From the minute I heard the pitch for this book, I was intrigued. What history-nerd kid didn't have at least a mild Egypt phase at some point? Add to it Ibañez's gorgeous descriptions and historical fantasy twist (someone tell me how I missed that it's historical fantasy until the first mention of magic showed up and I was like !!! like hello? how did I miss that? I'm obsessed?) this very much seemed like it would be up my alley.

And I liked it. I didn't love it, but I enjoyed reading it, and I'm very intrigued to pick up the sequel next year. I liked Inez from the start, and I was rooting for her the whole time. However, it's been awhile since I've read a book that's made me think "ugh, MEN 🙄" so many times and I didn't love that vibe. (I get that it was probably accurate. but the audacity of some of these men was just... so much) Whit took a bit to grow on me, but I did love him by the end. Like I said, I'm very excited to see what the sequel holds for them.

For me, the profanity was a lot. Whit's got a serious potty mouth, and so do a lot of the side characters. (including 5 f-bombs, by my last count, which is a lot for my preference) There's also a spicy-ish scene that doesn't go much farther than making out but it would have if they hadn't been interrupted, you know? And personally, I don't need to be there for it.

But I will say this book surprised me a couple times, which I wasn't expecting. I predicted a lot of the twists, but there were a few that got me, and I'm glad. So overall, not my favorite from Ibañez, but she's still an author I'll continue to read from.

4 stars from me!

This was one of the best books I have ever read. Seriously, the slow burn, drama, action-packed chapters were so captivating. The EPILOGUE???!!!!!! Isabel Ibanez had to personally come pick my jaw up off the floor!!!!!! Her writing is immaculate and I cannot wait for the sequel to come out. Until then, will be reading all of her work! No, but when does the sequel come out??? The bookhangover is real.

I really enjoyed this book. At times it was overly descriptive but the majority of the time the attention to details added to the story and really made me feel like I was there with the characters. I loved Inez and can't wait to read the next book in the series.

This was such a fun blend of Indiana Jones meets The Mummy and I really enjoyed it. Things were a little slow in the beginning when we didn't know what to make of Olivera's escort and uncle but once we started excavating the tomb, the magic and the suspense kept me going! I do think it could have been at least 50 pages shorter because I felt like Olivera was making some of the same observations over and over again but ultimately a great read!

I was engaged from page one. The MC Inez has a lot of personality and the book starts with a bang of it. I love a good strong beginning, and this one captured my attention.

The plot is excellent in my opinion. I find that weaving between mystery, romance, action, and history can make a story unbalanced somewhere. But I felt like I was learning enough from all parts of the story to feel connection to both plot advancement and character arcs.

I can't leave a review without mentioning Whitford Hayes. Send help, I have such a crush. His character really works for me personally, but objectively him and Inez have great chemistry, banter, and then growth! I was very much rooting for them.

Shockingly I have never seen The Mummy. However, I am a big mystery buff, and LOVE a good heist/action-adventure, so the story was still super appealing to me. I love the magic sprinkled in, making this a more unique take on adventure.

I love the balance of action that moves forward, and description of the setting/surroundings. I never felt lost in trying to imagine where and what was happening. Its overall very well balanced and fast (in a good way!) to read.

Highly recommend. This was such a fun read.

I’m sorry to say that I’m giving up on this book at 46%. I’m finding it very slow and not engaging. It is not for me. Thank you for the opportunity to review it. I won’t be sharing this review outside of NetGalley.

Welcome to Egypt....where the allure is high, you can taste magic in the air, everyone is keeping secrets and there is ALWAYS a new mystery to uncover.

"How is it that a moment ago, I wanted to strangle you, but now I feel like laughing?"

"It's part of my charm"

What the River Knows follows our main character Inez as she defiantly follows in her deceased parents footsteps to Egypt where she attempts to understand their deaths, and why they always left her behind for a place she had never been before.

