This book would make for a great introduction to a fantasy series and I was surprised it was a stand-alone and such a short one at that. It has everything I wanted it to have: adventure, mystery, a likeable main character, and mythology.

The story is set up with Jon coming upon this strange and earie sphinx. He is then sent back in time to ancient Egypt, where hell have to uncover a fatal scheme. I admit I was a bit hesitant when we wwere in ancient Egypt but, to my surprise, that's whilst that's when the plot started to develop, it also got, as I feared, a bit slow for me. Moreover, I think the writing felt a bit flat for me but is probably good for middle-graders. That coupled with how short and quick the story was (which made for some convenient scenes) made me lower the rating for me).

The dynamic between Jon and Neb was really interesting and Neb as a character intrigued me way more than Jon did, which was why I appreciated having more than one point of view throughout the book. I would have appreciated if the story gave more attention to Neb so his character was less confusing and more amicable.

I went in for the Egyptian mythology but got a short but great adventure..

The Secret of the Sphinx follows 14 year old Jonathan Travis who has stumbled upon an interesting sphinx statue in a museum. With a little magic, he is transported 4000 years into the past in ancient Egypt to try and uncover a plot to kill the three heirs to the king and remove the king from his position with the help of the king's right hand man, Neb.

As a child, I was obsessed with ancient Egypt and loved anything to do with it. I was hoping to feel the spark of nostalgia, but sadly The Secret fell short for me. It was a very short novel that I expected to read in a little over 2 hours and it took me 2 days. It lacked a driving force in the plot and at the same time didn't flesh out many of the characters or situations. It was told in third person and would skip to various perspectives, sometimes in the middle of a chapter. But I don't really think much was gained from the jumping around. I think it would have been fine to do just Neb and Jon's perspectives. I didn't really connect with the characters or plot as much as I had hoped.

This title was action-packed, full of adventure, and made history interesting. Choosing a relatively unknown prince in Egyptian history that is shrouded in mystery was a great ploy that meant the story could go anywhere.
The characters were fun and mostly easy to understand and follow. There was a little depth in Jon’s character development, yet most of the other characters were flat. Jon feels neglected by his parents and strives for attention. Neb was mysterious, almost to the point of not understanding what he is doing as we mostly follow Jon.
The idea of time travel is explained in a pretty good fashion for children and doesn’t fall into too many loop holes. There were a few points, however, that were frustrating to the keen reader. Jon does most of the spying and almost gets caught on many occasions while Neb “protects” him, yet Neb is the one with invisibility. When Neb and Jon first go back, the guard in the museum is coming for them. When Jon returns, he says the no time had passed and that they returned without a hitch. I was looking forward to the escape from the guard.
All in all it is a solid children’s tale that will get them excited about ancient Egypt and maybe help a few kids that feel neglected themselves.

I am not sure what age category this falls into. The story has themes that would require a more advanced comprehension level than most middle grade readers have and it is shorter than most teens read at 168 pages.
Jon seems young for the adventure he goes on and what is required of him. The complexity of the sphinx story again make me lean toward teen for this book but there are lots of pieces missing that this age group would want filled in.
Overall, I like the story, which is tied up fairly neatly at the end. It appears to be a standalone novel, which is rather rare these days.
It's not the best young adult book I have read lately but not the worst either.

I read this with my 12 year old son, so I have feedback from both of us and the star rating reflects this.

It was a cute fantasy adventure book, and perfect for his age. Perhaps it could be read by a couple grades either way of his sixth, it was easy to understand. It seemed to move around to much to really hold his attention however. A lot of people and places and while he was interested enough that we finished it, he seemed to zone out when it was my turn to read, and when it was his turn he didn't seem as enthusiastic as he usually is.

My 7 year old who often joins us for this reading time was completely uninterested, and although she is definitely not the main demographic for this book, she does often enjoy others her older brother reads.

Overall, I would have given this 3.5 stars but my son said 2.5 so we made it an even 3.

I'm giving up on this one as a DNF. I've been working on this book since last year and 28%/Chapter 6 in, I don't think I can take much more.

It's poorly written and implausible. Sure, it's middle school fantasy so whaddya expect? Unfortunately, there's so much better middle school fantasy out there -- even ones about normal boys who suddenly go from modern city-life to amazing Egyptian adventures to solve mysteries filled with murderers, gods, ancient history. The dialogue and main character Jon are awkwardly crafted.

I regret I even took the time to downloaded it to my Kindle (however, my thanks still to NetGalley and publishing team).

The following will be posted on my blog, The Crown of Books, on April 22nd, 2017 around Noon EST.

This is a great middle grade book for students who have a great interest in Egyptian mythology.

I, for one, also have a great interest in Egyptian mythology. If there is a book and you just tell me it has Egyptian Mythology, it would quickly grab my attention. Some time ago, I felt the need to read something with Egyptian touches and mythology. I was looking through books and I have come across this. It was going to be a quick read and it looked good. I gave it a chance and it had everything I looked for in books involving with Egyptian Mythology.

In Secret of the Sphinx, a sorcerer, Neb, is imprisoned in a stone statue of a Sphinx and can only be free when a specific event happens in the future. In the future, a student, Jon visits the museum and notices that there is something different looking at Neb's sphinx statue. He later gets a message and returns to it during the night. He climbs onto the sphinx's back and travels back in time to solve the mystery and free Neb's soul once for all.

