Daughter of the Rebellion

by Jamie Ogle

In this stirring historical romance by award-winning author Jamie Ogle, a young woman imprisoned in a Roman gladiator school becomes a legendary warrior. But when not even her fame is enough, she must fight to save herself and those she loves.

Rome, AD 403. As a loyal daughter of the Visigoth tribe, Adelgard followed her father to war, hoping to win back her family’s approval. But after a clash with the Roman army, Adel is captured and sold to a gladiator school. Now she is the most famous gladiatrix in Rome, determined to keep the fickle love of the crowd and never again rely on anyone but herself for her own security. But beneath the fame lies a darkness and pain that holds her captive.

Felix despises Rome’s fascination with violence. But after returning from medical training to discover his father missing and his family desperate, he had little choice but to accept a position at the gladiator school managed by his uncle. He finds a kindred spirit in Adel and does what he can to preserve the humanity of the rebel fighters, but when he receives orders that further compromise his beliefs, he arrives at a crossroads.

Then Telemachus, a Christian leader, approaches Felix with an urgent if the Visigoth captives are not released, their army will invade Rome. Despite the risk, the emperor is bent on proving his power through a stunning, deadly day of gladiatorial games. As Telemachus seeks to save the Visigoth fighters, Felix and Adel join forces in a desperate rebellion that may define not only their own lives but also the course of history.

A captivating Christian romance novel perfect for fans of Francine Rivers, Lynn Austin, and Angela HuntGreat for book clubs who enjoy ancient historical fiction by Tessa Afshar, Stephanie Dray, and Kate QuinnWeaves together themes of sacrifice, courage, surrender, and faithIncludes discussion questions

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction

Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 12, 2026

Reviews

[theliterateleprechaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is set in Rome in AD 403 and highlights Adelgard, a member of the Visigoth tribe, who becomes a war-daughter to win back the respect of her family. When life takes an unexpected twist during a battle, she finds herself in the Ludus Gallicus, a Gallic School for Gladiators, training to become the best to earn her freedom.

Things I appreciated:

💜the exploration concerning whether God’s presence can be felt in a place such as a gladiator school. Ogle introduces a Christian medicus who works in the ludus, as well as a monk, and both are instrumental to saving Adel, both physically and spiritually. Sometimes we find ourselves in places where we feel God is distant. Ogle reminds us that He is always with us.
💜the reminder that God often uses broken lives to save His people.
💜Ogle highlights redemption, forgiveness, and urges us to use grace and mercy instead of hatred and vengeance
💜To place our trust in what’s right because it will prevail in the end. It may not be easy, it’s always costly, but it’s never hopeless
💜We all struggle despite our outward appearance
💜Compassion is not weakness
💜Warning for us to be careful where we seek our worth
💜There’s value in seeing ourselves as God sees us

What I’ll remember most:

We can find ourselves in the same place as any Christian in that Colosseum. Just as they’d grown lax after a century of religious freedom, we too can experience unforeseen change. Circumstances change on a dime. Political climates change like the breeze. Will our convictions allow us to stand tall, or will we compromise to fit in? Wrong is wrong is wrong. Time won’t change God's opinion.

It was powerful to read about the push and pull created when Adel realizes that she’s always had to perform to earn her freedom as a fighter, a freedom that God freely blesses her with because she’s a valuable child of God.

I was gifted his copy and was under no obligation to provide a review.

[Lotta Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Tyndale House Publishers |Tyndale Fiction for this ARC! All thoughts are my own!

🎉 Publication Date: 12th of May 2026 🎉

🤍 Tropes 🤍
⚔️ Gladiator Games
❤️‍🩹 Healer MMC
🗡️ Gladiatrix FMC
💔 Family Drama
✞Christian
🤍Clean Romance

⚠️ Warnings ⚠️
╰➤ Violence
╰➤ Injuries
╰➤ Death
╰➤ Murder
╰➤ Themes of Sexual Assault
╰➤ Slavery
╰➤ Abandonment
╰➤ Drug Use
╰➤ Christian Themes

I’m going to start this by saying that this genre is not always my vibe, so don’t take my review as the gospel truth! I have been trying to branch out this year with some hits and misses and this one was somewhere in-between.

This was not a bad story, by any means, but I think I’m so used to fantastical elements in books that I just wanted a dragon to fly in, or someone to cast a spell … This had no magic and was a straight historical fiction book. There were no miracles or Greek gods appearing out of nowhere and causing mischief. (I really love Madeline Miller’s books for the fantasy elements in her historical fiction!)

I did on the whole enjoy the time period this book was set as I have previously studied Classical Civilisations. However, I think the the layman would struggle with some of the terminology used in this book without any background knowledge. I could not see in my ARC that a terminology glossary was included, but perhaps this will be added at a later date.

That aside! Adel was a great FMC, she is a Visigoth who has been captured by Romans, has a painful past, and is trying to make the best out of her Gladiatrix/slave status. Felix, the MMC, also has a difficult past with a lot of family drama and is a doctor of a sort at the Gladiator house. Their backstories were interesting to me and I found their character development quite good. The plot itself was also pretty well set up and executed. I just really missed the fantasy elements and this made the book a bit of a hard read for me! This would be great for someone who loves pure historical fiction for sure. I think my mind just cannot accept a book in this time period with no gods causing problems. I’m too used to that I fear!

Thanks all for reading!

🤍🤍🤍

[yuvi • ia]

I NEED THIS RNNNN😔🫴
😭😭😭

[Heather Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved learning about a hero of the faith I knew nothing about and the end of the gladiators in Rome. What a cool story! The training schools, the ludi, are a mixture of safety and danger, home and prison, to the gladiators. So much barbarianism and innocent captives caught up in kill or be killed. I learned a lot on the journey the reader goes with Adel and Felix. They're faced with complicated questions without answers, doing the best they can in an impossible situation. And yet God's mercy and love shine through in even a dark place such as this.

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy and leave an honest review!

[Jenelle Hovde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for endorsement! Spoiler alert: I loved it! Friends, I hope you add this one to your Goodreads list. Five sparkling stars!

[peppermintandprose · Rating 5 out of 5]

•───── 5/5★ ─────•

««« 𝒞ℴ𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓃𝓉 »»»
➸ Spice: none. kisses only.
➸ Language: minor (wh*re 1x)
➸ Content ﹢ Trigger Warnings (sᴘᴏɪʟᴇʀs!): sexual harassment, slavery, gore/violence, Christian persecution, implied past intimacy (no details), third party domestic abuse, drugging

««« 𝒟ℯ𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓈 »»»
➸ Genre: Christian, historical
➸ POV: third person head hopping, 3 povs
➸ Tropes ﹢ Themes (sᴘᴏɪʟᴇʀs!): gladiatrix fmc, physician mmc, gladiator games, banter, slow burn, enemies to lovers, wound tending, grumpy x sunshine
➸ Age of FMC: not given
➸ Age of MMC: alluded to 25 years old
➸ Location: rome, italy
➸ Year: AD 403

•─────⋅°˖✧✿✧˖°⋅─────•

⋅𖥔⋅ 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛, 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠. ⋅𖥔⋅

[The Book Distiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely riveting from start to finish!