Inez is a sheltered and deals with a lot of abandonment issues because of her lack of parental support. It made me empathize with her when she acted in a way that I wouldn't have. I loved her strong willed heart and her need to keep going despite the consequences that fell upon her. I loved stepping into this setting, I enjoyed the subtle hints of magic that benefit those who don't love a complicated magical system and I really was engaged from start to finish.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the Egyptian culture and the discussion of artifacts and how they were dealt with during this time. Oh to be a fly on the wall and be there when explorers uncovered some of history's greatest secrets! This made me want to take a class on ancient Egypt just to learn more.

I also really bought into the chemistry in the romantic relationship. It's a fun push and pull type of love that gives us just enough to keep going. It's slightly NA in nature but closed door and passionate.

As a first book in a series it left a lot of unanswered questions but I never think thats a problem in a first book...it only leaves room for more fun in the second installment.

Fun, adventurous, romantic with hint of magic...if you like YA fantasy with historical flair, strong willed heroines, sexy brits and are craving to unlock a mystery...I do think this is a great choice to pick next!

When Inez Olivera receives news that her parents have passed away while on expedition, she leaves Buenos Aires for Egypt to find out what really happened. Upon arriving in Alexandria, instead of encountering her uncle-turned-guardian, Tío Ricardo, she meets his assistant, Whit, who has been sent to place her on a boat back to Argentina.

Inez is clever, though, and despite Tío Ricardo’s and Whit’s attempts to send her home, she weasels her way onto their expedition to search for another long-buried tomb.

This one had a bit of a slow start for me, followed by detailed descriptions punctuated with bursts of action. Expect political discussions surrounding Imperial Britain’s presence in Egypt and the ways in which Egyptian artifacts were leaving the country during that time period, character behavior that will make you question whom you can trust, and lush descriptions of ancient treasures.

I really enjoyed the forbidden love aspects of the story and the magic / magical realism pieces to this historical fantasy.

If you pick this one up, please be aware that this is the first book, and as such, the ending feels like an abrupt cliffhanger, leaving much to be explained in book 2.

I received an advance copy from Wednesday Books and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

I’m intrigued and obsessed by everything that has to do with ancient Egypt and I’ve never read a fiction book about it. So, when I discovered What The River Knows by Isabel Ibañez, I just had to read it.
 
This story is about Inez whose parents work in Egypt in the 1880s and after they mysteriously die, Inez travels to Egypt to find out what happened to them. This book is giving The Mummy and Death on the Nile vibes and I was here for it. Inez tries to do some detective work, but that turns out to be more difficult than expected. I liked how Inez is going out of her comfort zone and trying to discover the world for herself. But at the same time her inexperience showed itself and she was oftentimes very naive.
 
Inez is also attracted to Whit who works for her uncle, and you could see little sparks between them, but nothing really came out of it which was underwhelming. Every single person in this story was unreliable and that made it very difficult for me to build a connection to this world.
 
They are trying to find artifacts from Cleopatra, and it was definitely a bold choice to choose her. Because to this day her grave hasn’t been found and a lot of myths and legends surround it. It could have definitely been researched more and the way it was presented in the story lacked depth for me. I wish this story would deal more with Egyptian culture and history, but instead it’s a lot about foreigners exploiting treasures and the greed to sell artifacts for the highest price possible. This is obviously a huge problem in the real world, and I liked seeing it represented in the story. However, oftentimes artifacts are believed to be magical, and Inez seems to have a connection to some and I would have preferred to see more of that.
 
Overall, this book is a historical murder-mystery story and I wish it would have focused more on Egyptian mythology and culture. 3,5 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

This is SO GOOD!!! What the River Knows is pitches as The Mummy meets Death on the Nile and I think that works. It's a historical fantasy with a mystery element set mostly in 1800's Egypt. The main character is a teen girl from Argentina who travels to Egypt to find out the truth about her archaeologist parents sudden death. Inez is smart and determined, the perfect protagonist for this kind of magical adventure story. There are some interesting twists and a great love interest with banter. We get real history woven in, plus this paints such a vivid portrait of Egypt and handles the issues surrounding colonization and the stealing of historical artifacts brilliantly. As someone who has spent some time there myself, it was fun reading the small details of food, locations, clothing and language that really bring Cairo to life. Definitely recommend this and I look forward to picking up book 2 whenever we get it!

