Early Review – What the River Knows (Secrets of the Nile Duology, Book 1) by Isabel Ibanez (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 416 pages
Publisher:‎ Wednesday Books
Release Date: October 31, 2023
ASIN: B0BQGCPHB5
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Secrets of the Nile duology
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her globetrotting parents—who frequently leave her behind.

When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and a golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.”

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Secrets of the Nile duology. I got a copy of this through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: This was well done but different than I was expecting. I was expecting more of an adventure feel to the story. Instead this is more about a girl attempting to track down her lost parents in Egypt and unravel a plot around a group selling stolen Egyptian antiquities.

Inez receives news that her parents have died while in Egypt. She decides to venture out to Egypt on her own to find out the truth about their deaths/disappearance. Once there, she finds out her uncle and parents were connected to schemes around stealing Egyptian artifacts for profit. When it becomes clear that her life is at risk, she is forced to unravel all these mysteries and hunt down the truth.

I love stories set in Egypt and would have liked a bit more description on the surroundings so I could have pictured them better. I did really enjoy the historical information around Britain’s invasion of Egypt.

I also enjoyed the subtle magic woven throughout and the two main characters, Inez and Whit. There is a romance between Inez and Whit which was well done.

I do wish the world had been built out a bit better. There is some discussion around how magic used to be done and how it’s still present in objects, but this idea kind of pops in and out of the story and is never fully developed.

I also did not realize this was part of a series. This book ends at a horrible cliffhanger that was pretty confusing. I re-read the last part a few times trying to figure out what I was missing because I didn’t really understand the last few scenes. I see now that this is the first book in a duology, but still don’t understand the ending to this book.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked this but thought it was also a bit flawed. I enjoyed the Egyptian setting, the hints of magic in the world, and the two main characters. I would have liked more solid world building and description and better resolution at the end of the book. I also felt like the writing could have flowed better. I am on the fence about whether or not I will continue the series at this point.