A review by adancewithbooks
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

adventurous mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

  Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.


What the River Knows is an interesting historical fantasy that tells the story of a Bolivian-Argentinian lady in Egypt. Since we very often get the view of the white europeans and americans with these kind of things I was very happy to see this book. 

The book starts with us meeting 19 year old Inez. She is eagerly awaiting a letter from her parents who are in Egypt. Instead she gets a visitor and a letter from her uncle. Her parents are presumed dead. Inez always wanted to go to Egypt with her parents, now that they are dead she is determined to find out what happened to them. So she jumps out from under the watchful eye of her aunt and nieces and heads out to Egypt on her own. 

Inez, as one can see from that bit from the start of the book, has quite a rebellious streak. She was brought up rather well off and with her parents away half of the year, got a lot of room to act out. Mostly that was unladylike things like getting dirty. But that did work for this book. This kind of plot did need someone like Inez who wasn't afraid to step out of the mold. She was mostly a joy to follow around, defying what is expected of a woman in ways. Fighting for what she thought was right. And as she had priviledge, she could get away with that. 

Her banter with especially Whit was entertaining and kept gripping you into the story, even when the pace was slow. It also feels like a love letter to Egypt. Everything about it is grand it feels. But that doens't mean it is blind to the problems that were happening at the time. The many tourists, smuggling artifacts out of the country, being under control of the English, making money over the back of another country's heritage. 

The first half of the book was fresh, filled with Inez's drive to find out what happened to her parents and what her uncle is really up to. The second half is slightly bogged down by many events where Inez didn't always seem to have an emotional response to that, that you would have expected of her. 
I was also saddened to hear that since I first had interest in this book and it looked like it was going to be a standalone, this is now a series. I think this book was fine on its own and it could have been wrapped up in one book if the ending had been navigated somewhat differently. I'm not sure if a sequel is going to enchance the story. There is betrayal in the air and I'm not sure if I want to go there with these characters. 

Regardless I did find this a fun book to read overall. I enjoyed Inez and the setting.  
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