompts her to develop an unlikely bond with his mother, Rebecca, who soon saves Mary from a shocking fate. It is not until years later that her daughter, Kezia, finally learns the truth about her biological father and family.

Letters to Kezia shares a courageous woman’s journey through a Puritan life and beyond as she struggles with adversity and betrayal, and discovers that loyalty can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.

Praise for Letters to Kezia

“In the tradition of author Peni Jo Renner’s gripping debut novel, Puritan Witch: The Redemption of Rebecca Eames, Letters to Kezia recounts the tale of courageous, compassionate, and relatable Mary, whose connection to Rebecca and her family is unforeseen and profound. The reader is captivated at the very first page, as Letters to Kezia is a story of forbidden love, deep family secrets, intrigue, murder, and atonement. Another beautifully written triumph for this author, whose immense gift for story-telling transports the reader into each scene so deftly, one can almost smell the wood smoke and hear the crackling of the fire in the hearth.” – Kelly Z. Conrad, award-winning author of Shaman

“Peni Jo Renner enthralled readers with Puritan Witch, the ordeal of Rebecca Eames, who was condemned to hang from Salem’s gallows as a witch. Now the Eames saga continues as Peni uses her special brand of witchery to bring Mary Case and Daniel Eames to vivid life, and shows us just how much a young woman will risk for love. Letters to Kezia is a poignant, true-life tale from colonial New England’s heartland which will captivate you, and keep you guessing until the end.” -JoAnn Butler, author of Rebel Puritan and The Reputed Wife

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About the Author

PENI JO RENNER is the author of the IPPY award-winning novel, Puritan Witch: the Redemption of Rebecca Eames. Originally from North Dakota, Peni now lives with her husband in Maryland where she is currently researching for the third book in the Puritan Chronicles series.

For more information please visit the Puritan Witch Website and Facebook Page. You can also follow Peni Jo Renner on Twitter.

Letters to Kezia Book Blast Schedule

Monday, February 23
Bibliophilia, Please

Tuesday, February 24
So Many Books, So Little Time

Wednesday, February 25
Broken Teepee
With Her Nose Stuck In A Book

Thursday, February 26
Unshelfish
Genre Queen
Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Friday, February 27
Mythical Books
Beth’s Book Nook Blog

Saturday, February 28
The Never-Ending Book

Monday, March 2
Layered Pages
CelticLady’s Reviews
History From a Woman’s Perspective

Tuesday, March 3
A Book Geek

Wednesday, March 4
Mel’s Shelves
The Maiden’s Court

Thursday, March 5
100 Pages a Day

Friday, March 6
The Mad Reviewer
Let them Read Books

The Shadow Soul by Kaitlyn Davis

The Shadow Soul by Kaitlyn Davis

(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

GAME OF THRONES meets GRACELING in a new fantasy adventure by bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis. Told in alternating male and female perspectives, THE SHADOW SOUL has been hailed as “an amazing start to a new series that is going to have people of all ages wanting so much more.” (Happy Tails & Tales Reviews)

When Jinji’s home is destroyed, she is left with nowhere to run and no one to run to–until she meets Rhen, a prince chasing rumors that foreign enemies have landed on his shores. Masquerading as a boy, Jinji joins Rhen with vengeance in her heart. But traveling together doesn’t mean trusting one another, and both are keeping a deep secret–magic. Jinji can weave the elements to create master illusions and Rhen can pull burning flames into his flesh.

But while they struggle to hide the truth, a shadow lurks in the night. An ancient evil has reawakened, and unbeknownst to them, these two unlikely companions hold the key to its defeat. Because their meeting was not coincidence–it was fate. And their story has played out before, in a long forgotten time, an age of myth that is about to be reborn…

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

Normally I’m extremely skeptical of any book hailed as similar to “Game of Thrones” or “Graceling” but to be compared to both in the same sentence?  I was pretty skeptical.  But I set that skepticism aside when I read the blurb because despite the overly aggrandizing opening the rest of it sounded pretty good.  I will clear up one thing first: The Shadow Soul is not really like A Game of Thrones or Graceling.  However, it is still a good story in its own right.

The thing that really stood out to me is Jinji, the female main character.  She sees her whole tribe wiped out by the man she loves (who was possessed by what she calls the shadow) and then is nearly killed in an attack later.  Thankfully, she’s saved by Rhen and thankfully for Rhen, she then saves his life in turn.  Both of these characters get page time in their respective points of view.  The chapters tend to alternate but it never really feels confusing since both of them have very, very different voices.  Jinji is more reserved and quiet in part because that’s how she was raised but also because she’s still processing the grief associated with being the literal last member of your culture after seeing the others brutally wiped out.  Rhen is more brash and loud but you can really tell he has the best interests of his family in his heart the whole time.  Having them travel together was a good idea because it forced two very different personalities to get along, all the while holding back secrets from the other person.  Jinji is hiding the fact that she is a girl while Rhen is hiding the fact that he’s actually a good guy, not the hedonistic playboy the kingdom seems to think he is.

The world-building was good but it never really had that wow factor.  It was refreshing to see a Native American-like culture depicted, particularly since in the kingdom it is struggling against the ‘modernizing’ forces of invaders and the fact that its territory has been severely limited.  And it was nice to see Jinji struggle to keep some of her traditions alive, even if the rest of the people in the kingdom frown upon her culture.  Seeing Rhen’s reaction to some of her cultural practices was nice as well because it reveals that mixture of guilt he has for being a part of the family that committed an effective cultural genocide against her people but also the respect he has for those people.  In essence, it reveals a lot of the modern attitudes toward native peoples and one of the great things about fantasy is that it can hold a mirror up to our own world for us to examine.  My only real criticism about the world-building is that I would have liked the politics to be a little more subtle than “that other kingdom is jealous of us”.  That is certainly a factor in many wars and in politics in general but it isn’t the only one as is really depicted in The Shadow Soul.

I must admit that despite all of the deserved praise of this book, there was one part that I had to struggle through immensely: the pacing.  The plot itself was not bad even if it was a little predictable because Kaitlyn Davis used pretty familiar fantasy tropes.  However, the pacing was brutal in the beginning.  I don’t mind slow pacing but for some reason I really had to force myself to keep reading until the story really got going about 30% of the way in.  It’s not that the plot it self was boring but rather that Davis just doesn’t have that flair for description that some authors have.  Some authors could describe a peanut butter sandwich to you and it would be fascinating (see: M.J. Rose, Kristin Cashore, George R. R. Martin) but Davis’ longer descriptions were, well, boring.  Her writing in general is excellent but I just wasn’t sucked into the story as I should have been, considering that there is quite a bit of action in the beginning.  It’s hard to explain as you can tell from my rambling, but it felt like The Shadow Soul lacked excitement until about a third of the way in.  After that it was pretty exciting and I had to keep reading to find out what would happen next, but the beginning was quite hard to get through.

So while the book has a great premise, decent enough world-building and vivid character, the beginning of it definitely lacks “oomph” (for lack of a better word).  Would I recommend it to most fantasy-lovers?  Probably because there were some interesting plot twists, particularly toward the end.  But it’s getting past the beginning that is the real hurdle to reading this book.  If you can get past the beginning, you’re in for a treat because the pacing significantly improves but if you aren’t one for sticking it out you’ll be sorely disappointed.  By the end of the book you’ll be just as eager as I am to read the next book but the beginning, for whatever reason, was the hardest part of the book to read.  It doesn’t lack action but it does lack excitement, if that makes any sense at all.

I give this book 3.5/5 stars.

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