Invictus by Ryan Graudin

From Goodreads:
Time flies when you're plundering history.

Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, Far's birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history himself is all he's ever wanted, and after failing his final time-traveling exam, Far takes a position commanding a ship with a crew of his friends as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past. 

But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. Armed with knowledge that will bring Far's very existence into question, she will lead Far and his team on a race through time to discover a frightening truth: History is not as steady as it seems.

Guess who's back, back again. 

I'm officially done my undergrad degree, and in the interim between the end of exams and now, I've read a plethora of books, all of which need reviewing. Following The Uninvited by Cat Winters, which I read in January, this was the first book I read, once all my final papers and assignments had calmed the eff down for a minute before my exams started. I got this book for Christmas because I love time travel stories and this is most definitely a time-travel novel. 

The plot grabbed my attention almost instantly, with Graudin creating an interesting world and compelling characters. It's a fast-paced novel, that is propelled more by plot than character, which is not uncommon for time-travel stories. The historical parts were very interesting to see as well, which helped propel the plot forward. The world-building, additionally, was very well done and I got through this book quickly because it was paced well and I continued to want to know what was coming next.

However ...

While the world-building, plot setup, and settings were all very well-done, I felt as though the characters were not very well-developed or thought out. There is a relationship in this novel, but there is never any set-up or any scenes that truly portray why they are an item. In not having relatable characters, Invictus did not have stakes that were high enough for me to really care about what happened. While the world-building and setting pulled me in, the lack of character development and lack of any tangible stakes or consequences of their actions (in a believable way) dragged me out of the story Graudin is telling in this book. 

Because of the lack of character development and significance of their actions and decisions (some of which are really dumb and unrealistic) the book gets slowed down in parts that are supposed to be significant and meaningful, which was a detractor and, as such, I had to take away from my rating. 

In conclusion, Invictus had a mostly good plot that was accompanied by good pacing and a unique setting created by Ryan Graudin. That being said, however, this book does not have any real moments of significance due to a lack of character development and unrealistic portrayals in certain scenes, which slows down the book. For these reasons, it was difficult to give a rating for this book, but have decided to give it a 3/5 - the plot and world-building is well-done, and it boasts an incredible writing style, but it's dragged down by underdeveloped and unrealistic characters that fall flat. If you are into novels driven by plot over character with science fiction, you will enjoy this book.