As erotic and violent as one would expect for a story of Ancient Rome and rebellion, the book offers a humanizing rendering...
A historical novel about Queen Boudica and the Iceni uprising from author Burch (Angels and Vampires, 2013).
It’s 60 A.D., and the Roman Empire extends westward to Brittania. Famously organized and militarily powerful, the Romans have a fairly secure hold on the local people. As Nero goes about his personal madness in the capital, the outreaches of the empire are relatively tranquil. Or so it might seem. After the suspicious death of her husband, Prasutagus, the fierce and beautiful Queen Boudica, leader of the Iceni tribe, is shocked to find the empire annexing her land. In answer to her protest, Boudica is flogged while her daughters are raped. If there were ever a time for the Iceni to rebel against the occupiers who instill harsh punishments and humiliating taxes, this would be it. There is, though, the thorny issue of the queen’s lover. Retired Centurion Marius Marcellinus is not only a respected soldier and master horseman, he is in love with the rebel queen. Can these two maintain their relationship as the world around them erupts in warfare and all varieties of degradation (from rape and pillaging to roasting small children and beheading corpses)? Thoughtful in its creation of a forbidden romance, the integration of Romans and locals is entirely plausible even if later bloodshed might suggest otherwise. Dipping into the sexually explicit (“ ‘Too many conquests that took his finest parts and wore them out,’ thought the queen as she took his broke dick and gave him a blowjob and the general spanked her buttocks”), the relationships of characters from many different worlds tend to be physically consummated. While physical pleasures and savageries permeate, grandiose blocks of dialogue slow momentum; e.g., “Thank you, brave Iceni warriors, for getting me safely to Verulamium. My twenty horsemen from Brigantines will take me to my army of four thousand countrymen waiting just outside the colony.” As the pace picks up in a final battle, readers familiar with the story of Queen Boudica will know what happens, though her fictionalized fate will come as a well-planned surprise.
As erotic and violent as one would expect for a story of Ancient Rome and rebellion, the book offers a humanizing rendering of the infamous Queen Boudica.Pub Date: July 31, 2014
ISBN: 978-1494460761
Page Count: 202
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
