Two stars means "it's okay." And that's what I felt upon completion. It's not bad, but it's not fantastic. It falls short of a three star rating because the characters felt very underdeveloped. The historical fiction side of it was FANTASTIC--Pompeii was an as-yet unexplored niche for me. Natural disasters have always fascinated me (EXCEPT TORNADOS, those things scare me silly), and this was very thoroughly researched. 
 But the characters. The pacing. I wasn't impressed. There's no spoilers in this review btw! 
 The first problem was Lucia. Tag, her childhood friend/slave/love muffin was a little bit more consistent. Lucia, on the other hand, starts out strong and finishes soft. My first impression was that of a strong heroine: She's smart, enjoys exploring the outdoors, and is kind. But as time progresses, she just becomes BORING. Lots of pining and whimpering over Tag, who isn't that strong himself but at least stays the same. Tag is a medic, and a gladiator (kind of/I guess? I honestly didn't see the point in his gladiator arc), but he does a lot of worrying. I can't really blame him, because Lucia's father is an ass, so he's always worrying that his father will get killed, Lucia will be pushed into an arranged marriage, or something will happen to him. The final problem, because it takes three things to make a death triangle, was their insta-love. The childhood memories should have been a saving grace, but it was obvious that they had almost nothing in common, because they argued a LOT. It seemed like the forbidden romance aspect was what drove them, and that bothered me. Romeo and Juliet works because it's Romeo and Juliet. In this day and age, a forbidden, fictional romance needs more foundation, regardless of the setting. Had I been convinced of them, this book would have been rated a lot higher for me. 
 Lastly, the actual eruption, which is NOT a spoiler because if you didn't know about Vesuvius (which is a fantastic concert band piece by Frank Ticheli! Sorry, nerd moment) and Pompeii, then you were obviously asleep in World History. You're also probably one of those people who thought the Ukraine was in Iowa (yes those people exist!). Anyway, I actually started feeling anxious when I got to the last few chapters. I'm going along, feeling this sense of dread--which is AWESOME because whenever a book makes me feel a strong emotion I'm impressed--when suddenly it's done. The eruption happens. After ALL this buildup, I expected like a whole chapter devoted to describing the eruption, but nooooo I actually had to turn back the page and reread it to make absolutely sure I didn't miss anything. What the heck was that?!!? I'm not going to say anything else, because even though I gave this only two stars, I don't think it's a bad read, so I think there are people who would enjoy this book and not be so bothered by the lack of character development. 
 I'm going to go cheer myself up with the chocolate volcano dessert from Rainforest Cafe now. 
 ***I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and in no way does my opinion reflect that of the publisher or author.***