There seem to be at least two ways you can read this book. The first one is to focus on the “clash” of the great cultures of Rome and Carthage, their military endeavors against each other, and how Hannibal's genius forever changed the way generals thought about battles. This aspect is written really skilfully and on many occasions I had a very hard time to put the book down. The second way to read this book is to focus on the lives of the 3 POV characters, and here the result is a bit uneven. The whole description of everyday life of soldiers, officers, and citizens is really detailed and engaging. The only problem is that the love life of the main characters is (at least for me) too much like form some YA drama. I felt quite embarrassed when I was reading some parts of the book. I think I might have been more tolerant if the rest of the book was not so good, but here the contrast caused that I had quite strong reaction to it as a reader. Luckily, these more cheesy parts were not that extensive and my impression of the book improved a lot as I was reading the book (hence the 4 stars). I look forward to the next book in the series!