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What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

62 reviews

camiclarkbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“What the River Knows” by Isabel Ibañez was pitched as a “The Mummy” meets “Death on the Nile” and that very neatly describes it. 

Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera is part of 19th century Buenos Aires’s high society, but she longs to be with her parents, who leave her behind on their travels. When Inez receives a letter informing her of her parents’ tragic deaths at an archaeological dig in Egypt, she inherits their fortune and an archaeologist as her new guardian. 

Determined to find answers about her parents, Inez sails to Cairo on her own. Once she arrives in the bustling city, the old world magic connected to the golden ring her father sent her for safekeeping sends her down a path that reveals there is more to her parents’ disappearance than her guardian implied.

Inez utilizes the ancient magic in her quest to discover what really happened to her parents, despite being hindered at every turn by her guardian’s handsome—but frustrating—assistant. What she uncovers is a larger conspiracy, with stakes higher than she ever could have imagined.

I find myself unsure of what I thought of “What the River Knows.” It was beautifully written, with lush descriptions of everything from the setting to the clothes. The plot was captivating, especially near the end when I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to see what would happen next. 

But the main character, Inez Olivera, suffers greatly by being a 19th century character written by a 21st century author. Much of her dialogue with men, especially for the first half or three-quarters of the book is jarringly out of character for a young woman of that time. It regularly took me out of the story. Had it been her thoughts or maybe something she mumbled under her breath undetected, it might have worked better. But instead we’re left with yet another period heroine turned into a girl boss.

The book is also repetitive for the first half. Every man Inez meets she has the same conversations and arguments with: she will stay in Egypt despite being unchaperoned and she will follow her guardian to the dig site where her parents were last seen. Ibañez was trying to show how little agency women had during this time, but it fell short. Instead of reinforcing the struggles Inez faced, the repetition of these scenes just spun the story’s tires endlessly.

As frustrating as I found those points, the overall plot of “What the River Knows” is excellent. It’s a high adventure story with fun twists and quippy lines that would translate well to a movie. I found myself eager to find out what was going to happen next, and audibly groaned when the book ended on a cliffhanger and a shocking epilogue.

Overall, “What the River Knows” is a good book. It was clearly well researched and written by someone with a vivid imagination and a flair for the dramatics, in the best way possible. If not for the “girl bossification” of the heroine, it would have been a great book.

I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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alli_the_bookaholic13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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