A phenomenal historical fantasy that I literally could not put down! Richly detailed, brilliantly crafted, and filled with engaging characters and masterful schemes, this is an absolutely brilliant piece of work that has left me breathless with anticipation for its sequel! Thank you to NetGalley and to Hay House for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

WOW, I absolutely LOVED the concept of this book! Centered around an incredibly tumultuous Rome, focusing on a poisoner by the name Locusta and her dearly beloved Livia, I found myself in awe of the author’s very obvious devotion to the history of Rome, and her less famous denizens. Overall, this sapphic historical fiction was incredibly enjoyable to read and the added magic and gods made it even more delectable! I did have some issues staying in the story for about a hundred pages or so in the middle, I do love political intrigue but I felt that things were a bit too good for too long!

Highly recommend this novel for any fans of Rome and I recommend it even more to those who really are sick of Rome always being the hero of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is the first in a fictional duology re-telling of Locusta, a female poisoner from Ancient Rome. We meet her as a 19year old living in her village, Gaul. We follow Locusta as she becomes a druid, is claimed by Arawn, the god of death and is taken to Ancient Rome as a slave following the slaughter of her village. Under the teachings of Arawn, Locusta furthers her skills and knowledge in different methods of poisoning, identifying poisons and ingredients and what it means to be a druid. After a couple of successes she is given to the grandmother of the current emperor who has her playing lady-in-waiting to her young cousin, Livia. By night, Locusta plays secret poisoner for the Emperor's grandmother while by day she continues as lady-in-waiting to Livia and begins to fall in love with her. They begin a passionate, secret romance while trying to keep each other safe amidst the constant threats and dangers of Ancient Roman politicians and elite.

I'd never heard of Locusta before coming across this book so had no real idea what I was in for. I was fascinated and invested very quickly both with the general story and Locusta specifically. It didn't take long for the story to get intense and the stakes to rise. I'm not typically a big fan of books with plots centred around literal politics but I genuinely really enjoyed this one. The way the politics was woven in with gods, magic and Locusta's improving poisoning skills was well done and was well balanced. Locusta being new to Rome and having to learn all about how everything worked allowed us as the reader to learn alongside her which was helpful. I found the romance between Locusta and Livia to be sweet and genuine and I'm always a fan of a good queer re-telling! Given the two young women spent virtually 24/7 with each other I really felt their relationship made sense and developed in a very natural way.

I found most of the characters in Locusta were complex, layered characters with their own unique motivations and side stories. While Locusta herself could at times be frustrating and a little naive, I do think it was a realistic portrayal of someone in that position. She was a 19 year old who had experienced immense trauma, had her entire life turned on its head overnight, was sold into slavery and left to figure out an entirely new world by herself. Honestly I think she handled it better than I would have as a full-grown adult! It was interesting and fun when characters started popping up that I recognised from history and seeing where they fit into the story. There was definitely a theme throughout the story of the specific difficulty in being a woman in Ancient Rome, especially a woman from a powerful family. The author did a good job at showing the polarity of characters and giving us insight into why they were the way they were. It did get a little confusing at times keeping up with all the different names but that was a me problem and not any sort of failing on the author's end.

I really did enjoy this book! Lots happened in the first part of the story to really set up this world and establish Locusta as a character. That was really interesting and drew me in right away. The middle was a bit slower than the rest of the book and did at times feel a little tedious and drawn out. I didn't find this went on for long though and wasn't too difficult to get passed. The pace then picked up once again and I found myself holding my breath and unable to put the book down until I finished. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for book two because I need to know how Locusta's story ends!