I may be biased because I've always been fascinated with ancient Egyptian mythology. I absolutely loved this book. It was on the top of my most-anticipated the minute I read the synopsis, and it had everything I was hoping for and more.

I love the inclusion of the gods not just as deities worshipped, but as active characters. Elements of the supernatural are present everywhere, from oracle visions to reincarnated mummies.

The atmosphere presented was beautifully written and captivating. There was a depth to it that really showed how the author took the time to build the world. For a ya book, it was surprisingly graphic; it didn't shy away from the burial rituals, which if you aren't aware of before reading, may come as a shock.

I am very excited to see where this story leads.

Ancient Egyptian Game of Thrones? Just shut up and take my money! No seriously, I’ve been a sucker for Egyptian themed stories ever since I read Wilbur Smith’s River God back in the early 90s. With Michelle Jabès Corpora’s His Face Is the Sun offering the twists of it being not only YA but also Game of Throne-esque and I freely admit I was pretty much destined to love this one. Awesome setting? Yes. Wonderfully varied cast of intriguing/interesting characters? Yes. An intriguing storyline? Yes again. Once the story hits its stride you won’t be able to put it down. And while it may be a 500+ page book, it doesn’t feel like it. If anything it feels like it’s over all too soon. And now the wait for book 2 begins. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me access to an ARC of His Face Is the Sun.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/his-face-is-the-sun-michelle-jabes-corpora/1146021937?ean=9781464224584&bvnotificationId=da516125-2a97-11f0-93bd-0affed7ccdb7&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/345275288

I picked this title because of the cover and was blown away by the writing. I found it fun and humorous. The authors voice was so engaging and the characters really feel lived in and whole. It was exactly what I needed in the moment and the emotional arc the author created was done brilliantly making you feel for these characters in the best way. This book was an amazing read and I will be recommending it.

This book was really interesting and it surprised of how much I needed this book! I love the Egyptian theme! I have always loved anything that had to do with Egypt. Corpora delves us into an immersive, epic adventure set in ancient Egypt. Magic is entangled with war and political intrigue in this multi-layered epic novel. This tale is told through 4 points of views. This book takes its time telling the take, but it is worth sticking around to see what happens.
This book does an amazing job laying the ground work for a breath-taking triology and I am absolutely looking forward to see where things go next.

I want to thank NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

What a wonderful start to this trilogy.
I'm already so excited for book two.
This fantasy world is absolutely intriguing.
The politics, romance and magic will have you devourthis story.

I LOVED this book! It was so addicting I could not put it down! Incredibly heartbreaking stories but full of hope and promise. I adore all of the strong female characters! I've never read any Egyptian mythology before and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm so sad I have to wait for book 2. I am totally hooked and cannot wait to see where this story goes!

I found this ancient Egyptian-based fantasy exciting and thrilling. Each chapter switched perspectives, allowing the reader to learn each character as their stories were pulled together. As the oracle is revealed, I kept trying to guess how it would play out, but was shocked by the actual result and look forward to future books in the story to see if they can survive the future. I especially liked the youngest character, Neff, as she was thrown into such a difficult task at such a young age.

I've always been fascinated by the "otherworldly-ness" of ancient Egypt, so right out of the gate I was intrigued about the setting. His Face Is the Sun takes place in Khetara, a fantasy word modeled after ancient Egypt. I was a sucker for reading some of the details unique to the time period, and found that aspect very interesting.

The beginning of the book took me by surprise, as I very quickly got multiple POVs within the first few chapters. I was a bit concerned about having to keep everyone's story straight, but it was actually pretty easy to follow, and I love Michelle Copora's clever little ways to intertwine the storylines together. I actually got some RPG vibes from it, with the party members all coming together for an epic quest.

And what an epic quest it will be! Despite this being the setup in a series, there's political intrigue, rebellion, treasure hunting, murder, relationships forming, relationships breaking, and people just trying to survive. Is it romantasy? While there is some romance, I wouldn't consider it a romantasy. I could see romance being developed more in subsequent books, though.

