Boudicca has long been a favorite historical figure of mine. I name my children after strong patriarchy defying queens, and if I had a 3rd daughter her name would probably be Boudicca. That said, when I saw P.C. Cast was releasing this novelization inspired by Boudicca’s story I was very quick to request an ARC. A sincere thanks to William Morrow/ Harper Collins and Net Galley for this opportunity to review this ARC.

Boudicca is an Iron Age Queen of the Iceni tribe. In the wake of the death of her husband and atrocities perpetrated by Roman invaders durinttg the second Roman invasion on her family and people, Boudicca rallies and inspires many of the tribes to unite to push the Romans out. In her journey her inner circle of advisors becomes an invaluable asset, her friends, and for some …more. While P.C Cast acknowledges that she wanted to be as historically accurate as possible there are some key changes made. PC Cast addresses the limitations in the available research and the decisions she made around changes in the “Authors Notes” at the end of the book.

As a whole I really enjoyed this book. I appreciated the staunchly anti-patriarchy and feminist lens in which this novel was written. It’s an ode to powerful spirited women everywhere. I greatly appreciated how the author presented Boudicca’s story, the Iceni and other tribal peoples and in general the staunchly anti imperialist attitude of the novel.

Even with my familiarity with the history of Boudicca’s rebellion, and how it ended, I still found myself emotionally rocked at multiple points towards the end of this book. Which is a testament to how the author built the characters and relationships throughout the story.

However, the start of the novel is very awkward. The early dialogue is very choppy and unnatural feeling. While it does get better as the book goes on, it still retains some choppiness. Perhaps it is an attempt
to replicate the speaking patterns of the time period, but it just feels a bit awkward as a reader. There is also historical context and other information provided through dialogue in the early chapters that would’ve been better covered in other ways. Also side note that the author and publisher elected to spell the protagonist’s name with two “cc’s” versus the typical spelling of one that most historians or other authors have used.

There are some intense and traumatic scenes including depictions of child sexual assault, and even though the actual attack takes place off page it, the physical and emotional aftermath is covered in detail. This attack also occurs very early in the book which makes it exceptionally jarring. This and other themes are addressed that may be triggering for some, so proceed with caution if you are sensitive to this or other topics.

Lastly, I think the advertising of this book is doing it a disservice. Advertising this as an “Epic, lusty, magic-filled romantasy” is highly misleading. While I’d agree the story is an action filled adventure with a great dose of ancient Briton mythology and magic, the romantic elements are a very very minor subplot (though I do really like how it is presented #polyrep #Bisexualrep) and it is far from the typical conventions for books currently labeled “#romantasy.” Honestly, this book is a historical tragedy with fantasy and romantic elements, and I sincerely hope readers are not disappointed when they are looking for a fantasy romance/ romantasy with typically romance genre conventions.

All that said, I will be ordering my hardback shelf trophy, and sharing this book with my daughters when they are mature enough because it is an empowering portrayal of an incredible woman in history.

The following review is in exchange for an ARC from netgalley:

Dnf at 34%

I loved the idea of this story. A woman who takes on the Roman empire in ancient times with magical elements? Sign me up. The first 5% percent was so interesting and I was excited to read more, but as I continued I just found the story slow and difficult to get through. I have been trying to read this book for a while and have found it difficult to want to read to the point where I've decided to stop. While I hate DNFing a book, this one is just not doing it for me.

Left a review on goodreads

I did not finish this book due too clunky word choice and "telling not showing" the reading of the story. I could not get immersed in a story I was very excited to read as I think we need more tales of Boudicca but I immediately felt a disconnect with the narration and felt that the author did not understand their characters/was emotionally distant from them.

The brutal and inspiringly hopeful life of Queen Boudicca of the Ice I tribe, of all of the Britons.
A beautifully told story of a strong woman who was born to be her goddess’ victory over the Romans who sought to enslave her people. She lives a life of relative happiness and peace until one event after another unfolds and tests her faith in her goddess, in her people, and in herself. She goes on to fight the oppression of the Romans and inspires all of the Britons to band together as a people and that hope is not lost. They will have victory in the name of their goddess.

Brutal, devastating, but the never ending shine of hope through it all.
Check trigger warnings, this book does not shy away from the brutality of war and conquering.

