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!

I saw "The Mummy" and didn't think much else when I requested this. The story follows Inez, a young woman who has been left behind by her archaeologist parents time and time again... Until she gets a letter in the mail letting her know that they have perished. Needing the truth, she travels to Cairo, Egypt, to find her uncle (who is her guardian) and to see, for herself, what has caused her parents' fixation away from her for so long.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed this story more if I had not been ~promised a story that would give me The Mummy vibes. Unfortunately, I think this comparison is unfair and actually takes away from the story we are given. Inez is young, inexperienced, and incredibly naive - and there is little development in her character from the first half of the book through to the second. Because of this, much of the book meanders as Inez is given little information by her Uncle, Tio Ricardo, or by Whit, her love interest. This lack of trust from any members of the larger cast, and in herself, causes a lack of any focal point that could help readers invest in the overall plot or romance.

FINALLY - what was most interesting but left as a constant second thought was this world's magic system. Readers are first told that ancient magic has been eroded over time, and how archaeologists are interested in artifacts also for the magic they still hold onto. Cool, right? Yes, but the magic only ever rears its head when it's convenient, and is far from being an immersed part of the story. It's such a waste!

THere are other gripes I have with the book, but ultimately I think there was so much potential unmet. I'm curious about Ibanez's other work, but I'm not itching for book two despite that ending.

I genuinely don't know how to review What the River Knows.

There were parts of this book that I truly enjoyed, but for the most part I found myself baffled that it got published at all. I guessed almost every single 'twist' before it had even happened, which isn't necessarily bad writing, buuuut woof. When things are telegraphed THIS BOLDLY, yeah it comes across as being written poorly. The only twist I still can't make sense of is the one in the epilogue. It's vague enough that I literally have no idea what it's talking about. There's too many different things it could be about. If that's not bad writing, I don't know what is.

There's magic, but it's thrown into the book in such an odd and half-hazard way that it makes no sense. Like, if you took the magic out, the book would pretty much be the same thing. There's no real reason it's there. It doesn't affect society in a way that makes life better or worse. It's just...there. Doing silly little things that don't really matter. What's the point of magic if it's not going to affect your world building in any way whatsoever? LAME.

The 'romance' doesn't make any sense either. The main character suddenly decides that she's attracted to the 'bad boy' archeologist despite the fact that he teases, berates and is generally mean to her. Oh but wait that just means he's flirting. Ish. But she can't trust him because he works for her uncle. But wait! She's going to trust him anyway, but it back fires!!!

MADE. NO. SENSE.

And don't even get me started on how idiotically stupid the main character, Inez, is at MULTIPLE POINTS in this book. She's 19, finds out her parents have been murdered, and the first thing she does is run off to Egypt. By herself. To a country that she's never been to before, and then has zero plans past that because she's hopeful her uncle will come rescue her. DUMB, DUMB, DUMB.

If you enjoyed What The River Knows, I'm happy for you. I wanted to like this so much more than I did. Ancient Egypt and archeology are endlessly fascinating, and I had high hopes that the story present here would live up to that. Unfortunately, it did not. To me, What The River Knows was mostly a jumbled-up, badly written mess.

oh man at first I was rl into this--it's giving Argentinean The Mummy--but the second half just dragged for me. still some very cool stuff and I think young readers with a fervor for ancient Egypt might get more into it.

This book was pitched as The Mummy meets Death on the Nile, thus the basis of its appeal. Unfortunately I did not enjoy it as much as I expected to. The dual POV felt tossed in, and the MC was out of the loop with most of the necessary information. In terms of prose, a few phrases were repeated. The pacing felt off, and at times the MC made decisions that felt illogical. Thank you to Wednesday Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review! This review will be posted on Instagram @rivalreads by the end of the year.

I wanted to love this story because of the supposed Rick/Evie vibes and the setting. Sadly, I just couldn't get into it. Yes, the setting was beautiful, and as a history nerd, I loved the info dumping(at times). But as a whole it fell flat. Whit and Inez were meh. The relationship was very forced, and Inez was a little too stage 5 clinger for me.
👀
The magic system wasn't fleshed out and seemed like it was just thrown in the story to grab some attention. And a cliffhanger? Ugh. No thanks. Wish I would have had that warning. Overall, the imagery was nice and the setting beautiful, but nothing that would draw me back to this world. This definitely didn't deliver The Mummy and I got very tired of Whit *leaning*.
🤷🏽‍♀️
I'm grateful to NetGalley for the ARC opportunity.

I was incredibly disappointed by this book, I had such high hopes when I chose it. First I'll start with what I liked. The author clearly did a lot of research into ancient Egypt mythology, Cleopatra and the setting. The cover art was also spectacular. What I didn't like was the main character Inez...she was written as young adult who is really good at clues, but she was really bad at people. It was frustrating to see her hate her uncle, but love his assistant and his partner/brother-in-law. She never followed directions and being able to hear her thoughts was so boring and annoying. The romance in this book was so cringy and hard to read. Then when her other family members started showing up the story line just started getting more convoluted...it ended with a really confusing cliffhanger, but I won't be looking for the sequel.

I had heard and seen so many great things about this book... but unfortunately, almost everything about this story annoyed me.

Inez gave me whiplash with her back and forth inconsistency. I could never see her as a strong heroine. mostly because everyone was keeping her in the dark, and I just wanted her to insist on someone telling her something about what was going on. And the romance with Whit? I wasn't feeling it. He was another character that gave me whiplash. Can't really put my finger on it, but he just didn't do anything for me. The banter was sometimes satisfying, but overall these two characters just frustrated me more than anything.

The conflicts in this story were very telenovela-esque, and even the twist at the end annoyed me more than made me desperate to know what happens next.

I really wanted to love this story, but sadly I think it was overhyped just enough that I had greater expectations than what the story could deliver.

⭐️⭐️✨
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Age Level: Upper YA
Content: some strong language, heavy makeout

This book has so many fun elements. The mystery, Egyptian history setting, low fantasy type magic, and much more.

I will say, I don't know what the do with myself and that ending 🫠 can we get the next book stat pls