Some things were predictable, and some things surprised me. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed each of the MCs, as normally I pick one or two and tend to skim the others' stories or subplots. Perhaps it's because Michelle did a wonderful job at making her characters relatable by showing pretty quickly how they are flawed human beings like everyone else, just trying to make their way in the world. I also enjoyed the political intrigue, which was surprising because sometimes I get lost with the intricacies of it. That tells me that while it is a main plot, it is gripping and not too difficult to follow along with, if that happens to be a point of concern.

Overall it was an enjoyable read. I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks File for my copy of a digital ARC. All opinions are my own, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire, Michelle Jabès Corpora and NetGalley for an ARC of His Face is the Sun! All opinions are my own.

This book was INCREDIBLE! If I hadn’t had a series of very busy days, I would have torn through it in a heartbeat. The setting and premise had me hooked right from the start and made me want to dive back into my Ancient Egypt phase. I also loved all the characters and how well their different personalities and goals were represented on page. I can’t wait to get more answers (the cliffhanger killed me!) and read the rest of this series!

POV: multiple third person

You can expect: curses, spells, prophecies, religion, legend, magic.

CW: alcohol abuse, poisoning, murder, death of a child

Back in middle school (ish), I was obsessed with Ancient Egypt, so having the opportunity to read this book as an ARC was a very fun experience. I absolutely love how many non-western-centric fantasy books have been coming out the last few years, and I am so happy that His Face Is the Sun is one of them. Having a book's setting be based on Egypt and its mythology and culture was so refreshing and a bit nostalgic of my younger-self's hyper fixation!

Early on in the book, I was a little hesitant about it due to the fact that the chapters are rather long and we are jumping from one POV to another each chapter. Having completed the whole book now, it makes sense why it was written the way it was, seemingly as four separate shorter books within a single novel, as all of their stories converge and intertwine.

Also, I really enjoyed how the three young women's POVs all felt like variations of what you might expect from a fantasy book, with them finding themselves and their places in life. Then, of course, poor Karim seems to be living in a horror/suspense novel off on the side.

Having enjoyed and loved each of the main characters (and several of the side characters, as well!) I cannot wait for the next book in this trilogy.

I absolutely love anything Egyptian mythology and this book had high hopes for me. However, the 4 different POVs and the altogether all over the place of this story took the thrill away for me. I know it's a great set up for the next book but it ultimately didn't keep me engaged.

A princess, a young priestess, a rebel, and a tomb robber are ripped from their lives and must stop an ancient evil from destroying the Kingdom of Khetara.

This was a beautiful start to a trilogy and is packed with a lot of setup. Although this is a fictionalized version of Ancient Egypt, I could still tell the author, Michelle Jabès Corpora, took the time to research the appropriate games, garb, diet, and rituals that would have taken place in that period. Each of her characters were also complex enough to feel realistic for their positions in society and their respective chapters were full of unique information. With a good blend of light and dark moments, I was captivated by the growing sense of danger as events started to pick up by the end.

Continuing on to the setting, the descriptions made me feel like I was experiencing the Kingdom of Khetara for myself. Normally, it takes me a while to get invested in a setting due to minimal descriptions. This was not the case with His Face Is The Sun; I felt like I was actually immersed in the story.

If you know any young readers that may be interested in this [or you are personally interested], His Face Is the Sun will be released May 06, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and SourceFirebooks for the opportunity to read this eARC.

Good start of a trilogy. Really sets the stage for the rest of the story - excited to see what becomes of these characters. Can tell the author has a true love of ancient Egypt and put all that love and knowledge into this story. The historical knowledge is relayed in a very approachable and well written way. Can’t wait for the next book! Thank you to Source Books and Michelle Jabès Corpora for the ARC I received!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this arc!

I don’t believe I’ve ever read an Egyptian inspired fantasy book before, but I really enjoyed this one! It felt a bit like an introduction, rather than jumping into action, however this sets the stage for a really intriguing series in the future. Very interested in seeing how this series progresses!

