REVIEW: Fulvia Duology (Kaarina Parker)

Series: Fulvia Duology

Author: Kaarina Parker

Premise: When her father dies, Fulvia makes her way to the city of Rome to secure her future. There she is drawn into a world of politics. But Rome is a dangerous place, and power can become notoriety overnight. Fulvia soon learns just how high the stakes really are, and that her ambitions may come at a terrible cost.

This duology follows the life of Fulvia, charting her rise to power and ultimately her fall. I hadn't heard of her before but she was instrumental during the fall of the Roman Republic and at the start of the Roman Empire. I learnt so much about this period of history and it helped me connect the dots between the bits of history I vaguely knew.

The first book (Fulvia) focuses on Fulvia’s first marriage and how she became beloved by the people of Rome. Fulvia starts off naive but soon learns how to turn situations to her advantage. I loved her relationship with her husband Clodius, how they complemented each other and acknowledged their respective strengths. By the end of the book, Fulvia is strong and a threat to the men in power. 

The second book (To Rule a Ruler) is largely about Fulvia’s marriage to Mark Antony. We see her ambitions climb even higher. This book also introduces different POVs, which allows us to get opposing views and question Fulvia's actions. The pacing was much faster than the first book, and I think that worked quite well given how much was at stake and how events were spiralling out of control. My only issue was how abruptly everything ended but I guess that’s just how history went. 

I read these books back to back, that's how captured I was by the story. Swipe to read my thoughts on each book. Overall, enjoyable and super interesting. A duology I can recommend!