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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Book 1 in the Secrets of the Nile duology, a magical and mysterious late 19th century YA historical fiction set in Egypt. I adored the setting in this book! I have always been captivated by Ancient Egypt, the Pyramids, archeology, Egyptian culture, and this was full of them. It was a fun, adventurous and beautifully written book. It was a little slow-moving at first, but really picked up in the second half. The main character Inez really went through a roller coaster ride of emotions, grief, betrayal, loneliness and even love, and I felt every bit of it. Looking forward to concluding the story in book 2!
An exciting book for all those kids who loved Egypt when they were young. The romance had me smitten at times.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-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
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was expecting to love this but it is too young for me. The protagonist is so incredibly childish in a way I would have enjoyed at like 12 but would be annoyed at by the time I was her age. The romance is fairly paint by numbers but in a fun way. I liked the soft magic and vibes of it overall. I also think it was nice that they incorporated other female characters but ultimately none of them did anything and the ending was underwhelming and sad. The pacing was atrocious and way too long overall. Also they spend a lot of time talking about colonialism and looting without any Egyptian characters being really prominent? I really thought I would like it but it was a full miss.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
medium-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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Watch the mummy instead...
I wanted to like this. When it didn't immediately grip me, I was wary but I thought it would pick up the more I read. I was dreadfully wrong.
The synopsis of this book feels... misleading somehow. I was expecting a grand adventure, lots of lore about the magic system and Egyptian exploration. I got... none of that??
The setting felt... inconsequential. This could have taken place literally anywhere. While I could tell the author did research Egyptian history and culture and it was used, I feel like she barely scratched the surface. There was so much potential and it all felt very base level. When we actually got to the exploration of ruins, even that felt boring and mechanical and I did not care about what was happening.
The beginning, while slow and not gripping did have some promise. That evaporated quickly. It's basically a cycle of Inez trying to get involved, getting told no, going anyway and then getting into some shit. Repeat repeat repeat. The tension between her and her uncle was grating, he was being an ass for no reason and I get that his wihtolding of information was to raise the suspense but it got super annoying. He remained an asshole at the end, though at this point it might be paritially justified (even though I do not agree with the witholding of her money) as Inez truly has caused an endless number of problems with her naivety or truly foolish plans.
I also think this book would have benefitted fromhaving no romance. To me, the chemistry was nonexistent. Inez and Whit did not interact or banter enough for me to root for them to get together. Possibly due to the fact that there is a sequel, Whit felt very underdeveloped and too mysterious. The cliffhanger at the end was unnecessary and infuriating. Nothing about him made
Speaking of Inez, girl. I got so fed up of her internal monologue so quick. She kept repeating the same shit over and over, making the same mistakes and cycling through the same thoughtd. For somebody who is supposed to be smart, I was infuriated when she got to Egypt in the very beginning and did not go through and read all of her parents papers and correspondence. You don't want clues girls?? I could have let this go if at the end, her cousin who follows her didn't do exactly that and find a letter with crucial information? Girl, I almost threw the book at this. Why?
I get wanting plot twists and holding back information but this was such a stupid way to do it.
Elvira... girl you deserved better. For a book that was so mild with so little action, did we really need to randomly kill a side character? She was clearly brought back into the plot simply to push it forward and manufacture emotion, making the death feel cheap and out of place.
Overall, I did not like this book. I hate to shit on any book but reading is subjective and this clearly was not for me.
I wanted to like this. When it didn't immediately grip me, I was wary but I thought it would pick up the more I read. I was dreadfully wrong.
The synopsis of this book feels... misleading somehow. I was expecting a grand adventure, lots of lore about the magic system and Egyptian exploration. I got... none of that??
The setting felt... inconsequential. This could have taken place literally anywhere. While I could tell the author did research Egyptian history and culture and it was used, I feel like she barely scratched the surface. There was so much potential and it all felt very base level. When we actually got to the exploration of ruins, even that felt boring and mechanical and I did not care about what was happening.
The beginning, while slow and not gripping did have some promise. That evaporated quickly. It's basically a cycle of Inez trying to get involved, getting told no, going anyway and then getting into some shit. Repeat repeat repeat. The tension between her and her uncle was grating, he was being an ass for no reason and I get that his wihtolding of information was to raise the suspense but it got super annoying. He remained an asshole at the end, though at this point it might be paritially justified (even though I do not agree with the witholding of her money) as Inez truly has caused an endless number of problems with her naivety or truly foolish plans.
I also think this book would have benefitted fromhaving no romance. To me, the chemistry was nonexistent. Inez and Whit did not interact or banter enough for me to root for them to get together. Possibly due to the fact that there is a sequel, Whit felt very underdeveloped and too mysterious. The cliffhanger at the end was unnecessary and infuriating. Nothing about him made
Speaking of Inez, girl. I got so fed up of her internal monologue so quick. She kept repeating the same shit over and over, making the same mistakes and cycling through the same thoughtd. For somebody who is supposed to be smart, I was infuriated when she got to Egypt in the very beginning and did not go through and read all of her parents papers and correspondence. You don't want clues girls?? I could have let this go if at the end, her cousin who follows her didn't do exactly that and find a letter with crucial information? Girl, I almost threw the book at this. Why?
I get wanting plot twists and holding back information but this was such a stupid way to do it.
Elvira... girl you deserved better. For a book that was so mild with so little action, did we really need to randomly kill a side character? She was clearly brought back into the plot simply to push it forward and manufacture emotion, making the death feel cheap and out of place.
Overall, I did not like this book. I hate to shit on any book but reading is subjective and this clearly was not for me.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix