It’s very rare (at least for me) that after falling in love with a cover, I’d fall in love with the book’s insides as well. It’s either that I end up hating the book, despite the cover, or just enjoying it. When I first saw The Blazing Star’s cover, I was a goner. I mean, you have a beautiful girl (Can we talk about the importance of having a smiling girl of colour on a book cover? Because !!!!!!) and a beautiful graphic design at once. Can you blame me? Then I read the premise and I knew that I had to read this book, asap. Everything about The Blazing Star spoke of promise.

The story starts with Portia, her twin sister, Alex, and a freshman named Selene, who are taken back to Ancient Egypt after Portia touches a museum artifact. They now have to learn to navigate this land that is as foreign to them as they are to it, all the while searching for a way to get back home. But soon the girls learn that there’s a lot more than meets the eye, and their presence in Pharaoh’s Egypt is not quite so accidental as they had initially thought.

It took me a while to finish this book, due to my massive (and now year-long) book slump. I tried to pick it up multiple times over the course of three months, but I put it back down when I saw that it just wasn’t happening. I didn’t want the book to suffer because of my lack of desire for reading. But it’s a new year, as cliché as it sounds, and I’ve decided to sit on my ass and get myself back into books. With that determination, I finally finished The Blazing Star! And boy, am I glad that I did!

Imani Josey is, pun intended, an actual blazing star. Her writing is definitely something I’ll be coming back to, it hooked me right in. Portia’s voice is just as relatable as you’d expect from a high-schooler. Her narrative is light, but at the same time you can definitely tell you’re reading historical fantasy. I did, however, have some issue with the pacing, which felt a bit too rushed at times, and a little dragging at others. Combined with my still recovering, it made the story a little harder to follow at certain parts, because there’s quite a bit of information to take in. But I got so invested in the book that, by the end, these issues took a backseat.

I love all the characters that appear. The main ones, the secondary ones, the ones that appear for about a page or two, I love them all. They were honestly so great to read about. Especially the girls. Each one had something unique and entirely her own to bring to the table. I often wondered which one of them I related to most, but, honestly, I relate to a little bit of each. Portia, and how she’s been constantly overshadowed by her sister. Alex, with her difficulty of accepting change. Selene, with how her little insecurities. Tuya, with her sense of duty and doing what’s right by her people. I enjoyed the rest of them, and found the antagonist a really well-written one, but it’s these girls that shone the brightest. (I did like prince Seti quite a bit, too. *wink wink* Whenever him and Portia were in a scene together, they had me screeching in delight.)

Honestly, I really do not know what to say about this book other than the fact that I really enjoyed it. Despite its little imperfections, The Blazing Star is an amazing debut and a really promising start of (what’s hopefully going to be) a series. For me, this wasn’t just another mediocre read with a spectacular cover. The inside was just as incredible as the outside! There’s a million other thoughts I’d like to share, but my scattered brain won’t allow me, so just trust me when I say that The Blazing Star is definitely worth the read.

(2 star rating)

**I received a free ebook from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.**

The first thing that struck me about this book was the cover. No, seriously, look at that cover. Isn't it beautiful? I am also 100% here for a book that has Black girls cast in all the major roles. I really thought this was going to be one of those 'wow' books for me.

But it wasn't.

There were 3 things that made this book difficult for me to finish.
1. I could not connect with Portia. At all. I love snarky characters but Portia felt very flat to me.
2. It's set in Egypt but, honestly, it could have been set anywhere. I was expecting more of an Egyptian feel to the setting and the characters but nah. This literally could have taken place in Arizona. Lack of details.
3. The plot was so boring to me. I'm not sure if it was just because it took SO LONG for something to happen but I set this book down several times. I clearly remember looking down at my Kindle and realizing I was 55% in and absolutely nothing had happened.

I think it goes without saying that I wouldn't recommend this book.

I am so torn about this book… From the very first moment I laid my eyes on its cover I desperately wanted to love it! But, as things turned out, I didn’t. It’s not that I hated or didn’t enjoy it, but it did not live up to my – admittingly too high- expectations.

Sixteen-year-old Portia White is used to being overlooked—after all, her twin sister Alex is a literal genius.

But when Portia holds an Egyptian scarab beetle during history class, she takes center stage in a way she never expected: she faints. Upon waking, she is stronger, faster, and braver than before. And when she accidentally touches the scarab again?

She wakes up in ancient Egypt—her sister and an unwitting freshman in tow.

Great.

