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A review by carrej
The Lady Adventurers Club by Karen Frost
2.0
Under-appreciated Egyptologist Anna Baring founds a Lady Adventurers Club to stick it to the men who take credit for her work and exclude her from their social circles. However, when she invites her club to Egypt to excavate the treasures of a lost pharaoh's tomb, a series of unfortunate events unfolds and danger draws ever closer.
I knew nothing about this book when picking it up, but the premise was so interesting to me: 4 ladies making their own place into the world they were excluded from, and on top of that, in Egypt! The first part of the book--the creation of the club--was very compelling, however once the ladies arrive in Egypt, things started going downhill. Several of the plot twists were very predictable and it was easy upon meeting new characters to guess what their role in the story was going to be. The love story between Anna and Clara felt forced, and most of the time very cringy. I found Anna's attitude towards Clara to be very predatory and inappropriate, often taking advantage of her innocence and lack of experience. I simply could not root for their relationships to succeed.
The ending of the book, (the big reveal) was disappointing to me. I found that is was a lazy way to end the book and ultimately undermined all the work that these female characters were doing, particularly Anna, to make a name for themselves as an Egyptologist. The book failed to address colonialism in a meaningful way: all the main characters are non-Egyptian, and the few Egyptian characters are low-ranked employees. Finally, Georgette's lines, one of the club's members and a French woman, were unbearable. Every single one of her lines included a word in French, not translated, which for someone who can speak English that well is simply unrealistic and very redundant.
Overall, I think that this book had immense potential, could definitely be a series, but ultimately did not deliver. Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I knew nothing about this book when picking it up, but the premise was so interesting to me: 4 ladies making their own place into the world they were excluded from, and on top of that, in Egypt! The first part of the book--the creation of the club--was very compelling, however once the ladies arrive in Egypt, things started going downhill. Several of the plot twists were very predictable and it was easy upon meeting new characters to guess what their role in the story was going to be. The love story between Anna and Clara felt forced, and most of the time very cringy. I found Anna's attitude towards Clara to be very predatory and inappropriate, often taking advantage of her innocence and lack of experience. I simply could not root for their relationships to succeed.
The ending of the book, (the big reveal) was disappointing to me. I found that is was a lazy way to end the book and ultimately undermined all the work that these female characters were doing, particularly Anna, to make a name for themselves as an Egyptologist. The book failed to address colonialism in a meaningful way: all the main characters are non-Egyptian, and the few Egyptian characters are low-ranked employees. Finally, Georgette's lines, one of the club's members and a French woman, were unbearable. Every single one of her lines included a word in French, not translated, which for someone who can speak English that well is simply unrealistic and very redundant.
Overall, I think that this book had immense potential, could definitely be a series, but ultimately did not deliver. Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.