Hook: Do you need any more than FEMALE Spartacus? I didn’t.

Attia is the last her of her people, Thracians conquered and killed by the Romans. Sold as a slave, given to a gladiator, she will have her revenge. Xanthus, the Champion of Rome, a slave himself, isn’t what she expected and a fragile friendship is formed. Pompeii is quite the political hotspot and as Attia learns more, her plan modifies.

This book! I thought it was going to end one way and it went another direction. Yes, you read it right--Pompeii--volcano--it’s an issue. But, it’s not the end, oh no, this is a series starter. Fortunately (?) the first chapter of the next book is at the end of this one. I have so many questions! The author’s note explains some of the timeline liberties taken. I’ll definitely be reading Fire and Ash.
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4.2 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Attia was once the heir of Thrace. Brought up as a warrior, living her whole live moving from camp to camp, learning how to become the future leader of her people. But now they are all gone. She is the only one left.

Rome has invaded. Killed everyone that she ever knew or loved. Including her father, King Sparro of Thrace. Their mighty warrior people defeated and conquered by Rome. Attia has lost her home and her family, she is only alive because no one knows who she is. They think that her father’s heir was a boy. This secret has kept her alive. But it might not stay secret for long.

Now she has been bought and sold as a slave… and this might be her chance to have her revenge on the man that killed her father right in front of her eyes.

But nothing is every that simple. First she must bide her time and wait for her moment, finding out everything she can about the man and figure out how she’ll get close enough to him to kill him. She should have nothing left to lose, but her growing bound with the gladiator, Xanthus, she was bought for might just be the only thing that might slow down her plans.


Overall, I really enjoyed this book and really loved the characters but the problem that I had with this story was the pacing and the fact that the blurb is somewhat misleading. I really struggled reading this book because I found that for most of the book it was very character driven with little to no plot. It felt at times like there wasn’t really any real direction that the story was going in and that a lot of what happened was just filler to bulk up the book. It does make sense to have this because Attia is lost after losing everything and becoming a slave. A lot of it was just day to day stuff and Attia adjusting, and her trying to figure out a way to get revenge for what happened to her people. I thought it was interesting and gave me the chance to get to know the characters more but I would have enjoyed the story even more if this had been condensed so it was shorter. Or if more happened when the story followed other characters.

The second half of the book made me really love this story. The plot began to move quicker, the characters became more fleshed out and Attia became a stronger character. I loved Xanthus from the start but Attia took longer to grow on me. I think that this might just be because that at the start of the books she was grieving and angry and as the book continued she became stronger as she began to form bonds with the other characters and worked through her grief. I think that the moment that she fought alongside Xanthus was a turning point for her, because up until then Attia was kept inside of the house and protected by Xanthus. But this moment in the book I think was really important because Attia was able to fight and feel alive and herself again.

Another issue I had was that at the start of the book there was a lot of action that really intrigued me and got me wanting more. I honestly would have loved more action and fight scenes in this book. Just because fighting is such a large part of so many of the characters lives, in different ways, and I would have liked to have read more.

This issue that I have with the official blurb is that it made it sound, to me, as if Attia would be thrown into the Coliseum and forced to fight as a gladiator where she would become Sparticus. (Which didn’t happen.) Then she would evolve to start a rebellion using her popularity as a gladiator to bring more people to the cause to take down the Republic and get revenge for what they’ve done to her and her people. (But that didn’t really happen until the very end of the book.)

Yes, she did fight as Sparticus but only once to help Xanthus. Also, Attia plotted her revenge in the book but didn’t spark a war/rebellion against the republic until the end of the book setting up the plot for the sequel.

So much of the book was about the horrors that people face from violence, being forced out of their homes and having to be bought and sold like animals. There were some scenes that I found really emotional for me to read. This books isn’t the happy and upbeat kind of read. There are laughable and happy moments, but they don’t last for long.

I think that the characters are what really made me love this book. Xanthus, Attia, Rory and Lucretia were my favourite characters. I just want to protect them and give them all the hugs and love they deserve. And if they all don’t end up being happy and alive in the next books I am going to be so mad. ( )

This is quite an interesting work of historical fiction. I don't want to give too much away, but, seriously, I don't think I've encountered anything quite like this before. The take on the Spartacus legend is rather clever and unique, and the ending is more than a little unexpected. Of course, it's more than a bit difficult to deal with Roman slavery for a YA audience without whitewashing it too much, but there's quite fine work here on that front as well. There's nothing explicitly described, but the expected subject matter is definitely referred to, which definitely felt more than necessary in order to make the setting work. I definitely look forward to the sequel. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed Blood and Sand from the first page. Set in Ancient Rome there was action, history, romance and bloody violence. Attia, the main protagonist, was terrific - tough, loyal, brave, protective and kind, and could she fight! She would happily break bones, maim and kill when necessary. I loved following her journey from warrior princess to Roman slave, determined to seek revenge on those who were responsible for destroying her home. The fact that she was young Spartacus in this alternate-history novel made the book even more appealing.

Xanthus, the gladiator, taken from his home at the tender age of nine and now Champion of Rome, was nothing short of a hon. Despite being given Attia as a gift, he was kind and gentle, and totally respectful, never forcing himself on her. Also, because he valued freedom so highly, Xanthus never stopped Attia from making her own decisions even when he thought they were wrong. Their romance was sweet despite being a bit rushed.

I also loved the secondary characters including Sabina and Luretia, the female slaves, Rory, Attia's charge, and Xanthus' brother gladiators. They were fiercely loyal to each other and the banter between them often had me smiling.

Blood and Sand united fact and fiction seamlessly to create a fast-paced adventure, but now I have to wait until 2019 to continue Attia's story. For a debut novel, this was a very entertaining read. Kudos, Ms Wyk! ( )