I really enjoyed this book, it lost its way a little in parts, but for the most part it was incredibly engaging.

I loved the voice that Saara gave to Cleopatra, how she took histories view and fleshed it out into a real person, who loved, survived tragedies, betrayals and ultimately, lived for Egypt.

I wasn’t aware of the story of Cleopatra generally (somehow!!) nor the connection to Caesar and Marcus, and Rome. History is written by those with the power to write it (and the Roman Empire had that!), and there is a reason I think so little is known of this woman, and she is so misconstrued.

Would recommend for sure for the historical / mythical retelling lovers ☺️

This story is sickly sugar sweet cosy fantasy (which as someone with a cold dark grim soul was hard to push through at times 😂😂) centred around the found family trope. So I’m cautious about rating low or otherwise based on the fact this book isn’t really written for me / my usual grim dark tastes 🤣

The kids are super cute, the story is a hallmark movie, it’s predictable and as low stakes as it comes, in a comforting way. I can understand why so many people love this book / have it as their comfort read.

For me personally, the messaging in the book is spoon fed, there is no nuance, people say something and you the reader are immediately told what that means and what you should think about that. It’s in keeping with the way the book is written and how the author tells the story from the start, but for me, I found it a little trying. I did also find myself skimming over some of the overly saccharine paragraphs, but as I say, that’s a me thing in that kind of prose makes me roll my eyes and feel itchy 😅😅

If you want to feel warm and squishy inside, then this is the book for you. If you want something with a bit of backbone / substance, it probably won’t be, but then in all honestly, no one is really reading it expecting the latter anyway!