It almost pains me to give this book less than three stars, but I had such mixed feelings about the book there was no way I could say with confidence that I "liked it." The writing was extremely well-done, and it was obvious that Trypak really did her research on life ancient Rome during Nero's time. But I could only read the book in small doses, which detracted a lot from the good pacing of the story, and the overall flow. This was for several reasons. The main one was the religious Christian storyline. I knew it would be there going in but I wasn't expecting it to be as heavy handed as it was, and to be frank, it got on my nerves. It also did nothing for the plot and could have been taken out with no harm done to the overarching storyline of Elissa's struggle with Nero trying to control her and her family. I felt it actually detracted from that storyline, in fact, as her conversion was just not convincingly portrayed, and I felt that it weakened Elissa's character as I just saw her going from one cult of personality (Nero) to another (Paul).

The second reason was Elissa's sister, Flavia, who is quite possibly the most stupid, self-centered, shallow excuse of a human being I've come across in fiction in a long time. Every time she came on screen I wanted to reach in and strangle her. Yes, she's a teenager, so I guess she's portrayed accurately but that didn't make me hate her any less.

The actual plot was interesting, and I did enjoy the story on a general level. However, after reflecting on the book as a whole, it left me unsatisfied. Aside from the points I already raised, I thought Tyrpak's characterization of the characters were very weak and one-dimensional. Flavia was a spoiled brat. Justinius is the noble warrior. Nero is an evil sociopath. The characters were very stereotyped and neatly boxed with very little to no gray entering their character.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via LibraryThing's Member Giveaway ( )

I did not complete this book. The author wrote this more as a sexy romance than historical fiction. I am glad I got this as a free Kindle book. ( )

This book was enchanting. I was instantly absorbed and brought to this far away place a long time ago...

I fell for the characters, young Elissa making mistake after mistake, I felt the sorrow for Justinius, I felt hatred for Nero. I was completely entranced. I felt like this book took me minutes to read and it ended too soon! Every part of it was just perfect. ( )

This book was seriously compelling. It was impossible to put down yet was so full of tension and an intensity that I often had to set it aside because it was just too much. I felt like I couldn't handle anymore because these characters are going through so much and this villain, this horrible horrible man, Nero, made me so very furious that I just had to take a break. I couldn't stand watching the horrible things he did and then watch the naive and young sister of Elissa make mistake after mistake sending events into motion that led to lives lost and even more horrific events to happen. But every time I picked it back up I was sucked into the story once again and unable to tear my eyes from the pages.

Suzanne is a wonderful writer. She created a story that was easy to imagine and transported me to ancient Rome where I could see and feel the story as though I was really there. She created characters that I cared about and felt for and characters that I hated with such a passion that it only elevated the story more for me. The plot was fast paced and the chapters were short. It was easy to fly through if you could handle the death, destruction and treachery.

This book is definitely not for the faint hearted. The author did not hold back on the murder, the debauchery, the reality of the horrific events that take place. I felt that it was this that helped make the book feel authentic. I'm no historian, I don't know the history of the time period, but I do know that this felt right to me, that it felt real. ( )

This was a very easy book to become absorbed in very quickly. So much so, that it made it a difficult book to put down again once I’d started reading it. Why? Well, I’m a fan of historical fiction in general, and what made this book so enjoyable was the fact that it was very apparent the the writer had more than done her homework during the research phase of writing. Having studied history, accuracy when writing historical fiction is a real bug bear that can turn me off a book very quickly if artistic licence is overused. Thankfully this is a book that has an eye for detail. It’s intelligently written and Ellisa and Justinius are characters that the reader instantly likes. They’re both intelligent thinkers who are prepared to question what is going on around them. However, having been brought up in the House of Vestals since childhood, in some ways Ellisa is much more naive than Justinius in the ways of Roman politics, as she has led a far more sheltered existence where her movements are limited by even more strict regulation with potentially fatal consequences for certain breaches, if found guilty. However, that doesn’t mean she isn’t prepared to challenge what she does not agree with and to take risks that will endanger her life, in order to protect others. Justinius, having been a solidier is much more aware of the situation they are dealing with and whilst he too is prepared to take risks in order to uphold what he believes, his training as a soldier does make him wary of taking unnecessary riske that will endanger others.

The interesting thing is that the setting of this book is Rome in 63 to 64 A.D, a time when Christianity was under a threat of general persecution, which meant that to be Christian at this time was incredibly dangerous. We know that Nero’s madness was also at a level that meant anyone who evoked his displeasure was vulnerable to accusations of treason and being put to death in a variety of horrific ways disguised as entertainement for the masses. The writer demonstrates both of these clearly, and the fact that betrayal by those close to you was not an uncommon part of life in Rome at this time.

Some of the scenes depicting Nero’s infamous parties reminded me of the writings of Petronius (who had been the equivalent to Nero’s party planner…until he fell out of favour), in terms of the level of ostentation and vulgarity. As a character, he is aptly portrayed as a debauched, infantile, megalomaniac verging on insanity. His character can appear deceptive to some, for example, Elissa’s little sister Flavia, who misjudges her ability to exact revenge her brother Marcus’ death by ingratiating herself into his social cicle, only to realise when it is too late, that she has been used as a pawn in a far greater game and has put others at risk as well as herself.

The reader follows every twist and turn with fluctuating levels anxiety to see whether Elissa and Justinius will survive to the end of the book, and hoping that one or two characters will get their just desserts along the way. I have to admit, at times, I found myself irritated by Flavia as she shows her own lack of maturity and common sense without thinking of the possible consequences. From a modern perspective its easy to come to that conclusion about a 14 year old who insists on playing at being a grown-up, but thinking about it from a roman perspective, she probably would have been considered an adult. She was of an age to be married off and that is shown here with the attempts of her mother to match her up with a suitable husband. Personally, I felt she could have used a good slap for being stupid. “Silly little girl” was a regular thought when reading about her antics in the book.

Basically, if you like historical fiction and are a fan of a good suspense, I don’t think you could go far wrong with this book. For me, its probably one of my favourite reads so far this year. ( )