4.5 stars. This book is absolutely captivating. I, like the author, have been lowkey obsessed with Boudicca since learning of her. I enjoyed the characters and how the author mixed historical with our modern understanding. Cast does a great job of recreating this world and immersing us in it. I had to actively stop myself from reading this nonstop.

I recommend this to anyone who likes historical fiction with amazing badass women at the helm.

Thank you to NetGalley, P. C. Cast, and William Morrow for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

Now THIS is what I’ve come to know and love from P.C. Cast. This is a beautifully written historical “fantasy” about Boudicca. It can be a bit of a tough read, but feels genuine to Boudicca’s story. Absolutely wonderful storytelling, and I loved the characters. 4⭐️

A perfect fit for readers who crave epic, action-packed adventures infused with mythology, romance, and strong female empowerment, particularly those who enjoy stories about fierce warrior queens and the struggles of female leadership in a patriarchal world.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC. Warnings that this book contained SA, SA of minors, loads of trauma and deaths

I so wanted to love this, because its a historical/fantasy novel of a badass historical woman, but for a relatively well-known author large chunks of the story were strangely clunky and repetative. I wonder if this particular book would have benefitted more from a third-person perspective rather than first, as it often felt like forced regality of Boudicca's perspective was prioritzed rather than a smoother and more cohesive story. Credit where it's due, several of the more important or climactic chapters were so well written that I remained interested or renewed interest, but the first few chapters were a slog, and the stretches of months between Boudicca's battles were slow enough to bog the story down as well. Solid attempt but rough execution, at least in my opinion, so make of that what you will. Maybe Cast's more devoted or long-time readers might like this one more than I did.

The ultimate badass woman from history gets an engaging, well-researched novel! Boudicca shows the resiliency of the Iceni queen after a traumatic rape/attack by the Romans upon herself and her daughters. The support given by her closest military advisors and her BFF, a Druid, makes her recovery and ultimate revenge against the Romans a gripping yarn, while the metaphysical worship of the "barbaric" gods shows how they are seamlessly woven into the daily life of the Britons.

Truly loved this one!

Sadly, I quit reading at 30%.

Boudicca is a new historical figure to me, and I was so excited to read a story about her. I wanted to be plunged into this world, feel the pain and rage and love for her people right alongside her.

Unfortunately, this book did not deliver. From the beginning the prose felt stiff and repetitive. The same events were rehashed for different characters or the reader was reminded of something not long after first reading it. The fact that the book uses the word “queen” 645 times — more times than there are pages in the book — is bonkers. I get that her rank is a significant part of the conflict in the story, but these characters do not know how to speak like humans and simply repeat the same dialogue over and over. “Yes, my queen.” “How can I serve my queen?” “Fetch my queen the cheese and bread.” “Scent my queen’s bath with the lavender and goat’s milk as my queen likes.” These are supposed to be a loving, passionate, connected community, and yet they speak to each other with cardboard-thin depth.

Then, on the flip side, Boudicca’s perspective is unrealistically progressive and feminist. I fully believe she was a powerful leader and fierce in her convictions, but the words she uses to dissect what is happening around her feel steeped in modern therapy-speak. At one point she talks herself down from a shame spiral with affirmations that she is one person and cannot know everything. This feels like a mantra a modern therapist would teach, not the phrasing a bronze-age queen would use. At one point she even mentally rants about the Roman patriarchy—a word that didn’t exist in that form until the 1600s. The language in these instances feels so pointedly progressive, and slapped together with the rest of the wooden, uninspired prose, it just plain does not work.

What worked? The source material is great. There’s a lot to work with in Boudicca’s story. And occasionally the setting was described well. But I am loathe to celebrate much else when the book was such a slog.

I am grateful the publisher granted me and ARC to review. I wish I had been able to find more positive things to say about it.

This book is a struggle to read. I have never read anything else by this author, I did look at her other published work, and it seems her other work has been YA Urban Fantasy. That's a very different genre from what this book has been pitched as, Adult *Historical* fantasy.

I am not as familiar with the history as I would like to be, but something about dialogue and character interactions felt oddly modern, for lack of a better word. There are parts that are over written in a way that comes across as trying to be more "mystical", but it just felt clunky. It may seem like a small thing but the lack of contractions might be part of it. Using 'cannot' over 'can't', and so forth. Contractions were used before modern times and for me it slowed the pace.

I have struggled with reading historical fantasy in the past when it involves someone who did exist. And I think that this book didn't have enough fantasy added to it to draw more of a line between the historical and fantasy parts.

