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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
One of my favourite topics to study is Ancient Egypt to this was right up my street. This comes from the perspective of a character in Ancient Egypt that isn't well known and I enjoyed reading from her perspective.
I think the author did a brilliant job at creating the scenery of ancient Egypt. I liked how they merged historical characters with the characters that have been created. If you wasn't familiar with Ancient Egypt you would never know. You can tell the author put in a lot of research for this story which I can appreciate.
This had high stakes, espionage, power struggles and a love story. However, it was really slow until part 3 and there was just too much political intrigue for me.
One of my favourite topics to study is Ancient Egypt to this was right up my street. This comes from the perspective of a character in Ancient Egypt that isn't well known and I enjoyed reading from her perspective.
I think the author did a brilliant job at creating the scenery of ancient Egypt. I liked how they merged historical characters with the characters that have been created. If you wasn't familiar with Ancient Egypt you would never know. You can tell the author put in a lot of research for this story which I can appreciate.
This had high stakes, espionage, power struggles and a love story. However, it was really slow until part 3 and there was just too much political intrigue for me.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I, unfortunately, just did not enjoy this book much. The premise is very interesting, especially since Neferura was a real person, but the execution is just lacking. I think my major problems with this book is a mix between writing and character development. First, the writing in this novel is glaringly anachronistic for historical fiction; why are we referring to Osiris and Isis as a "brother-sister duo"? Second, Neferura goes through virtually no change in terms of character. She shares the same ideals at the end as she does at the beginning, and all she's done is maybe gotten a little more daring. Her circumstances change drastically, but never her. This story also lacks urgency; despite the worry that Thutmose is building up to something, there are these months-long time skips that really slow down the story, and although Neferura tells us she's in a rush, she doesn't really act like it. I did like her relationship with her tutor and her mother (for different reasons), and the look into historical Egypt was very interesting, but this was just an unsatisfying read.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Neferaru is a story centered on a fascinating subject: the daughter of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut.
.
The writing is solid. I was easily carried along from one sentence to the next. The budding romance between Neferaru and Kamut was fun to read, and the secret society of scorpion wisewomen was interesting to explore.
It took some thinking to understand why I couldn’t get into this story. This is what I landed on:
A story should consist of an inevitable and compelling progression of events - and that’s what Neferaru lacks. Things happen randomly with predictable consequences and without escalation of stakes. It does not feel like the story progresses.
I also found the protagonist impossibly naive, which makes it difficult to root for her and follow her on her journey. I kept wanting her to feel more real, but she felt flat.
I’d recommend this book for someone who loves stories of Ancient Egypt. I think it will get those readers their fix, even though it wasn’t for me.
.
The writing is solid. I was easily carried along from one sentence to the next. The budding romance between Neferaru and Kamut was fun to read, and the secret society of scorpion wisewomen was interesting to explore.
It took some thinking to understand why I couldn’t get into this story. This is what I landed on:
A story should consist of an inevitable and compelling progression of events - and that’s what Neferaru lacks. Things happen randomly with predictable consequences and without escalation of stakes. It does not feel like the story progresses.
I also found the protagonist impossibly naive, which makes it difficult to root for her and follow her on her journey. I kept wanting her to feel more real, but she felt flat.
I’d recommend this book for someone who loves stories of Ancient Egypt. I think it will get those readers their fix, even though it wasn’t for me.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
You can tell that the author wrote about a period in history that she’s very knowledgeable of — the imagery and attention to detail is incredible — and I really loved how she weaved all the myths into the story so you never felt like you were missing any information.
The beginning of the book is very character driven, so it’s inherently a bit slow, but the pace picks up in the second half. The reader is met with a complex story of betrayal, and conspiracy, and resilience, and I loved watching Neferura grow over the course of the book.
That being said, the writing style was a bit lacklustre, which made it hard to get swept up in the story, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I also really wish the story leaned more heavily on themes of female friendship because there was so much potential for it. I would’ve loved to see more fleshed out relationships between Neferura and the women in her life.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
EARC - out Feb 13th
A quick read only 300 or so pages.