Mysterious and beautiful, Egypt is more than they could have ever imagined from their days in the classroom. History comes alive as the three teens realize that getting back to the present will be the most difficult thing they’ve ever done. Stalked by vicious monsters called Scorpions, every step in the right direction means a step closer to danger.

As Portia and the girls discover that they’re linked to the past by more than just chance, they have to decide what it truly means to be yourself, to love your sister, and to find your way home.

The premise of the story is sooo good; three girls time-travelling to ancient Egypt!! The summary promises adventure, self-discovery, sisterhood, excitement. And to be fair, it does not fail to deliver them. It could, however, be so much more; t could be much more adventurous, much more exciting. I felt like there was something missing , something that I can’t quite put my finger on. I understand though, that this is a debut novel and I am expecting its sequel to be really good!

One of the things that I loved the most about the story was its setting in ancient Egypt. I absolutely adore the civilization, and I loved the positive representation that came with this choice of setting; black people, and especially black women, were in the spotlight.

What made the story for me were the dynamics that developed between the characters. I usually prefer character-driven over plot-driven books, because most of the time, having a well-developed plot full of twists, leaves no room for character development. Blazing Star is an exception; even though it is a heavily plot-driven book, its characters were – for me- much more compelling than the actual events. Every bond was individually developed and explored just enough to leave you craving for more.

Another part I am not used to loving in books, but ended up loving in this one, was the romance. It was natural, it was well-written, it wasn’t insta love. The characters actually had chemistry, were a delight to read about and I actually loved them individually as much as I loved them together. So, I am curious to see how this is going to develop and turn out.

Overall, the Blazing Star was a really good book. I went into it with expectations too high and this is why I did not enjoy it as much as I would’ve otherwise, but I could never regret reading it and I am looking forward to its sequel!

I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

-Cover

I read this awhile ago but I have been so busy that I have been unable to post the review. What stuck me the most about the novel was the cover and the diversity of race. The cover is beautiful and depicts a lovely African American woman.

-The Writing

The writing style is extremely easy to read and you could finish it in a day. I would recommend the reading level to be middle school to high school because there was a lack of complexity and depth. I wish there could have been more description and use of diction–this is a time-traveling novel, I should REALLY feel like I am in ancient Egypt. Yes, there are authors who taken an eternity to describe something and than there are others who are blunt and to the point but I feel like in a time-traveling novel, you should take the time to describe the surroundings for the audience.
-Black Female Protagonist–YAY

How rare and awesome is this?! And written by a black woman–woohoo! You cold definitely tell the difference, especially with terms like "pressed" when talking about hair. I feel like in YA fiction, there is a plethora of either white protagonists or white authors writing about brown women. There is nothing wrong with what I mentioned, I am just glad that African American writers are making there way into the YA genre sphere.

-The Story

The idea of the story is pretty cool but I feel like it could have been better written. SO to summarize it: There are these two black twins and one is a genius and the other is normal. Portia wants to be different from her sister and does this by changing her hair and deciding to go to another college. (BTW, I feel like this novel would have been better if the story was from Alexandria's perspective)

I must be getting ornery in my old age (22) but it has become harder for me to read High School plot novels. The same-old-same-old is so redundant that it is totally eye-roll worthy.

Cue the Mean Girls who happen to also be rich and beautiful!

Cue the cute guy who has no interest in you!

Cue the parents not understanding you and you feel alone!


Thankfully we escape from the cliche High School spiel and Portia is transported to ancient Egypt when she touches an ancient artifact.

Blah, Blah, Blah

She meets this guy who she later learns is the Prince-haha coincidence

Selene, who is the most annoying person in the world is also here and is discriminated against because of her darker skin–she is seen as Nubian

The usual culture clash

Magic, Love, and I guess some action.

Overall, the novel has potential but it is pretty bland.

Overall I enjoyed this. In some ways this recalled to me a couple of my fav mangas (Ouke No Monshou & Anatolia Story - the first about Egypt the second about the Hittites) as they were also about special modern girls who get thrown back in time because of magic and the will of the Gods, thus finding themselves constantly in peril due to their specialness.

For me my only real grievance was with Alex. TBS is from Portia's POV and for a time she is separated from Alex. When they meet up again we have no real idea how she had spent her time. Portia, and to a certain extent Selene, both got lucky (or it was by the will of Ma'at) in that they wound up at the temple eventually. They both acclimated quickly, but we saw that settling in period.

