Elle’s Reviews > Locusta > Status Update

The political & conspiracy sections of the novel are its best parts, but the gaps between them are too large. It doesn't help that Locusta hasn't been involved in any of it since she arrived in Rome & decided to poison her first owner. All agency disappeared after that, and at nearly 80% she still doesn't seem to have any apart from hiding & having sexcapades. If this is meant to be feminist, it missed the mark.

I ship the girls, but their reasons for loving each other ring very false. Livia has been sheltered her entire life, due to her elderly cousin's (justified) fears. Lo says all this nice stuff about how Livia is too good for the world, she lives life as it's meant to be lived, and I'm just ??? When? Where? She lives in constant fear & oppression, under a false mask to get by. Where is this capital-L "Life" Lo admires?

The relationship growth between Locusta & Livia was well-done, if a little too reliant on forced proximity rather than actual development. Locusta is shocked when Livia calls them friends, & honestly so was I because I hadn't seen them reach a stage of friendship. I had read it as tolerance of forced proximity that Livia didn't know the reason for (as it was arranged by her cousin). It's not bad, but I wanted more.

After the random modern slang, we had a ch or 2 of Locusta losing her intelligence & being a whiny brat, which she's never been before. It was truly odd. And then back to our regularly scheduled broadcast, ignore that other channel in the middle there. Anyway, the stuff after entering Rome is great so far, a return to form from the great start. But I'm worried after that random OOC-ness that it will happen again.

The god of death just said "aw" and "sure" and it has thrown me completely out of the story. Nowhere else has had such modern terms, why suddenly here in the middle of a serious, horrifying scene?

"I cannot truly explain it, the same way a mother cannot explain the way it feels to have a baby kick from within their womb to a man who will never feels the sensation."
-- I dislike this, not only because it's lazy to not explain a major thing to readers, but it's gender binarism & gender essentialism: all women WILL become mothers, no men will ever be pregnant, & ALL women have the exact same shared experiences.

I'm really vibing with the writing style. The mix of Telling and Showing is perfection, exactly how they're meant to be used. And the way the author ends chapters is so impactful each time. My god I hope this quality keeps up, and that the author is as good with plot & character arcs as she is with her prose & voice.

OOOH, what a great prologue! The hook, the worldbuilding, the motivations & goal (and hesitation) all so well established in such a short period of time! Tell me more, Emily Dexter :3c