Reviews

The Dolphins of Laurentum by Caroline Lawrence

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nenenest's review against another edition

4.0

Excellent story. Clearly though you really need to have read the previous books which I hadn’t, so don’t start here start with book one.

kitkatslibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

ghoti's review against another edition

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5.0

This is the best of the Roman Mysteries so far - I love the mystery aspects, and historical setting, of all of them, but this one has such nuances of character, its such a delicate story told so well, that it is definitely my favourite of the first five.

jmariedewitt's review against another edition

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4.0

I appreciate the complexity of Lupus' character.

colinandersbrodd's review against another edition

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5.0

5th book in the series - Flavia Gemina and her friends meet Pliny the Younger, who invites them to vacation at his villa in Larentum. Her father, Captain Marcus Flavius Geminus, recently returned home, having barely survived a shipwreck (and having lost a fortune). His bankers are trying to take away the Geminus house to pay his debts, but Flavia and friends get the idea of diving to a sunken ship near Laurentum to retrieve gold to pay the debt. Lupus turns out to have been raised by sponge divers . . . and we find out much more about his past, and how he lost his tongue and ended up an orphan on the streets of Ostia . . .

sarahbc93_'s review against another edition

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4.0

So we are powering through these books now, love that for me. And I’m so enjoying this trip down memory lane as it’s been such a long time since I read these for the first time I’ve forgotten so much about what happens in them.

What is incredible though is that while I have forgotten a lot of what happens in the books, as soon as I start to read them again I’m instantly reminded of the story and it all comes rushing back to me. This one in particular I remember scaring me as a kid, I think it was the image of the dead octopus and the e descriptions of what happens to divers after too many dives in a day.

Plus the connections that Lawrence makes between people are so subtle that you don’t even fully realise until it is right on top of you. As I say, thoroughly enjoying the journey through this series and can’t wait to get to the others.