Alex just seemed to reappear, have a job/life that was easy to sneak away from with no one looking for her and was focused on one thing to the exclusion of common sense. Her actions made little sense to me and her negativity grated on me almost as much as it did on Portia.

The rest of the book I found engaging as hell though. I loved Sikara and Weret, I enjoyed Portia's interactions with her solider Savior and the others. While I think she was a little naive in many ways, I could understand her feelings as to why. I liked Tuya (the Hyksos princess), and even found the enemy to be at least charismatic at times.

The reveal about why the girls were chosen is a bit hastily done and there's a lot of names tossed around that get no context until later (usually with a bit too much let me tell you the history via long info dump) so I found myself forgetting relationship connectors at times.

For anyone wanting to know about romance in here, it's largely understated and doesn't get in the way. Portia keeps her head in the game (mostly, she is still only 16 she gets to dwell a little) and shows a surprising amount of maturity towards it. I do wonder, what with the reveal about the girls' involvement due to Ma'at how that will play out, but if that is Ma'at's wish then it is to the right.

I received this book through NetGalley.

This will be great to give to teens who are interested in Ancient Egypt, badass ladies, or hunky princes. It starts off very strong, setting these characters up in modern day Chicago before plummeting them into the past. It sags a little in the middle and towards the end - there are a lot of characters and ranks to keep track of - but Portia's determination carries it through. Portia is a very well drawn character. Alex and Selene aren't as well developed, but both have plenty of moments that make you like them a lot.

I would have preferred if this was self contained instead of what seemed like gearing up for a sequel. It could just be because of how much I liked the modern-day bit at the beginning and would have enjoyed a bookend.

I received a galley from NetGalley for an honest review.

The first thing that grabbed me about this book was the beautiful cover. I’d actually voted for this cover in a poll Goodreads had about prettiest covers before I received a galley of this book. I didn’t know a whole lot going into this book besides thinking the cover was pretty.

This book did not disappoint! It’s a great time travel, magical realism book. I had a little difficulty getting into the book at first but after a few chapters I was hooked. I love Portia, she’s a great character although my favorite character is Prince Seti. Like damn, he and Portia had amazing chemistry from the beginning and I loved every scene with them together. I was a little torn because I didn’t want Portia doing anything with him behind Princess Tuya’s back but on the other hand I was just screaming YOU GO MAKE OUT WITH THAT HOT EGYPTIAN PRINCE!

The relationships are great in this book, although I’m still a little bit confused about how the three girls are actually sisters and originally from Egypt. I feel like I need more background on that to fully understand. I loved that even though Portia has a thing for Seti there was no rivalry between her and Tuya. In fact, Portia tries to save Tuya’s life and Tuya also helped Portia to escape the palace and covered for her several times when anyone questioned her. GIRLS HELPING GIRLS, that’s the shit I love. There is a rivalry between Portia and Alex but it is sibling based not feeling threatened by another girl. I can get behind that.

I’ll admit that I never went through an Egyptian phase like most of my friends, in fact I can’t really go into Egyptian exhibits in museums because mummies really freak me out. So I wasn’t sure how much I would like a book set in ancient Egypt but I actually really liked it. I thought it was a really fun read, I kept picking the book up because it was so addictive.

The only thing I didn’t really like was Portia calling her dad by his first name. There’s no real reason for her to do this. It really threw me because she would sometimes call him dad and sometimes by his first name and there seemed no rhyme or reason.

Other than that I don’t really have any complaints. I really hope that there will be a sequel. I need to see what happens next to Portia and her sisters. I looked everywhere I could online and couldn’t find anything about a possible sequel. I hope that it doesn’t just end like this because that would be disappointing.

Also kudos to the author for being the only time travel book I’ve read that doesn’t focus on rape. In fact, it doesn’t even come up. So refreshing!

The characters are great, but the plotting and writing are awkward and tedious. I tried hard with this book and was hoping to love it, but unfortunately it just didn't work for me.

This is a short review. Full review will be up today at https://tizzymatic.wordpress.com

Imani Josey made everything in this novel feel so at home. It was literally like I knew the three main characters personally. All I can say for now is that I greatly recommend this book to all audiences and it is worth every penny :)

3.5/5 stars

A very enjoyable time slip novel in which three teens are transported to ancient Egypt for mysterious reasons. The characters were enjoyable and offered varied points of view. The twins, particularly, went through a lot of challenging experiences, and I look forward to reading more from this author (view spoiler).

