Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (3436)

Content

BookInspector (124 KP) rated Circus Maximus: Race to the Death in Books

Jul 1, 2021

Circus Maximus: Race to the Death

Annelise Gray | 2021 | Children, History & Politics

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

The protagonist in this book is Dido, a twelve-year-old girl in ancient Rome, and this story is told from her perspective. Dido was raised with horses and chariot racers, and her dream was to become a racer herself. After her father gets murdered, she has to flee Rome to survive. But she left a lot behind, and she will need to return to claim what was hers. I really liked Dido, she is so stubborn and not scared of hard work. I also really admired her self confidence and bravery in a very male-dominated environment. I had a love-hate relationship with some of the characters, I loved the ones that supported Dido, and hated all of those who were cruel to the horses. I really liked the sheer amount of horses in this book, their different personalities and their ability to work so well as a team. They are truly impressive animals. 🙂

The narrative of this book was very fast-paced and very intriguing. There were plenty of turns and unexpected surprises, that I thoroughly enjoyed. This book talks about four factions/teams: Green (everyone’s favourite), Blue (biggest Green’s competitor), White and Red (these teams were the least mentioned in this book). I have to say, that I am a supporter of the Blue faction. 🙂 There are plenty of reasons but if I will tell, it will spoil the reading experience. The topics discussed in this book are chariot racing, cheating in sports, gender power playing, mental health issues, very slight romance, animal cruelty and many more.

I was a little scared to read this book because when I saw the character listing at the beginning of the book, I thought that there will be a very wide variety of characters and I will have difficulty knowing who is who. But I was very wrong indeed. This book is beautifully written and very easy to read. The chapters have medium length, but they just flew by for me, I was very absorbed with this story. I have to throw in a warning, that this book contains animal cruelty, so if anyone is like me, tears and anger will be happening while reading. The ending of this novel rounded this story very nicely, and I can not wait for the next book in this series.

So, to conclude, the protagonist of this story is very likeable, and I was cheering her all the way till the end. All the characters in this book are very well crafted and delivered, and the plot of this book is fast-paced and absorbing.

Kudos

Lindsay (1774 KP) rated Roma, Underground in Books

Aug 30, 2018 (Updated Apr 9, 2019)

Roma Underground is done well. The author start out with a woman we meet as Bianca N. We do learn a little about her past. Her name is mentioned, as Alabaster Black. You may think well, is that her real name or not? We also meet up with Dante, Alessandro, Farrugia and Gennaro. We also run into a few more people along the way.

What out a bit of a boring start with this story. It does get much better. Somehow this group gets involved with a smuggling artifact. Why is Bianca recruited by “Rendition”? Who are they, and what do they want?

Though you do not know how this group gets brought in to start a hoax? You will just be wandering in the world is going on and what it roughly about. Someone is stealing artifacts or art artifacts that have been going missing. The hoax is started by an idea that is shared by Dante.

You do go about learning about Roma Underground and what happens there along the history of Rome. I can not wait to find out what to happen next in the next book named “Wasp Nest.” This book is worth the reading and it offers so much more.

Kudos

David McK (3600 KP) rated Catching Fire in Books

Jan 28, 2019

Catching Fire

Suzanne Collins | 2012 | Young Adult (YA)

8.2

(179 Ratings)

Book Rating

The second book in Suzanne Collins' <i>The Hunger Games</i> trilogy, this is a true sequel to the first in the sense that it shares the same characters and refers to the same events as the original (as opposed to 'only' being set in the same universe).

At the start of the novel, and having survived <i>The Hunger Games</i>, Katniss is back in District 12 in the company of her mother, sister, and Peeta. Things aren't entirely all rosy, however, as her stunt with the berries has enraged President Snow (and the Capitol), who is now looking for ways to further punish her, leading to her heading back into the arena ...

I have to say, the parallels between the Capitol and ancient Rome are even more pronounced this time round than previously, especially in an early(ish) scene where Katniss and Peeta attend a banquet in the Capitol: a banquet that provides it's guests with the means to be sick so they can eat more more, while those in the districts starve (the myth of the Roman Vomitorium, anyone?). Once again, this is told in the immediate first-person sense, with the novel also ending in a definite cliff-hanger for the final part of the trilogy.