Review: Mistress of Rome #1 by Kate Quinn

Summary

PASSION. TREACHERY. MURDER...

Orphaned by Rome's savage legions. Thea, a slave girl from Judaea, has learned what it takes to survive. She knows only violence until a chance meeting with gladiator Arius offers a shred of tenderness. But their bond is severed when Thea is sold again, condemned to rot in a squalor.

Years later, a singer known as Athena betrays no hint of her troubled past. Catching the eye of the Emperor himself, she is swept into a word of decadence and depravity. But although Domitian fears betrayal from every side, he is unaware that the greatest threat lies next to him - a slave girl who has come to be called the Mistress of Rome... 

Review

We read books, some we hate and some we love with fierce passion but that does not mean they define you, they are simply words that create a world that only you can make and shape, an imagination that proves that what people think defines you is totally untrue. You must be wondering why I'm saying this in a review, it's simple, this books has proven that I can read whatever I want; fiction, literature, historical fiction, Dystopian, anything. It has shown that readers can find the purest thing in any book and that this book has proven to be one of my all time favorite and possibly the only historical fiction that I have read and I'm still trying to find others like this; Luckily there's two more books!!! 

Mistress of Rome has the best story-line yet that I have read, yes there are others but in terms of shaping and creating a novel that is set in the past it's totally surreal. Reading the novel from a slave girl POV to begin with shows the true sense of what it was actually like. Not only do we get to read from Thea's POV we get to see other major views such as; Lepida; oh never have I read someone be more cunning and selfish, ever. I guess that just proves the point that not all masters have affection towards their slaves and she had none, even for her own daughter. Paulinus, such a sweet, naive stepson of Lepida's who just happened to get trapped in her own personal web of deception, plays a major role in kicking ass. Arius the man with many faces; the gladiator, the gardener, the killer, and that's not all, predicted to have many deaths? All these POV sheds light upon these characters lives and how they all had evolved from major obstacles and losses. Not on has Kate given the main characters a voice and the minor characters; making every part of the book memorable and truly unforgettable. 

Kate Quinn has done an amazing job bringing us Mistress of Rome, the compelling story-line, the intriguing character chemistry that no one had predicted and most of all the hard truth of how Rome was once known to be and how it had been ruled, the year of the four Emperors was amazing to read about, Kate had done an amazing job making it realistic as possible showing a good level of studying of the past history. I mainly loved how a simple slave girl had risen above all and fought for her love and her son. The fights in the arena just got more and more suspenseful and once you've caught the emperors eye there's no going back and that's one mistake the emperor made when laying eyes upon Athena the singer; no longer Thea the slave. Kate has written so passionately about Thea's life, hows she's overcome the worst problems and faced so many more throughout the novel; strong, reasonable but most of all a protector for all those she loves; making her a strong example of what a heroine should be like.

This novel shows the shear determination of what most characters will do to bring an end to such a tyrant, cunning and ruthless Emperor; one who has caused havoc and loves to hurt others. Bringing together different key characters to trust each other and work  towards the same goal; freedom. This book brings you a world run by Emperors, a slave girl who is the one that all should fear, characters who will turn on there own to reach the top and a love that has grown, evolved and faced many obstacles. A book worth reading.

Mistress of Rome - Kate Quinn 5 Stars