This book was honestly disappointing, which I am so sad to say!! I had high hopes going into this one, since I love archaeology and treasure hunting books. While I liked the main character, a lot of the main plot points felt really contrived and artificial, instead of things happening naturally. I had zero interest in Whit, the main love interest, so that was a bummer too. I don’t like how this book ended, and heads up it does end on a cliffhanger! Welp, on to my next read.

🌈 Queer rep: none

For anyone reading this before they read the book I want it to be known that this is a duology. I was so upset (in the best kind of way) when I got to the end & realized that I now had to wait for book 2.

With that said I loved this book. The beginning was a little slow but it picked up its pace quickly & I just sped through it.

Inez & Whit had amazing chemistry. Every time a scene with them ended I could not wait for next one.

I definitely recommend this book & I cannot wait for the next one!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Wednesday Books for sending me this e-arc in return for an honest review.

This book was spectacular! Everything I wanted coming from a Mummy and death on the Nile type of tale. I love the 1800s, and also setting dealing with archaeology, so I was eager to read this book, and it did not disappoint. All the descriptions, the character building, the twists in the story made it difficult to put down. I wanted to feel and see everything Inez was seeing when she went to Egypt.

And I have to say that cliffhanger at the end was extraordinary! I can't wait for the next book

A captivating and magical historical fantasy book perfect for lovers of the Mummy and Egyptian history.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It managed to be fun and have the both the interesting and fun aspects of Egyptology of the late 1880s style adventure while also acknowledging the social issues that actually affected Egyptians of the time and the colonial aspects of Egyptology of that time. The cliffhanger has me hankering for more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WOW! That ending! I am in shock! The twists in this book was great and I loved the banter between Whit and Inez. This book really gave off Mummy vibes with the setting and the atmosphere of the book. I was so sad when I did not have time to keep reading because the book just sucked me in and I did not want to put this book down. I cannot wait for the sequel to see how everything pans out and if Inez trusted the wrong person again.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!! Oh my god what a good time. The reverence in which art and history is spoken about is mesmerizing, the tension between the two main characters is electric and the ending had my emotions going in so many directions I might have whiplash.

Inez is a wonderful lead character. Isabel Ibañez has done an amazing job at crafting a character who has a lot of strength without it being her only feature. She is very well rounded and so easy to root for. She’s also witty AF, I love her so much.

When Whit first came on the page I immediately thought “oh no obnoxious, unflappable hot guy love interest TM” but boy was I wrong and I’m so happy about it. It would have been so easy to fall into that trope but instead you get a character who does use those characteristics as a shield but can’t completely keep them up and that leads to so many touching and HILARIOUS scenes between him and Inez. He’s an absolute disaster of a darling and I adore him.

I love that neither is overly cowed by the other and the resulting banter is amazing.

The interaction between the women in the book is *chefs kiss* and so refreshing.

There are so many twists and turns in the plot that there’s no way you can put it down. There’s history, (which my nerdy self ate up) there’s multiple layers of mystery, and there's tons of sarcasm.

I’m so invested in these characters and am ENRAGED that I have to wait for book two. I mean that CLIFFHANGER? Have mercy I beg of you.

"I hadn’t meant to draw them, hadn’t wanted to think of them at all. Because if I thought of them, I’d count the miles between us. If I thought of them, I’d remember they were a world away..."

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content warnings: grief/death/murder (including parental and child), guns, colonisation, violence/blood/injuries/gore, kidnapping/confinement, abandonment, cultural appropriation, alcohol/alcoholism, xenophobia, gaslighting, classism, animal death (alligator/crocodile)

I may have originally discovered What the River Knows because it was posted in the spoilers of at least 3 popular book boxes! This is not a debut, but is my first book by this author. I knew almost nothing about this one going in except that it's a historical fantasy involving Cleopatra.

What the River Knows follows Inez Olivera, a young upper-class Bolivian-Argentinian woman in the nineteenth century who leaves Argentina for Cairo, Egypt to investigate the mysterious and untimely deaths of her archaeology-associated parents. Instead, she is met by her uncle and his attractive but gruff assistant, whose sole goal seems to be getting Inez on the next trip back to Argentina. Can she distract the two of them long enough to learn the truth of what happened to her parents, if there's even a mystery to be found in the first place?

