Review: A work of art, weaving history and fiction to create a fantastic story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 16, 2013
Astarte's Wrath is the second novel by Trisha Wolfe's I've read. The first, Of Darkness and Beasts, I absolutely loved. So I was excited to read Astarte's Wrath.Before I began Astarte's Wrath, I had an opportunity to talk to Trisha about the book and the extensive research she'd done in preparation of writing it. For over a year she researched the time, the people, the lands, the customs, the legends, Gods, anything and everything about the history surrounding Astarte and Cleopatra, filling notebook after notebook of information until she finally had to force herself to stop. She said she could have continued researching for months.After talking to her I understood how important this book is to her. How much she poured her heart and soul into writing Astarte's Wrath. So when I read it I really, really wanted to give it a great review and tell everyone how much I loved it. I wanted to point to all the areas where Trisha's brilliance shined through. I wanted to tell everyone that this book, this piece of Trish, was a work of magic, that I could feel her love and enthusiasm for the project as I read it. That I was caught up in the magic she created...And that's exactly what I'm going to do, because the book is nothing short of brilliant.Trisha Wolfe left part of her soul in Astarte's Wrath and you can feel it in every word.I so was impressed by the way she seemed to seamlessly weave the history of the time with the pieces of fiction to form story she wanted to tell. She created a rich and colorful tapestry of characters both historical and fictional intertwined together in a complex and engaging story that had me flipping pages faster than my Kindle could keep up.I don't know what I can say about the plot. I feel anything I say will spoil the book for anyone who hasn't read it. It's such a unique twist on the time period. It's filled with history, but also fictional elements that add an exciting and engaging storyline that just pulled me in. There are deep, interesting characters, forbidden love, betrayal, loss, revenge, and so much more.Even though many of the characters and a good portion of the story line is fictitious, Trisha did an excellent job staying true to history. I'm a sucker for happily-ever-afters, but if you know anything about the history of the time period, well, I knew one wasn't going to come. And even with that knowledge the ending still tore at my heart. I'm not going to say anything more, but Trisha managed to make me cry and smile at the end of the book. It was both heartbreaking and, while maybe not happy, it ended just the way I think it should have. Perfectly.Bottom line: Astarte's Wrath is a five star gem. It's truly a work of art and straight from Trisha Wolfe's heart.Trisha is an extremely talented author. She seems to reach out from the pages of her books and touch her reader's hearts. She is an author that other authors gauge themselves by, hoping they can recreate the magic she so effortlessly crafts.