This book was absolutely fascinating. I love a strong, confident, take-no-prisoners FMC.

Semiramis was not supposed to be here, climbing through society, garnering power, becoming a legend - destined to be the topic of myth. This is an origin story of the only female Queen of Assyria and the infamous love triangle between the two brothers who loved her, died, and paved way for her to rule. An orphan raised by a cruel shepherd in a village, Semiramis catches the eye of the new Governor Onnes and using her cunning she exacts revenge on her abuser while securing herself a way into higher society. Her climb is a fascinating tale of war, power, and tenacity toward her destiny.

I loved the way secondary characters of lower status, like slave Ribat and the spymaster Sasi, connect and interact with Semiramis throughout the book. The parallels drawn between them, all seeking power and control in their own ways, was grounding amidst Semiramis’s rapid ascension.

I chose this book as my Book of the Month, and then was also granted an Advance Listening Copy. The narrator for the audiobook had the perfect accent and sound to bring this story to life. I didn’t want the narration to end!

There were a few parts that felt a bit long and drawn out, and other areas I wish the author had spent more time on. Semiramis’s war contributions I wish had been more about her actions and less about the love story, but I understand the focus where aligning with the myth is concerned. I also feel like there was a huge gap with Semiramis keeping the women and children after they win the campaign… I thought this was building to something and I either missed it, or it was a lose end that never tied up.

Thank you to Netgalley and RBMedia for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Clytemnestra was such a good read that Costanza Casati because an auto read author for me! I love her storytelling and I felt the same way about Babylonia. I had actually heard of Clytemnestra before Casati's novel but the story of Babylonia was new to me. I was very fascinating.

The audiobook was a great listen. The narrator read the story very well, she kept it entertaining and not over the top. I would definitely look for this narrator again!

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia | Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC Copy!

Yet another beautifully told mythology by Costanza Casati. This just salifies that she will forever be an auto buy author for me. This story follows Semiramis in the Assyrian empire, which is not a mythology that I was familiar with at all so can not say how accurate it was according to history, but I can say that it was a really good time, even when it wasn't. The love story was beautiful, but it was never at the sacrifice of our character and that is one thing that I love about Costanza's books.

Loved the narration, did not love the book. Some parts of it was just way too much for me. Loved the writing and the author’s style.

A great audio book. I would reccomend listening to this book and the narrator was clear and easy to listen to. I appreciate a strong female lead and suggested this for my book club. The take from an Assyrian perspective was super different as most books tend to focus on Roman and Greek gods. I found myself intrigued and googling for more information as I read.

When you love a audiobook you buy a physical copy and that is what I did! To no one’s surprise I loved every second of this. I need Costanza Casati to send me everything that is currently in the works. I did not think anything would top my love for Clytemnestra but Babylonia was wonderful. The characters, the writing, the narration. If you like retellings do yourself a favor and pick this one up,

I unfortunately really struggled getting through this book. I decided at 18% not to continue reading. I didn’t feel any sort of connection to the characters and was struggling to follow the plot.

3,5 stars

While I liked the overall plot of "Babylonia", the story dragged on in several places and I think the love triangle as well as most of the characters weren't really all that developed.

The quality of this audiobook was 5/5! The narrator was fantastic as was the production. I enjoyed listening to the audio.

Although the quality of the audiobook was excellent, I don't think this was the right format for this novel. I sometimes had a hard time following along as a lot of the characters had similar names. The story itself was interesting and seemed like it was well researched. It was also interesting to have a story about an era and area that are not as commonly discussed.

I was hooked to Babylonia within the first few minutes of listening. I got lost in Casati's writing, the incredible world building, character portrayals, and FEELING. Semiramis is cunning and brave, tackles adversity with poise, and overall was just so incredibly resilient. Every time we left her, I was eager to get back in her perspective. That's not to say I didn't also enjoy Onnes and Ninus, who were incredible in their own right. I think it just speaks to how beautifully written Semiramis was. I was so impressed and cannot wait to read more from Casati.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

"Immortality doesn’t mean living forever. It means surviving even after your heart stops beating and your body is burned. It means living in myth, in stories."

