Author: Emily Dexter
Series: The Poisoned Empire Duology #1
Publication: September 15, 2026 by Hay House LLC
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Find it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 3/5★
Circe meets The Lost Apothecary in the first book of this historical fantasy duology featuring Ancient Rome’s most infamous poisoner who changed the course of history to save the woman she loved.
Born in the ancient region of Gaul, Locusta is the last of her kind—a Druid whose communion with the spirit world grants her the dangerous gift of identifying and wielding deadly substances. When Roman soldiers attack her home and slaughter her mother, Locusta is captured and enslaved, taken to the heart of the empire where political plots abound and death commands a high price. Guided by Arawn, the god of death, she must learn to survive within the brutal, glittering world of ancient Rome.
Her strange talents soon catch the attention of the Roman elite, and she becomes ensnared in a double life—poisoner by night for the cunning Antonia Augusta, and lady-in-waiting by day to Livia, the Emperor’s ambitious cousin. As Locusta plants the seeds of revenge against those who destroyed her home, her connection with Livia deepens into a passionate, forbidden romance that threatens them both. Surrounded by danger and deceit, Locusta’s poisons become their only protection against the increasingly unstable Emperor Caligula and the enemies lurking in every shadow.
Locusta reimagines the rise of one of history’s most complex women through a lens of myth, power, and feminine rage. Rich with ruthless twists, deadly magic, and a sapphic love story that burns from sweet to spicy, this is a story of survival, defiance, and the dangerous alchemy of love and death in a world ruled by men.
Locusta by Emily Dexter is a historical fantasy set in ancient Rome during the reign of emperor Caligula and Claudius.
I was really looking forward to this book because I'm very intrigued by the historical figure of Locusta. Historian don't actually know a lot about her, only what the ancient Roman sources say about her and as we all know how they thought about people from outside their Empire. I liked how the story started and enjoyed reading about Locusta becoming a Druid even though the circumstances of it were quite sad. I also liked her connection she forms with the god of death. However this is where my interest kinda of stopped.
I feel like as soon as Locusta was brought to Rome and she met Livia (cousin of the emperor) that she was instantly obsessed with her and that she sort of disappeared inside the obsession. I also didn't like how things evolved with Agrippina and how the author made her a villain.
This said, the audiobook was quite good. I enjoyed the narrator and it was quite suspsensful at times. However, I'm not sure I'll be picking up the second book of the duology.
About the author:Emily Dexter is a writer and creator whose work explores the intersection of history, mysticism, and the human spirit. Emily is a deep believer in the magic and power of fiction to change the world and has yet to find something she likes more than creating it. She has cultivated an expansive international audience of readers and viewers across multiple social platforms, where she shares insights on history, mythology, and the unseen forces that shape our lives. Through her writing, she seeks to uncover the wisdom and resilience of women whose stories have been lost to time, inviting readers to see the ancient world, and themselves, through a lens of wonder and truth. When not doing magic, reading, or creating you can find her somewhere in the forests of Lake Tahoe, with her three children, wonderful husband, and stick hoarding dragon dog.