What a fascinating story! I knew a little about Boudicca's story going into this but was mostly just along for the ride. And what a ride it was! I have never read anything from this author but I devoured Boudicca and look forward to her future works! Highly recommend for fans of historical fantasy and mythology.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I requested this book, I was excited. I enjoyed the authors work in the past, and I have been interested in Boudicca since learning about her a few years ago. But I can't do this book. I have tried to read it on multiple occasions, but I just can't make it past the second chapter. I don't care for the way it seems over written, as if the author is trying to hard to sound mystical. Maybe it's just me, the majority of reviews seem to really enjoy it. Maybe I'll try again in the future. I love the idea behind this, and for that, I give it 2 stars. But for right now, sadly, it is a DNF.
Thank you, NetGalley and William Marrow, for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

_A Historical Fiction with Unfulfilled Promise_

While this book exhibited tremendous potential, I regret to say that it fell short of my expectations. I would advise prospective readers to familiarize themselves with the content warnings, as the narrative tackles sensitive subjects and features graphic depictions of battle and war.

The story revolves around the fascinating historical figure of Boudicca, who led a rebellion against the Romans. Given the richness of this historical backdrop and the intriguing mythology surrounding Boudicca's existence, I had anticipated a more engaging narrative. Unfortunately, it took some time for the story to gain momentum, and I struggled to become fully invested in the characters and their struggles.

Despite this, I acknowledge that this book may resonate with readers who appreciate historical fiction, particularly those who enjoyed "The Song of Achilles." The author's exploration of Boudicca's legend may appeal to readers interested in mythology-inspired fiction.

In conclusion, while this book did not entirely meet my expectations, it may still be of interest to readers who appreciate historical fiction and strong female protagonists. I appreciate NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 rounded up. This was a rough read. Understandably, given the time-period in which this is set and the historical figure it is about, there are a lot of trigger warnings. And they happen within the first few chapters continuing through the book to some extent. I think the story itself was really interesting, the characters definitely pulled me in, and you do get a feel for Iron Age Britain. That being said, I don't know if it was the contents of the first few chapters or just small things throughout the book, but there were times when certain characters suddenly seemed to be written very out of character, or when the pacing was just off enough that I had a hard time staying present in the story. So while this was a good read and I'm glad I picked up, it wasn't quite strong enough to reach the full 4 star mark from me.

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Before I give my opinions on Boudicca, I have two conflicting confessions to make. First, I know the story of Boudicca exceedingly well. One of my majors in college was in ancient history, with most of my interest (and therefore most of my research and papers, probably to the annoyance of my professors) focusing on the Briton, Gallic, and Germanic tribes who fought Rome. Queen Boudicca has been a heroine of mine since I was nineteen, which means P. C. Cast had a high bar.

Second. P. C. Cast has been a favorite author of mine for quite some time. I was stoked when I heard she was doing a proper Boudicca novel. I was absolutely right to be stoked.

It's hard to write a review without spoilers when the bones of story is real history from nearly two thousand years ago, so I'm going to give the bare minimum of the inciting event (easily found on Wiki as well) and nothing else. Boudicca begins about a year after the Chief of the Iceni tribe of Britons, Prasutagus, has died. His beloved wife, Boudicca, was elected by the tribe and Druids (spiritual leaders, legal counsel, and counselors to the native British people pre-Rome) to lead the Iceni as Queen after his death. However, Rome had a treaty in place with Prasutagus giving them essentially partnership with his Queen, and Rome, rather notoriously, doesn't share power with anyone, especially women. Women are property, not partners. A tax collector called Decianus, a petty little man who won't be told what to do by any backwater barbarian woman, descends on the Iceni camp with a group of Roman soldiers. Many are killed, and to set an example Decianus has soldiers rape Boudicca's two young daughters while she herself is stripped to the waist, tied to a pole, and whipped to unconsciousness.