Thank you to the publisher, Michelle Jabès Corpora, and NetGalley for the e-ARC!
This book was very enjoyable! I liked the world, original in its concepts but drawing from ancient mythology in minute ways; the dialogue, which was balanced and not over-done or out of place; and the characters, who grew like weeds throughout the story.
However, I was not a fan of the multiple POVs. I wasn’t expecting it to switch around so much, so it took me by surprise and proved somewhat disappointing.
Still, a really great read!
Happy reading!

The world building is fantastic in this book creating a really evocative sense of place and the characters feel fully-realised and three-dimensional. Where I struggled with this book was the pacing, I didn't feel as though there was much in the way of propellant plot and found myself continuously pulled out of the story as I waited for things to really start. I think this book does a really solid job of laying the foundations of the series so the reader can get the ground running with subsequent books but, for my tastes, the book is a little bit indulgent in its pacing.

Thank you for the advanced copy! I loved the first chapter of this book, but with the POV switches, it was hard for me to stay in it. I think changing POVs is easier when the characters have had some interaction before the switch happens but it was so abrupt that it was hard for me to get through those chapters. It did get better later on, so I will be reading the next one as well!

This is the first book in the Throne of Khetara series and it was a lot of setup for the rest of the series. Unfortunately, because of that, it took me a long time to get into this book. This is a multi-POV book, 4 POVs to be exact, and while it was great that the book really helped to develop each character, that’s also what made the beginning of the book so slow. It took around 30% of the book to really get through introducing all the main characters, and it wasn’t until around 65% of the book for the story to start picking up. I also don’t feel like there was a point to this first book other than introduce all the characters, slowly bring them together, and set the story up. The ARC I received did not have a map (not sure if the final version will have one or not), and since the characters were in different areas, the lack of a map made it hard to visualize and relate them back to the story. With all that said, this is a great book for those who like political intrigue and ancient Egyptian folklore. The ending was good though, and it hooked me enough to want to continue reading this series, especially now that I know what’s going on.

3.75 rounded up

This is a sweeping and immersive fantasy take on an ancient Egyptian inspired world dealing with dark secrets, rebellion, political intrigue, and magic. This book is clearly the set up for something bigger, and it both works and it doesn’t.

To begin with what I liked, I enjoyed the atmosphere and the writing. The setting of this ancient egyptian inspired world was clearly very well thought out, and the political intrigue moments of the plot
were my absolute favorite. I found the sentence work to be pleasant to read and gripping at times. Characters like Sita and Neff were very compelling and I liked seeing their growth. I’m interested in how the story pushed Sita as a character, and may continue reading to see what she does. The tension ratcheted up throughout the plot, carrying me through some of the longer chapters, but after a while, the pacing started to drag. I felt a bit mislead by the premise considering that it’s 60% into the book before any of the four POV characters meet. It felt a little disjointed there and slow at times and, despite how I liked the characters, the plot left some to be desired. I found Sita and Karim to have the most interesting plots, but only the former felt somewhat satisfying. It felt almost like the book began too early, but that it needed to so the world and set up could be explained. So, despite me liking the book overall, I can’t give it any higher of a rating just because that middle section (about 30-55%) was rough. Other than that though, my only real issue is that it this book is being marketed as YA, but the story seems to want to be adult, and it felt like it was doing itself a bit of disservice by holding back.

Overall, it was a fun adventure story with an incredible and immersive atmosphere. Just keep in mind that the book is 100% the set up for a larger adventure in book 2. Still, if you love ancient Egypt, definitely give it a read.

Thank you to sourcebooks and netgalley for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF at 30%. I was very interested in this book because of the unique setting for a fantasy book. I rarely have read anything set in ancient Egypt. The author did not disappoint creating a rich setting with interesting magic. However, I was having trouble connecting with the characters or plot. Maybe since we are switching between 4 characters, I don’t really feel like I know much about any of them and I cannot tell where the story is heading. I even found myself forgetting who a character was by the time I got to their next chapter. I do think this book has potential and I maybe would revisit in the future, but at the current moment I do not feel connected enough with the book to continue.