Not sure it’s eliciting any feelings from me right now. Very meh. Despite all the “court intrigue”, nothing really happened and it was very dull.
I feel like the world building was not super well developed. It just let the reader rely on their own preconceived knowledge of Ancient Egypt. There would also randomly be modern sayings or words like bartender or ass that would take me right out of the story.
It tried to make it seem like the main character has agency and doesn’t just wait for stuff to happen to her. However she is very naive and sheltered and that naivety made being in her thoughts irritating at times. All she does is hope for other people to come help her find a solution.
Other characters speak of the main character’s stunning intellect and personality however you as the reader don’t really ever see evidence of that in the text.
It’s very dense at times and the tense jumps around a lot. Fought really hard to not DNF.
It got better in terms of things actually happening in the plot but that was at like the 75% mark of the story so it took way too long to get here. The ending is very obvious and abrupt.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
When this widget crossed my email I decided to pick it up because I’m always intrigued by the lesser-known female Egyptian royals and I rarely get a chance to read these ancient historical fiction novels (think like Madeleine Miller’s books). The female Egyptian queens and pharaohs are always intriguing figures, but the daughter of Hapshetsut, whom little is known about? That had the potential to be a great story.
It’s an interesting story, but the execution was average.
Evans, an expert in ancient Egyptian history, clearly knows what she's doing when it comes to world building and imagery. I had no trouble imagining the Egypt of Neferura’s time, from the land to the people. Likewise, her characters were interesting, if a little rote.
The issue I had is that the storytelling was lacking in any kind of flair or color. While readable, it wasn’t special. It was okay for one read, but I wouldn’t read it again. I’d consider it if you’re really digging some ancient Egypt vibes, but not if you’re looking for a dynamic story.
I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Neferura is the daughter of Pharaoh Hatshepsut and must navigate court to protect not just her mother's legacy from her power-hungry half-brother, Thutmose, but also herself from a dangerous fate. I don't often read Ancient Egyptian retellings simply because I've always preferred Ancient Greek retellings, but after Neferura that might have to change.
I loved the mystery and intrigue interwoven through the story and the moments where it read like an ancient Agatha Christie novel. The characters too, were extremely well written: none were cartoonishly villainous or cartoonishly good, which I often find in myth retellings and more often than not takes me out of the story. And, of course, Nefurura herself. I loved how she grew through the story without becoming as cruel or as ruthless as her mother.
My favourite thing about the novel, however, was the female characters that carried it. The underlying theme of the novel was sisterhood and female solidarity, and that's what made the novel tick for me. So often in retellings, especially retellings with a woman at the forefront, the idea of female solidarity is used to promote the novel - only for it to take a step back for a romance subplot. And whilst there is still romance in this novel, it doesn't take up more room than it should.
I can't wait to read more from Malayna Evans!
I loved the mystery and intrigue interwoven through the story and the moments where it read like an ancient Agatha Christie novel. The characters too, were extremely well written: none were cartoonishly villainous or cartoonishly good, which I often find in myth retellings and more often than not takes me out of the story. And, of course, Nefurura herself. I loved how she grew through the story without becoming as cruel or as ruthless as her mother.
My favourite thing about the novel, however, was the female characters that carried it. The underlying theme of the novel was sisterhood and female solidarity, and that's what made the novel tick for me. So often in retellings, especially retellings with a woman at the forefront, the idea of female solidarity is used to promote the novel - only for it to take a step back for a romance subplot. And whilst there is still romance in this novel, it doesn't take up more room than it should.
I can't wait to read more from Malayna Evans!
The first third of this book was a slog. I didn't connect with Neferura and the first-person narration did not help as the plot moved at a glacial pace. It also felt like much of the first third was dedicated to pedantic details about Egyptian culture which were not shown to us organically, instead, it felt like I was at a lecture. I pushed through the slow start and did find myself becoming somewhat invested in the plot, though I found the characters remained pretty flat. Neferura remained frustratingly naive and slow to do anything to help herself. At least we had some actual stakes and plot to keep things moving after the first part. While I found the conclusion decently written and set up, I wasn't satisfied because everything was tied up too neatly. Overall, I was disappointed.
**ARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
**ARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**