Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - What the River Knows

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez is a historical fantasy steeped in 1880s Egypt. Inez is looking for answers about the death of her parents. She travels to Egypt from Buenos Aires to find out what happened, but nothing is as she expects when she arrives. Now she'll have to rely of her stubbornness and resilience to find out the truth.

I'm conflicted about this book. On one hand, I absolutely enjoyed the atmosphere and the way Ibañez weaves history, politics, and culture into the narrative to make it feel very grounded. There are so many great details about the weather, the markets, the languages, and how people get around. I liked that Inez wasn't a push-over when it came to going after what she wanted.

On the other hand, this book relies a bit too much on twists and the magic system isn't very well explained. It's a little unclear how common magical items are or how it all works. I was also annoyed at Inez for a lot of the book. While she stubbornly pushes forward, she also doesn't have great instincts and is somehow both too suspicious and too trusting. There's one major twist that became more obvious as the story went on. But the whole things relies on a bunch of people straight up refusing to communicate and I was annoyed at the lot of them.

I'm also just mad at it for the cliffhanger ending. Of course I want to know what it's all about, which means waiting for the next book in the series. But the way these things go it's definitely more for shock factor than intrinsic truth

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

First off, thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book. I’m so grateful and have now bought two separate editions of my own and the audiobook because I loved it so! Isabel Ibañez did such an incredible job with this novel! 🥰

I absolutely loved everything about the story. As a trained archaeologist myself, it hits very close to my heart! Inez’s strength drew me to her side and never let go. Whit’s charisma and ‘wit’ty banter had me falling right in love with him. The story was exciting, mysterious, adventurous, fun, devastating, shocking, and left me gasping for more! November won’t arrive soon enough!

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3.75

Finished reading: November 11th 2023

"Grief was like a memory keeper. It showed me moments I'd forgotten, and I was grateful, even as my stomach hollowed out."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Hodderscape in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I loved my first experience with the writing of this author when I read Woven In Moonlight back in 2020... While I somehow never picked up that particular sequel (something I hope to remedy soon), I couldn't resist adding What The River Knows to my wishlist as soon as I first heard about it. I have a weak spot for stories with a Latin American flavor, and of course I HAD to read a story that is partly set in the country I now call my home. I also love a good dose of armchair travel, and 19th century Egypt sounded like a particularly fascinating destination. And what a read What The River Knows turned out to be!

It's hard to put this story in a neat little genre box; What The River Knows is a very successful mashup of different elements and genres and the resulting cocktail works like a charm. With its late 19th century Egypt setting, the story is part historical fiction. There is also magic involved, making this story tip its toes in the fantasy genre. BUT. This first book of a new series can also be considered an adventure/quest for example with their mission to find Cleopatra's tomb. And don't forget the danger factor, plenty of lies, betrayal and a healthy dose of rival-to-lover romance. This might seem like a lot, but somehow this mix works surprisingly well.

One of the things that stands out the most is without doubt the historical Egyptian setting. There is so much attention to detail with the descriptions of the different settings and all things late 19th century Egypt, and it really made you feel like you traveled back in time to that era. True, some might feel there is a bit too much information being thrown at you at times, but I personally didn't mind as I enjoyed learning more about Egyptian culture and history. The visit to Argentina was brief and not as present, although there are plenty of Spanish words and phrases to make my inner philologist happy.

There were some minor niggles along the way though. I was surprised by the fact that the pace was quite slow at times, and it took me longer than expected to finish this story. This might have had to do with the longer descriptions and attention to detail, which in a way I also appreciated, but the fact is that the story didn't flow as well as I expected. I did enjoy the writing style itself though. One of the things I struggled the most with was probably the romance though. I just never believed in the attraction between Inez and Whit, and as a result the rival-to-lover trope fell flat for me. Did I like the initial sass and Inez standing up for herself? Yes. But especially in the second half I started to resent their growing connection.

What The River Knows has a dual POV structure and switches between Inez and Whit. I'm not sure if I liked Whit's POV all that much, and I think I would have preferred to stick with just Inez instead... They seem to be mostly in the same place anyway, and I just didn't think his thoughts were all that interesting (with a couple exceptions). That said, the plot has quite a few surprises and twists in store, and some I definitely didn't see coming. A little warning though: What The River Knows ends with a major cliffhanger, and for someone who didn't realize until recently this was actually the first book of a series this was a hard blow. Let's hope the wait for the next book won't be too long!

If you enjoy a well written historical fantasy with a dose of adventure, murder, magic and danger as well as romance, you should try traveling to Egypt with What The River Knows. The pace might be a tad slow at times, but there is no doubt that this story is rich and immersive!

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