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A review by goblinhearted
Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
3.0
I am a huge fan of ancient Egypt and was really looking forward to reading an entire novel based there. That said, this book fell flat for me.
The setting was gorgeous. I loved the descriptions of the temples, the nile, the statues and the architecture.
The characterization of both Nefertiti and Akhenaton seemed very one-dimensional. I got tired of reading about them. I wanted their characters to develop, but it seemed like for each of them, they both just became caricatures of what they started as. They both have this unquenchable desire for power. That is the essence of their personalities and it just becomes cranked up to eleven as the novel goes on.
I enjoyed the character of Mutnodjmet, but I was disappointed that basically her entire character, by the end of the novel, boiled down to her just wanting to settle down with her husband and have kids. I understand that she just wanted a “normal life” outside of her sister’s palace, and that is what a normal life looked like to her. I just hate that. Lol.
The book leans very heavily chick-lit; this means a huge majority of the entire novel focuses on the ability to get pregnant or have children. The entire last half of the book is essentially Nefertiti aggressively giving birth to new children. I get it; it’s about royalty, and of course royal blood matters because of lineage and who will take the throne, etc. I just really, really, would rather read about anything else.
I recognize wholeheartedly that me not liking this novel is a “me-problem”. It’s just not the sort of thing I would be into. I suspected it would be like this, going into it. It ultimately made me realize how much I crave a story about ancient Egypt that isn’t about royalty.
The setting was gorgeous. I loved the descriptions of the temples, the nile, the statues and the architecture.
The characterization of both Nefertiti and Akhenaton seemed very one-dimensional. I got tired of reading about them. I wanted their characters to develop, but it seemed like for each of them, they both just became caricatures of what they started as. They both have this unquenchable desire for power. That is the essence of their personalities and it just becomes cranked up to eleven as the novel goes on.
I enjoyed the character of Mutnodjmet, but I was disappointed that basically her entire character, by the end of the novel, boiled down to her just wanting to settle down with her husband and have kids. I understand that she just wanted a “normal life” outside of her sister’s palace, and that is what a normal life looked like to her. I just hate that. Lol.
The book leans very heavily chick-lit; this means a huge majority of the entire novel focuses on the ability to get pregnant or have children. The entire last half of the book is essentially Nefertiti aggressively giving birth to new children. I get it; it’s about royalty, and of course royal blood matters because of lineage and who will take the throne, etc. I just really, really, would rather read about anything else.
I recognize wholeheartedly that me not liking this novel is a “me-problem”. It’s just not the sort of thing I would be into. I suspected it would be like this, going into it. It ultimately made me realize how much I crave a story about ancient Egypt that isn’t about royalty.