NAMES/TERMINOLOGY USED:
There are a few ancient Egyptian references that I felt were not completely accurate. The first thing I noticed was the name Tasherit. Tasherit is the female form of "junior." Typically it was used as part of a name. If Tasherit is living in the temple without her family, she would probably not be going by that reference. I don't know too many men who call themselves "junior" in their daily life instead of by their first names. Unless there's a secret to come, I was not a fan of the author's choice in this regard.

Another incorrect term used was "edubba," which references Sumerian schooling (in Mesopotamia). In ancient Egypt, schools for higher levels of society were called "The House of Life."

There is not a Pharaoh Anen that I know of, which is the current pharaoh during this story, though there have been advisers named Anen. While there have been pharaoh's named Seti (who is the prince during this story), none of these pharaohs' fathers were named Anen (both Seti fathers were named Ramses). There IS a Princess Neferure in the historical record, who's father is commonly believed to be Thutmose (also referenced in the book) and who had a brother named Thutmose, but Thutmose's successor was Amenhotep who's son was Ahkenaten, the ruler who proposed monotheism, and then Tutankhamun. So I'm not sure if Josey was just picking names out of a hat to use in her book, but the dynasty lineage is not historically accurate.

Josey uses the term "Iteru" as reference to the Nile, however, she does not use the correct term for Egypt, which is Kemet. Instead, she uses the modern name for the country. I found this a bit inconsistent. While she probably used "Egypt" as the shock-reveal to for her main character, I still was not a fan of this words use. In terms of "iteru," this is typically used in reference to a unit of measure during river travel. So when characters called the Nile "iteru," I was confused especially since Josey did not use the correct term for the name of the country. There were a few other words I could not find reference to include "rekhet" (hinted via context that this means the lowest class of people) and "kalasiris" which was noted as a form of clothing. This does not mean the words are incorrectly used, but as someone who has researched ancient Egypt extensively, if I couldn't find definitions for these words, others might have a more difficult time understanding them.

WRITING STYLE:
The author has a few repetitive references that needed to be re-written, particularly sucking air through a person's teeth. Everyone seemed to suck air through their teeth in every chapter. Editors should be catching this, so hopefully the repetitiveness was fixed before the book was released.

Josey has a great sense of humor. I loved the sarcasm of her MC, Portia. However, there were a few times that modern references were used in ancient Egypt that made me cringe. I mean, Portia should know better when to use modern terms to ancient peoples. Most people seem to shake off her odd references, but when she keeps referencing "we have to meet this guy," "do you trust this guy," it gets a little annoying and completely takes a reader out of the time period. However, Josey also has some great lines that I delighted in, like when an ancient person responds to Portia's sigh: "Blowing your air like a hippopotamus is unbecoming."

(view spoiler)

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I did enjoy the book. While the setting was only mildly brought to life for me (again, I read as many books set in ancient Egypt as I can, so I found the details in this book sparse compared to other books I've read), but the characters and the magic surrounding them captivated me. I would not recommend the book on its historical accuracy, but it does have goo character moments and "magical" intrigue. Josey is a talented author, and I look forward to more.

The Blazing Star is a strong debut albeit, as expected, one with flaws. Nevertheless, I would venture to say that this book as "un-put-down-able."

TBS was both character and plot driven, a book that feels like a mishmash of The Mummy and the Kane Chronicles, with hints of Brandy Colbert's style at points- it may just be the Chicago setting. The dynamic of a sibling relationship is very well handled in my opinion (but to be fair I am an only child). However, the repeated use of the word "twinning" was a bit offsetting and I do hope that word doesn't appear as often in upcoming books. I liked the multiple nerd references including Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

The secondary characters were also very interesting but their back stories were inconsistently developed. While there is a particular character appearance in the early part of the book, the details of this are never fully explored and are instead disregarded with a "more on that later" which is not resolved before the end of TBS. One can hope that this will be handled in the sequel.. With regard to the romance, it is age appropriate and not entirely predictable, which is something I did appreciate.

I do believe that the story would have been improved through the inclusion of multiple points of view, and even a point of view on how their father is adjusting to their disappearance. Speaking of father, I could not get over Portia calling her father Rich or Richard.....just odd. Additionally, the issues of the Scorpions felt a bit clumsy and never felt adequately explained. In that regard, TBS fell short of the required world building.

Despite these drawbacks I would not hesitate to recommend This Blazing Star. One cannot go wrong with a book that has diversity, strong female characters and family dynamics.