Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter
Buy Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Robert James
Summary: Despite the ending frustrating me personally, this was a good read with a love triangle so strong that even I adored it.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 254	Date: February 2014
Publisher: Scholastic
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1407146621
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Medical slave Tag is desperate to win his freedom by fighting in the arena instead of just treating the gladiators he longs to beat. Lucia, his owner's daughter and his childhood friend, wants to be with him instead of the rich man she doesn't love but is betrothed to. When Quintus, an arrogant younger son of a nobleman, joins the gladiatorial school to train - and to infuriate his father - we see the beginning of a love triangle which could have devastating consequences. But the year is 79 AD, the place is Pompeii, and there's something even worse on its way...

For most of this book I was absolutely loving it and was about to recommend as one of my favourite historicals of the year. Then, as ridiculous as it seems to say this about a book which builds towards the most famous volcanic eruption of all, I thought it fizzled out towards the end. That's maybe personal preference to a large degree, and the rest of the novel is so strong that I'd still happily recommend it, but it's a climax which I was disappointed by. Yes, the descriptions of the eruption are really well-written and the actual plotting is strong, but it didn't have the emotional impact I was hoping for after the wonderful start. Too much on the volcano, and not enough on the central love triangle, let it down.

Having said that, it is a wonderful start, and it's sustained for three-quarters or more of the book. Regular readers of my reviews may be still shaking their head in disbelief at the thought of me willingly wanting more of a love triangle - generally the one thing most likely to make me hurl a book across a room - but the three people in this one are brilliantly portrayed. Tag, Lucia and Quintus are complex characters who are sympathetic - some more so than others, admittedly - interesting, and most of all believable. I thought the attraction was very well-written and was desperately hoping things would end well for all three of them.

There's a long author's note - almost ten pages - which is of real interest, especially to those wanting to find out more about the period and place. Shecter looks at slavery, curses, religion, graffiti, and of course the eruption itself. She does a great job of telling readers the facts behind the fiction.

Not quite the high recommendation I was expecting it to be because the ending really did little for me, but definitely worth checking out in the hope you'll like that part more than I did - and be just as entranced by the majority of it which I did love. I'll certainly be reading more from Shecter!

For more stunning historical fiction, I loved Love in Revolution by B R Collins.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter at Amazon.com.

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