This book had a lot of potential, but was largely disappointing. The character's personalities fell flat. Caterina was alternatively portrayed as a self-absorbed child and a politically savvy woman, but it was difficult to reconcile these two images. It was also disappointing that the best way to demonstrate that Caterina was like a man was through her sexual appetite. Caterina Sforza was an amazing woman, but Kalogridis' depiction of her fell flat. Dea's story wasn't much better. At times it was difficult to remember what was going on with her and Matteo, because it was only the focus at the beginning and end of the novel. She was supposedly seeking revenge for her brother's death, but she never did much until the end to get revenge. For most of the time Dea's life was consumed by Caterina's wants and needs.I wouldn't recommend this book. This historical fiction novel is based on the life of Caterina Sforza who was a noblewoman in 15th century Italy. The story is told from the perspective of Sforza’s lady in waiting Dea. Dea has the ability to read tarot cards, which she uses to help Sforza. The beginning of the book read like a harlequin romance and I had feared that I had been misled by the information on the book’s jacket. The story in some moments was extremely detailed and covering the characters moment to moment, then at other times was more general and covered a time span very quickly which made the book feel choppy. The character Caterina Sforza was really interesting and I have since added a new biography written about her to my “Books to Read” list. Dea’s personality was all over the place and by the end of the book I still was not sure who she was.
Phillipa Gregory read-alike: fictionalized historical, but set in 15th century Italy.
—Marc
I thought this was really pretty good, if your looking for some fun, light reading.
—phyucin
Piqued my interest in this part of history, think I will watch 'The Borgias' on TV.
—Colton
Very intriguing story. Love the Renaissance period.
—Sheath
