It looks like "Lady of the Eternal City" is the last of Kate Quinn's "Empress of Rome" series. So while I loved the book through and through, I read it with somewhat of a heavy heart. If this is the end, it was perfect. (It even included a guest appearance by Thea and Arius, Vix's parents who started it all.) But still, if I had my way, this series would never end. I mean, generational sagas don't really *have* to finish, do they? (I mean, if Kate ever wants to revisit Dinah or Chaya or better yet, go into the tale of Annia and Marcus...) Then again, I get why Quinn wanted to end the story. More books mean more conflict. And damn if Vix, Sabina and company haven't been through enough shit as it is.

"Lady of the Eternal City" begins a year after the end of "Empress of the Seven Hills". (Which, to jog your memory, ended spectacularly with the ascension of Hadrian and Vix knocking Sabina up ~ILLICITLY~ in a bout of hate!sex.) It spans another eighteen years or so after that, and damn does a lot happen.

In truth, I'm not familiar with the story of Hadrian. Being familiar with the history isn't really necessary with these books; I mean, Vix is entirely fictional and Sabina largely so--and they're the main characters. So I was surprised by the turn Hadrian's storyline took. Quinn takes a rather bold step there, developing the villain of "Empress of the Seven Hills" and his relationships with Vix and Sabina into something else entirely. Don't get me wrong--he's still an asshole, and she hardly forgets his wrongdoings. But the character development there is much more complex than even I expected. (These books are soapy, but so underrated.) Particularly deep/surprising is the romance between Hadrian and none other than Vix's adopted son Antinous. Again, I knew little of the real Hadrian so I had no idea while reading "Empress of the Seven Hills" that Antinous was historically significant.

I don't think a lot of authors would paint the Hadrian/Antinous relationship as Quinn did. It wasn't perfect, with both partners acknowledging that Hadrian was essentially maintaining a mask to keep Antinous happy. But their love for each other was presented as wholly true. In fact, in a sense the romance purer than that between Vix and Sabina. (Yes, that continues. And yes, it's still my favorite thing about the whole series.) While Vix and Sabina constantly love and hate and use one another, lying and cheating their way to survival--Hadrian and Antinous are simply in love. The world, however, is against both couples and as per usual in a Kate Quinn book, there are about five billion tragedies they have to contend with.

"Lady of the Eternal City" has some truly heartbreaking moments. Though Vix and Sabina's relationship is still at the forefront, it was built up in "Empress of the Seven Hills" and is now left to go where it will. The core of the book seemed to be the love of a parent for a child. Vix loves Antinous--moreso than his biological daughters with Mirah; and the ugliness of that isn't skipped over--and Sabina loves her ~secret child~ conceived at the end of the last books. Both of those relationships are fraught with tension, and it's difficult for both parents to love their children. Sabina's boundaries are physical; Vix's are emotional. (And don't forget that Vix is actually the father of that secret child. Yeah.) Vix and Antinous's relationship is even more important than that of Antinous and Hadrian--perhaps even more than Vix and Sabina's.

Quinn never shies away from the gray morality of her leads. Though Leah and Arius were no angels, Vix and Sabina sway more towards the moral alignment of the delightfully gray Marcella of "Daughters of Rome". They do a lot of bad shit in this book--Vix in particular. What happens to his family--a family he's constantly betraying, constantly ignoring--is awful, but it feels realistic. It shows the less rosy side of a grand romance, the fallout of Vix's constantly split loyalties: between his wife Mirah and Sabina, the girl he's loved since adolescence; between his children with Mirah and his adopted son; between Judaea, nation of his mother and his wife, and Rome, the city he's served all his life; between the ghosts of Trajan's ideals and the realities of Hadrian.

Through it all, the bright spot--that isn't entirely bright because you know this series--is the younger generation. Well, not all of them, what with the fact that one member of the younger cast is one of the biggest assholes this series has seen thus far. But Pedanius aside, Annia and Marcus are delightful. Through all of the fucked up relationships thwarted by circumstance or misunderstanding, theirs is a sweet childhood romance (with a few obstacles along the way, of course). Annia's perspective delighted me throughout. She's one of those female characters who's tough and strong and tomboyish--but still such a girl.

The ending is bittersweet, as could be expected of the series. Not everyone walks off into the sunset. Some of the victories are quite hollow. But if you're dreading a total downer like I was at one point--don't. "Lady of the Eternal City" is worth the wait. And if this really is the end, I'm sad about that--but happy it ended so well.