Yes, the first couple chapters are hard as hell to read, and here are the first marks of Cast's brilliance as a writer because they must have been hard as hell to write, too. She mitigates the sheer brutality of the violence by giving us glimpses and feelings instead of immersing us in the horror. The story is from Boudicca's limited point of view, so we don't see her children's assaults, though we know they're happening. What we experience as readers is Boudicca's rage, terror, and protective desperation as a mother fighting to save her daughters and her people. We experience her own pain and anger as she's flogged. We feel the shock and sorrow at the glimpses of seeing her people cut down, including her own mother, but in the middle of the battle it's written so well that it feels like it's happening too fast to process, just as it is for her. When Boudicca curses Decianus and the Roman soldiers who have unjustly and evilly wronged her, her daughters, and her entire people, the Iceni's patron Goddess, Andraste, hears her curse and puts the powers of a Goddess of War behind it. This begins the rest of the story: where a wronged Queen builds an army of vengeance and rebels against the Roman Empire. Boudicca's final battle occurred in 61A.D., during the reign of Nero.

P.C. Cast writes paranormal stories, and Boudicca is no exception. She weaves the small and large magics of the Druids, religious beliefs and worship of the Gods and Goddesses of the tribes, and the magics of Otherworld, Annwn, throughout the story of human trials and challenges. Not only is some of her supposition backed up by historical research (Roman accounts of Druidic magic and tribal customs included some commentary about the regular soldiers' real fear of what Druids could do), but religious and magical structure is a heartbeat of a society's worldview. It makes the Iceni and, by extension, the other tribes, more real and accessible. Her worldbuilding isn't limited to magic: Cast's carefully considered social structure around the leadership, succession, village layout, seasonal concerns, war and battle preparation, and both physical and mental healing all give the reader a well rounded world. My favorite is the seventh-day custom of the women tribe gathering to wash their hair together in a group, taking the afternoon to relax, share news, wash and beautify, share food, and enjoy each other's company. It's a lovely take on a spa day, only multi-generational in a way that shares customs and wisdom through generations as well as fostering kindness and bonding across the tribe.

Boudicca is one of my top five books of 2024. It's everything nineteen-year-old me wanted to write about my hero when I first read about her in dusty old Roman comments huffing about uppity women daring to rebel against Rome, only better. I can't wait for it to come out so I can get a copy for my library, and I'm grateful to P.C. Cast for loving her and giving her the tribute she deserves.

Boudicca is available now for pre-order and hits shelves on January 21, 2025.

While I enjoyed this title, it struggled between being a realistic portrayal of the period and trying to check off elements to spice it up without any real reason or emotional depth. The title starts shortly before Bouddica's people, the Iceni, are raided by the Romans. Swearing vengeance, Boudicca sets out to regain what was taken from the Iceni, her daughters, and take a stand against the empire creeping into Britain.

The title evokes a sense of the period, traditions, and beliefs plus creates a compelling narrative of Bouddica's loss and desire to seek retribution for her people. There are not many books about Bouddican that manage to capture a sense of her spirit without feeling anachronistic. Cast writes the character with a weighted sense of maturity and the intricacies of being a mother in this situation. She does not gloss over Boudicca's age or experience, but instead makes it a cornerstone of her story in a way not often seen in similar titles.

However, the title loses itself about midway through the book. It starts to focus less on the Iceni and their motives for vengeance and introduces romantic elements into the plot. While these relationships are minor in the grand scheme of things, it does takes away from Boudicca's journey and her relationship with her daughters, which was the core of her emotional journey. The added romantic elements feel like it was borrowed from another story to make it interesting for a certain romance interested audience, but ultimately the ending feels like it scrambles back to the original narrative with less impact. All in all, the book should have focused on Bouddica, her daughters, and her clan rather than trying to chase the romantasy pipeline.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of the book. I really enjoyed this book. I haven't enjoyed a PC Cast book like this since one of her earlier books, the Goddess of Spring. This book reminded me of that series in a way. I also love that it was about the strong warrior queen who defied Rome. The writing made this book come alive and I was sucked in it. The world felt real and I appreciate the care that the author took to keep as much historically accurate as possible while also keeping it very much a female book. Amazing book and should be read by those who love a strong female lead.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I really wanted to like this book. I’m not well versed in the Boudican revolt, but the concept of a Celtic warrior queen felt right up my alley. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t connect with Boudicca as a character. The book is narrated in first person, and yet I never felt like I knew what was going on with her. There’s many scenes of Boudicca and her advisors talking about how they feel, but I never connected emotionally. The story was well-crafted and I can tell a lot of effort went into researching for the novel, I just wish I had a more enjoyable reading experience.

I didn't know the story of Boudicca before I read this book. I really enjoyed this and it has caused me to gain an interest in historical fiction books. It has also made me look more into the actual story of Boudicca as well.