Soothsayer Review

Hey guys,

How is your weekend going? Mine has been good. I’m actually surprisingly on top of all my course work so I had kind of a chilled out weekend.
Now if you are an avid reader you will have noticed that I recently changed up my posting schedule from every weekday (aka, mon-fri) to every second day (mon, wed, fri, sun) because of my work load with uni and I thought cutting it down by one day would just help me out. But this means no Review Thursday anymore…since I’m not posting on Thursdays – so I have swapped it to Review Sundays! I hope this is okay xx

I was very kindly sent this book by the author. She is a sweet-heart. Seriously, her email to me was so nice and polite! I feel like I say this a lot but you don’t understand how rare it is to get sweet emails – so when it happens I like to promote it! Anyway, as always all the thoughts are my own and I haven’t been swayed in any way by receiving the book (or her nice email haha) Enough babble from me – let’s get reviewing.

Title: Soothsayer
Author: Kathryn Amurra
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Independently Published
Publication Date: May 10th 2020
Pages: 210 pages
When I Read It: 3rd October 2020
Goodreads Rating: 4.63 Stars

Goodreads Description:
Aurelia has always valued love and happiness over titles and power. Though her kind-hearted father has allowed her to turn away suitor after suitor in pursuit of a love she cannot yet define, when he dies her choices die with him. Knowing that marrying the elderly governor of a neighboring province can secure her mentally challenged brother’s safety, she gives up on her dream of finding love in return for his protection.Cassius is the ill-fated captain of the governor’s guard tasked with escorting the Lady Aurelia and her unpleasant aunt to the governor’s estate. Since the soothsayer Tullia foretold an early death for him, Cassius wants nothing more than to keep his hands busy with labor and his heart free from any connections to the world he believes he will be leaving soon. As they work through a series of misfortunes on the road to the governor’s province, the words of the soothsayer start to make sense, and together they find the courage to allow their true destiny to unfold.

My Goodreads Review: *aka my initial thoughts, straight after (and during) reading

Wow.
I loved this. It was such a mistake to start reading this at 1am because now it is 4am and I am exhausted but I got to finish this amazing book so it was well worth it!!
It was exactly what I was needing to read. Perfection. One of the sweetest romances I’ve read all year. The characters were amazing and had such depth! Aurelia was an incredible female protagonist. She was strong and determined and smart but also kind and loving and cutely vulnerable. Even after just reading the blurb I knew I would love Cassius and I was not wrong. He was amazing! And very drool worthy! Their chemistry and humour was off the charts. The plot was so gripping and interesting. I loved the ideas of soothsaying but how it also isn’t set in stone. I loved the historical setting. The writing style was beautiful and I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this because it blew me away! I just loved this. If you like Ancient Rome, if you like romance, if you like strong females, hot guys, if you just like an enjoyable read then you NEED to pick this up!

Characters: Like I said, Aurelia was an incredible female protagonist. She is just so instantly loveable. She is unconditionally loving, devoted to her family but also is desperate for true love. Yet she isn’t a pushover and is willing to do whatever it takes – even her own pain, to make sure her family is safe and I love that. We need strong female characters like that – someone who can be strong but also get the guy – you know! Cassius was great to read – I have such a crush on him haha. He is the perfect brooding soldier with a troubled past. I just wanted to give him hugs constantly. Again, his beliefs about loyalty and family are really strong and that’s definitely an element to why I adored this book so much because that is always a motivation that resonates with me. All the characters had a good depth to them and no-one felt like they had just been thrown in for good measure. The secondary characters had a great balance between knowing enough about them for them to not feel flat but also not so much that they are taking the spotlight. Overall, the characterisation was brilliant.
Characters = 9/10

Humour: The humour in this was great. It was subtle and playful and just put a smile on my face. Part of the humour relied on the fact it was historical if that makes sense, like they spoke to each other and teased each other about contemporary ideas and morals and stuff and that’s amusing for the reader because it’s not like that anymore. But yeah, I really enjoyed the humour and it made me smile.
Humour = 8/10

Atmosphere: I loved the historical setting. I don’t read nearly enough historical romances because I always adore them when I do. I am a bit of a history addict, especially ancient history like Egypt and Rome – so already I knew I would love the atmosphere just by reading the blurb.
Atmosphere = 10/10

Writing Style: The writing style was beautiful. It blew me away. I loved it. I cried. And not like a little tear, we are talking full on bawling, can’t breathe, headache level crying. It’s is a perfect balance between believable for the time but then also really modern and relatable. It’s descriptive but also not like you’re drowning in unnecessary words. And like I said the humour is amazing, but to balance that with the heartfelt, the romantic and the bawl your eyes out sad is just amazing. I can’t wait to read what Kathryn writes next.
Writing Style = 10/10

Plot: I loved the plot. I love stories with a journey – it always pairs so well for character arcs. The ideas of soothsaying is super fun and how things aren’t set in stone, it’s in part down to interpretation of the listener. The best way I can think to describe this plot is a combination of things I never knew I needed but now I’ve had it I love it and I need more. You get me?
Plot = 10/10

Intrigue: I read this in one sitting. It’s not the kind of intriguing where you are on the edge of your seat – it’s more like you need to find out what happens next and you just keep turning pages and then it’s suddenly done. It was so enthralling and so gripping that I didn’t want to put it down. I valued it over sleep…which for me is saying a lot. I can’t remember the last time I was up until 4am reading a book. If that isn’t a seal of approval I don’t know what is.
Intrigue = 9/10

Logic: I don’t know much about Ancient Rome so I can’t very well guess if everything is accurate about that but I can comment on the actions of the characters and they were all brilliant. No-one did anything to simply further the plot (one of my biggest peeves) they all had a believability and logic to their actions that just made it all the more amazing to read.
Logic = 9/10

Enjoyment: I adored this. It was exactly what I was looking for in a book at the moment I read this. It just lifted my entire mood. I can’t recommend this enough. If you need a fun quick read that melts your heart and makes you cry then this is definitely it!
Enjoyment = 9/10

Relationships: I thought they were such a cute couple! I shipped them the whole way through. I loved her unconditional kindness and constant talking paired with Cassius’s brooding and closed off personality. They were opposites that just worked so well together. I can’t even describe the chemistry. It blew me away.
Relationships = 10/10

Overall Score = 84/90 or 9.3/10
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

That’s all for today’s review folks. Again a big thanks to Kathryn for reaching out to me because as you can tell – I adored this. I will keep this short and just leave you with today’s Questions. I will see you guy again tomorrow ❤