First and foremost, thanks to the author, Katerina Roman, and to NetGalley, for sharing an advanced reader copy (ARC) of this novel to me in exchange for an honest review.

Gladiatrix: Escape from the LIon's Den is a really solid debut from Roman.

What I enjoyed most:
- the world building was solid and seamlessly integrated - set in a sort of post-ecoapocalyptic future Earth, our characters are grappling with food shortages, lack of potable/clean water, and thugs who run... pretty much everything where they live. When the characters have to leave the city, the worldbuilding is also really solid in our alternate setting.
- distinctive - there's nothing else I've read quite like this book! Approach to the topics/themes covered in the novel are unique, and the balance of sex (exotic dancers) and violence (who also cage fight) is really compelling from pretty much the beginning.
- pacing of the narrative - the story continues to move along smoothly, which can be hard to do when a debut novel is so ambitious in scope, themes, content, character development, world-building, etc.
- strong femme protagonist - "Dany," our principal protagonist, has been through a lot, and continues to go through a lot throughout this first novel; she nonetheless maintains her fighting spirit (literally and figuratively), and relentlessly fights to protect the people she loves, at any cost to herself (physically, emotionally, etc.) - we love to see this kind of loyalty from a protagonist.
- fully developed femme characters - Roman ensures that her characters are well-rounded and developed, thus ensuring dialogue feels compelling and real, and that readers are invested in the characters as the novel progresses.
- the tension protagonists feel between the need to fight for their own lives and their distaste for needless violence - in a world where violence is both sport and a form of currency, Dany and other protagonists' distaste for violence makes them more relatable and human (e.g. the scene with Dany and the crocodile and how this haunts her for some time afterwards, her lack of a desire to kill another woman in the cage, etc.)

What I enjoyed less:
- editing - this isn't usually something that I nitpick on with self/indie pub literature, particularly for a debut novel; however, Roman would benefit from at the very least a line editor, as some of the orthographic errors detracted from the flow of the novel and created confusion for me as a reader
- this novel tackles really challenging content (SA, gaslighting, etc.), and while weaved in very well by Roman, this novel will not be a good fit for all readers as a result, and readers would benefit from a note by the author at the beginning or something similar to ensure they're aware of the type of content in the novel.

CWs: graphic - emotional abuse, toxic relationships; moderate - animal death, death, domestic abuse, slavery, violence, blood, gaslighting; minor - alcoholism, drug use, sexual content, alcohol, war

I managed to get an ARC copy of this book over the summer, but then didn't get around to reading it until December. The premise of the story is what interested me, but the execution was rather disappointing. Basically the entire story is based around the main character pretty much having a hissy fit because she didn't get what she wanted. There is a narcissistic and misogynistic antagonist that honestly thinks he's doing these women a favor. Then there is the brilliant sidekick character that doesn't get enough credit. Overall, I just couldn't get past the fact that the entire plot revolved around the FMC getting ticked off because she was overlooked for the position she wanted and then threw an epic temper tantrum.

The book had already been released, and I was too late to read it. So, I will make sure to receive a copy and still write my review on it on my website. My standard rating is 3, and I will edit it as soon as I read it.

Gladiatrix - noun (in the year 2150) a female trained to fight other women in the Vault and also perform as exotic dancers in Club Prey

Hear me out - this story has cage fighters x exotic dancers. I was sold from this description alone.

Let me just say this book sucked me in from the beginning. Katerina Roman has an amazing way with words and phrases - the world building was woven into this story so seamlessly, and the way she describes the fight scenes are so vivid. Then I read her bio and realize she is trained in Jiu Jitsu and competes in pole dancing - can I please be that cool?!

What I love about this book is the all the action as well as a strong female main character. Dany is a bad ass woman but in a plausible way. I liked the side characters, we don't like Rex, but we do love Callan.

There is a romantic element to this that I can see taking shape in the rest of this series but nothing happens in this book. There is a lot of plot and character development in this first book.

I can't really compare this book to anything else that I've read but I loved it all the same.

Definitely would recommend if you like
-dystopian settings
-action
-strong FMC

Gladiatrix by Katrina Roman
Escape from the Lion’s Den #1

What would you do to survive? Would you rely on family, friends, faith…or yourself? Would you be one at the top or bottom of societies ladder or perhaps in the middle…or…might you find yourself outside on the fringes?

What I liked:
* Reading a debut author’s work that made me think, care, and wonder…about many things
* The plot, pacing, setting, mythology, character development, and story projection
* Danyka “Dany” Ren: survivor, fighter, strong, resilient, trains hard, has a temper, bright, protective, seems conflicted and a bit broken/damaged at times, doing the best she can with what she has, has dreams for her future, gladiatrix,
* Ailan Ren: survivor, Danyka’s twin sister, lives and works outside the vault where Dany lives,
* Isel: new face in the vault, in training as a gladiatrix, more than she appears to be, has a secret and dreams of her own
* The reason behind this apocalyptic dystopian futuristic world and the impact it has had on those who survived
* Thinking about the “what-ifs” and wondering how some ended up as they did while others walked a different path – also wondered how large population was and wanted to know more about life in this era
* The people called Salina and where they lived
* The crocodile and its power in real and mythological life
* The way death is looked at and dealt with by some of the characters
* Knowing that this is the first in a trilogy with two more books to look forward to

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* The slavery aspect and thinking about what one might be compelled to do to survive
* Thinking about those at the top of the ladder and how they seemed to focus more on their station, money, and power than on those they probably considered chattel

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

This book sucked me in more quickly than I was expecting. There's some world-building at The Vault, where our protagonist, Danyka, works as a gladiatrix. They're part fighter, part exotic dancer. Just as soon as that's set up, everything moves so quickly. I liked that the other perspectives we saw were from characters we initially believe to be antagonists. I would absolutely read the next book!