Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

1 review

maidinnah's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

There were many things I enjoyed. The setting of 1880s Egypt is alluring, further bolstered by the author’s lush descriptions. I enjoyed the romance — Inez is spunky with Whit matching her banter tit-for-tat. The bits of magic were cool. It was a fun read, with some pretty wild twists and turns, fitting for a book set on the longest river in the world. So fun, that it pains me to not give a higher rating.

The repetitiveness of some of Inez’s internal dialogue was grating. Her actions were unbelievably, frustratingly absurd. The ending was unsatisfying in that
we ended up right where we started, with not much progress beyond discovering Inez’s mother’s betrayal and a major character death. Ricardo is still trying to send Inez back home, Whit is heavily drinking, and Inez is clamoring for answers.
Despite my overall lukewarm reception of the book, I enjoyed it enough to where I do plan to read the sequel. To further set expectations, What the River Knows is a YA romance set in 1880s Egypt, not a novel about 1880s Egypt with dashes of romance. 
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