While I really enjoyed learning about the characters in this book, I don't feel I would be able to accurately identify their motivations or describe them in great detail to a friend. This isn't entirely a fault as it reads like a historical murder mystery game and I'm still feeling like no one can be trusted, but maybe a bit too much so. The atmosphere was fantastic, though. I felt like I was easily able to imagine the many varied places throughout this book and am already excited to return to this world! Some of the writing seemed too repetitive, but whole sentences were redone/improved when I listened to the audiobook occasionally, so I think I would rate the finished copy higher if I ever reread it. The plot was one of my favorites as well. Some things I was able to guess well in advance by trying to think of the most dramatic twist, and others I couldn't see coming at all. It was a little bit dark and gruesome compared to what I was expecting, and read almost as a NA fantasy, but I thoroughly enjoyed that.

It took me a bit to get invested in this book, mostly because I started it mid-move, but I've even paused Iron Flame to finish this one because my intrigue was so high for the majority of the book! The logic, however, was the weakest point of the story for me. The magic system is somewhat minimal to the storyline compared to high fantasy reads, but I often had to pause and re-read whenever it was used. Sometimes it seemed like magic existed to serve more as an occasional convenient fix to a plot and much of the magic-involved plotline seemed to have been put on the backburner. This is a duology, though, so maybe that was intentional. Overall, my enjoyment was quite high, and I will be eagerly awaiting book 2!

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical fantasies, slow burn romance, never knowing who you can trust, and murder-mystery-type plots!

Inez Olivera has always been the second love of her parents’ lives: no matter how hard she studies, how capable she proves herself, she’ll never beat out the allure of Egypt. While they investigate history among the sands, Inez is left behind in Argentina, uncontent with the life of a nineteenth century upper class young lady. When her parents disappear into the desert and are presumed dead, Inez can’t take it anymore. With only the mysterious, magic tinged ring sent to her by her father, she crosses the ocean, determined to discover the truth of what happened to her parents herself. In Egypt, things only become more complex- her uncle is standoffish, his assistant even worse- but lead by her desire for truth and affinity for magic, Inez follows them into the sands in pursuit of the discovery that may have cost her parents their lives: Cleopatra’s tomb.

This is the second time I’ve had a similar experience with an Ibanez novel; I was all-in for the first 80% and let down by the ending. This is certainly the most ambitious thing I’ve read from her and I really enjoyed a number of aspects, especially how she handles historical fantasy. It reminded me a lot of the world in Alexis Hall’s Mortal Follies and the way magic factors into the artifacts market was the starting point for a few interesting threads mirroring exploitation of former colonies.

I just wanted more! This is the time period when certain Europeans thought eating mummies could be a health cure- that’s real!- and there was so much room for magic to be pushed further, both as a metaphor and as a plot device.

So- an alright book. Great concept with mostly solid execution (great historical details, compelling heroine, well realized setting) that stumbles with characterization of supporting players and pace in a way that especially undercuts the ending.

Mostly unrelated, but the story ends with a moment that’s supposed to be a character reveal/twist that left me utterly confused until the search function on my kindle confirmed that, yes, his name had only been mentioned ONCE before. Very much a case of a character looming large in the author’s mind, not the reader’s. That feels emblematic of the less strong parts of the story.

Delightful! My only complaint is that I didn't realize this was the start of a series (and not a standalone), but that's likely on me. Inez is a great heroine. She admittedly makes foolish choices but they're always in a way that makes absolute sense to her age, situation and character. Her love interest, Whit, is delightful. Their banter is charming and, while there is a bit of insta-love, it's definitely a strangers to friends to lovers? setup. I guess we'll see in the sequels.

I loved seeing the evolution of Inez's relationship with her uncle. They're so similarly headstrong and neither one of them gives an inch. It's frustrating but in a very believable, familiar way.

My only complaint is that I wish we'd spent more time learning about the magic system of the world. It doesn't seem to matter too much to the story (except for when it does), but what we do see is very neat and I want to know more!