Casati nailed it again! I love how she brings these strong women from history to life and makes them feel so real. The way she humanizes them is always so well done. That said, I do wish this book had focused more on Semiramis as a ruler instead of her relationships with the two men. That part of her story was interesting, but I feel like her time as empress would’ve been even more exciting to dive into. I also would have loved to see her as more of a villainess - we don't know much about her actually as a person so while it is nice to imagine that she didn't want the power that was thrust upon her, I would have loved to have seen her grasp that power and run with it.

DNFed at 66%. This was supposed to be a story of female empowerment and a woman from nothing rising to the top position of power in an empire but I just could not for the life of me connect with Semiramis. Not all main characters need to be likable but you need to want her to succeed for the story to have power, have meaning. I couldn’t find any reasons to support her rise. The other thing I found interesting in the whole book was the love triangle between Semiramis, her husband the governor Onnes, and the ruling emperor Ninus. It just wasn’t enough to keep me interested. Someone ended up dying and I couldn’t even remember who and cared to reread to find out which is when I ultimately bailed. Maybe I would’ve benefitted from eyeball reading but it was just way too long without any real draw to the plot or characters to push me to continue.

I don’t know how I feel about this one. I gave it sometime after I finished to review it and I am still not sure.
The book is all about Semiramis going adopted orphan in the middle of nowhere to the palace with unexpected power. It explores the way to power and the impact it has on relationships between family member, brothers and lovers.
With this being a retelling of an ancient empire, it was interesting to learn more about this myth and legend, but I underestimated the unexpected lovers and weird family structures.
I think overall it was fine, I don’t think I have anything bad to say about it. The main problem was that I could not get hooked. If this wasn’t an ARC I don’t think I would have finished it. It took so long to get the story going and even during the climax, I didn’t feel the need to find out more.

Not only was this book beautifully written, but the audiobook was even better. The emotions, relationships, and setting was incredible. I haven’t read the author’s first book, but will now!

I read this book at the wrong time - I did not absorb all that this story aimed to address, but I did find the prose to be very elegant and I did appreciate the story at play.

The narration in this book was so well done that I felt I was being transported.

Not my typical genre but this was a great read (listen?). A beautiful Greek mythology retelling. I will definitely be looking more into the culture as well as looking forward to more from this author.

Babylonia is an epic mythological tale telling the legend of Semiramis. This was a slow burner for me and I really struggled to get into the first quarter of the book but got more into it as the book went on. Because of that I stuggled to really connect with the characters in the book. I was interested in the political dynamics and power struggles but wanted I didn't feel that attached to the characters. I wanted to read more about the relationship between Onnes and Ninus. Still a solid novel and plenty to keep my interested. Will be adding Clytemnestra to be to be read list.

I loved listening to Ayesha Antoine read this book. Her voice sounded like a queen as she told the tale of Semiramis, and made each chapter, even those not from Semiramis' view, vivid and enrapturing. I had never heard the story of Semiramis before in any form, but Casati's version told from multiple perspectives featured an honest portrayal of women's lives in the Assyrian empire, the struggle for power among those born into high status and those trying to achieve it, the trauma felt by both those who win a battle or war and those who lose it and a subplot of an enslaved person becoming a free scribe, and potentially, being one of the first to record Semiramis' incredible journey to power in writing. From the author's note, and the details included in the story, Casati has based her plot and world building on Assyrian art and texts from that period while also including her fictitious representations of real historical characters, changing their names slightly and creating connections and conversations to add a bit of fantastical detail to Semiramis' story. The time skips in this book felt natural and unforced. I don't think I missed anything between any time jumps, and that a credit to Casati's writing ability. I loved learning about this powerful female ruler, and all she achieved for the Assyrian empire. This is a book I can definitely imagine rereading in physical form, but with Ayesha's voice still in my head to give the words greater weight and a regal ambience.

This has a really slow start and I just couldn't get into it enough to make it past 50% I think I'll try reading it physically

This author has immaculate storytelling abilities! These mythology retellings are so captivating and I think she does an excellent job of filling in the blanks with their own original details of the story.