Mistress of Rome (The Empress of Rome Book 1)

**"Mistress of Rome"** by Kate Quinn is a captivating historical saga set in first-century Rome that intricately depicts the life of Thea, a resilient young woman whose fate becomes intertwined with the empire’s most powerful figures. Captured from Judaea and sold into slavery, Thea is initially at the mercy of her jealous mistress, Lepida Pollia. Behind her facade of a submissive slave, she conceals a fierce determination and a remarkable talent for music that could change her destiny. When she falls in love with a formidable gladiator, her dreams seem within reach until her mistress’s jealousy shatters their happiness, leaving Thea to navigate the treacherous waters of Roman society alone.As Thea transforms herself into a celebrated singer for the elite, she draws the attention of none other than the Emperor, a dangerous admirer whose desires threaten her newfound independence. Quinn expertly weaves themes of ambition, love, and survival against the backdrop of a vividly portrayed Roman world filled with intrigue and betrayal. With stakes escalating as various factions conspire against the Emperor, Thea’s story morphs into a thrilling tale of resilience where one woman holds the power to shape the course of the empire. **"Mistress of Rome"** is a mesmerizing debut that entices readers with rich historical detail and unforgettable characters, making it a must-read for fans of historical fiction and romance.

I'd really like to give this novel 3 1/2 stars. It's better than the average historical novel set in this period, so I don't want to give it 3 stars, but it's not quite a 4-star work, either, although I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt and award the book 4 stars.As a historical novel set in the Rome of the emperor Domitian, it turned out to be much better than I was expecting. The writing isn't great, but it's reasonably good, even though the author was a little too ambitious in adopting multiple points of view in a first novel. There are two first-person narrators and also a third-person narrative, but the "transitions" between them occur with an audible literary clunk. Furthermore, having one character narrate her own murder was an unwise authorial decision-- that particular well-deserved death should have been described in the third person. The depictions of Domitian's refined cruelty are quite chilling and effectively conveyed. The character of Lepida Pollia was perhaps over-done; she was made to seem so utterly vile, vicious and evil that she shaded toward being a caricature rather than a character. I also didn't see the point of making the heroine Jewish and a survivor of Masada.But even with these criticisms, the plot was interesting, the suspense well done and the settings vividly conveyed. And I liked the little detail of having Flavia Domitilla, among the earliest imperial converts to Christianity, as part of the plot-- you don't often find her in a novel.

Whoa, just whoa!!! This booked rocked my flippy-floppies off!!! I was hooked from the Prologue and everytime that I had a chance after that, I was nose deep in this thrilling book about a plethora of extremely intriguing characters and a loves story that would make anyone's heart swell. It was such a beautifully written novel and I thoroughly enjoyed every word in the book. It was one of those books that you read and go to write the review and are totally lost for words, because it was so amazingly awesome that you want to just read the book to the person reading your review, or tell them, just freaking buy it!!!! There is a HUGE and I mean HUGE revelation in the book pretty far in that I had no idea was coming. It was so HUGE that it made me tremble and my eyes watered and I laughed out loud at how shocked I was. My husband was like "what's wrong?" and I just looked at him with teary eyes and said, "This book is effing amazing!!" The revelation is something so subtle that I didn't realize that I should have known it was going to be revealed all along, until after the bombshell was dropped and I was struggling to breath, that was when I was like, I so should have known that was coming. AMAZING!!! The loves story between the gladiator Arius and Thea is so beautiful and turmoiled that the whole time you are hoping that they find each other again because their love was so strong. I hated hated hated Lepida, but she made for an excellent villian, even though the Emperor totally overshadowed her at times, the villian role was shared so elegantly that I didn't know who I hated more by the time the book was over. Vix was a great addition to the story because it gave Thea a stronghold to get through her time being the Emperor's mistress. The Emperor was a character that I really liked at first, even though Rome whispered about him being horrible, but Kate Quinn made him likeable even with the rumors, then when his dark side comes out, you can't help but wonder what made him that way. I loved Marcus Norbanus and his son even though he got tied up in Lepida's web, he was a great guy. I loved the descriptions because it made for some most excellent, though harsh at times, visuals. Though, you have to remember this is ancient Rome, the things that happened in the gladiator arena was normal then and so the gore and violence was true for the time period. I really liked how the author added a historical note at the end of the book telling the reader how she came up with certain people and how some of the facts throughout the book were true. All in all, I loved this book and I can't wait for Kate Quinn to come out with another book for me to devour just as fast as this one.

Book was very enjoyable. Yes, I would recommend it. Very good and very quick read. Kept me captivated through out.

the story is quite rich in events but totally implausible at that time, for example: a woman who openly cheats on her senator husband with his many lovers (including her stepson) and a senator can do nothing and must suffer this situation for many years; a prostitute slave who becomes the emperor's mistress etc …

A visit to Rome inspired me to read this book and I honestly could not put it down. Fabulous story intertwined with fact and fiction. Not my usual read but loved it.

Kate Quinn had already turned me into a true believer of her storytelling with her spy/wartime novels; her Siberian (soviet-era) pilot girl is one of the most enticing women I have ever found in literature.As I have read many of the best historical fiction books about Greece and Rome --think Mary Renault or McCullough, for example--, I was a bit wary of adventuring myself on the Rome of "another" writer that might disillusion me. Wrong: Kate Quinn has again shown her mastery in the Empress of Rome series -- which I have devoured in a blissful binge I can recommend to all and sundry!

Well written with history based