Even though the story was a short 134 pages, it had everything I wanted. Usually, I look for mentioning of the Gods and Goddesses, some of Egypt's history, and adventure. How can you have an adventure when something is set in Ancient Egypt? Some of the details the author included in the story had every fact that I wanted. There were the Gods, there were parts about the temples and pyramids, and even little details like scarabs and jewelry. I loved every little mentioning about Ancient Egypt.

The only small part I do have to say that there was areas that I got a little confused on what was going on, but that rarely happened. I did understand the overall story and everything involving the main set of characters. On the scenes that were mainly minor characters, it did get a little confusing, but the next couple of chapters usually clarified things.

One thing I did appreciate was the ending. You would think that everything would be settled in Ancient Egypt in most stories like these. However, this isn't the case with this book. I will not say what it was, but it was nice to see a change for once. It was a good ending for the story.

Overall, I think anyone in the middle-grade will enjoy this story if they want to reading something with Ancient Egypt. I may not be in the middle-grade, but it did serve my wants for reading something with Egyptian Mythology in it. It was also the perfect quick read for it as well.

Another enticing read for those who love anything to do with Ancient Egypt. It brings together an ancient evil and a young boy who has to make things better and free the soul of a murdered magician from the sphinx that contains it. A good read.

The Secret of the Sphinx has a lot to draw in the reader with well-written descriptions and largely good interactions as long as you ignore the occasional modern word or phrase when in ancient Egypt. I enjoyed quite a bit of the story, but I can’t give an unqualified recommendation despite that because there were some weaknesses too.

The main character, Jon, is largely along for the ride. He makes a few decisions, but mostly his actions are driven by events or what the sphinx, Neb, thinks is necessary. This doesn’t mean Jon is without character, though, as how he completes his assignments, his shaky trust in Neb’s abilities, and the information he gathers are all important to the story. I enjoyed his combination of over-confidence and concern, which is appropriate for the situation he found himself in. He was often an observer more than an actor, but when he saw his chance, he did what he could.

While not a weakness, the way the story allowed any character to hold the Point of View (POV) rather than sticking with the main characters was complicit in the biggest problem I had. To avoid spoilers, I’ll say only the solution to the mystery was not well seeded and contradicts what we learn in one of those POV shifts to non-main characters. I do, however, love the way the overall puzzle is solved. This was, I felt, seeded well, and came together beautifully to link the past with the present and Jon’s normal life with this strange adventure he’s pulled into.

Neb is another good element. I thought the way the sphinx functioned in the modern world and the past worked nicely, while I appreciated how he wasn’t all powerful despite everything. Considering he’d been learning to control amazing magical abilities for centuries, he could easily have been a simple solution to every problem. Instead, he had limitations, he was not all knowing, and he could make mistakes, sometimes critical ones.

I don’t review things I didn’t enjoy, so the fact that you’re seeing this is proof enough I had fun reading The Secret of the Sphinx. Beyond the mystery’s solution, the issues were minor, if annoying at times. It may be younger readers (the target of this young adult title) would find the minor issues less noticeable, but it’s a dangerous assumption to make. This book had great potential, and in some cases, it lived up to that potential, but not in all.

P.S. I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book has potential. It's a good book. I read it straight through. More for younger kids than me however but I recommend it, especially if you love mythology or Ancient Egypt.

This is a fun story about 14-year old Jon who travels back in time to ancient Egypt to help solve a mystery. Jon is a very likable and brave character, who does not hesitate to put his own life in danger to help others. He does this by replacing the prince, in order to find out who is trying to kill members of the royal family.

The story was a lot of fun, fast-paced and easy to follow. Even though the mystery was very good, it was a bit rushed at times. It still drew me in and I finished this book in a single sitting.

One thing I missed in this book is some background and culture on Ancient Egypt. I would have expected some sort of culture shock from Jon when replacing the prince, or at least some things that were remarkable to him. But he didn't need any time to adapt and had no trouble fitting in the every day life. I would also have appreciated if the king wasn't called a king but a pharaoh. The information we were given about the different Gods was a very nice inclusion though.

I highly recommend this charming tale to anyone who enjoys fast-paced mysteries and/or has any interest in ancient Egypt. I enjoyed it a whole lot.

The Secret of the Sphinx
Author: Samuel Bavli
Year: 2016
Publisher: Createspace (Amazon)
Genre: Adventure
Age: JUV 10+

This was a book I received as a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

For a book that is less than 200 pages this story sure does move fast & encompass a lot of information.

The story begins in Ancient Egypt, the year is 2558 B.C.E. The king’s vizer Neb is taken from his chambers in the middle of the night to a temple in the desert. His captor is a man dressed in an Anubis mask. Neb is poisoned & killed, then his ka or soul is transferred to live out eternity in the body of the great sphinx. The only way to release his soul is when a descendant of the then King of Egypt rules on the throne again.

Fast forward to the present day & there’s a boy named Jon visiting the museum where the sphinx is located. But it’s not just an ordinary sphinx, it’s talking to him. The sphinx with Neb trapped inside needs his help to escape. The pair travel back in time to Ancient Egypt to discover the truth. It turns out that Jon is a descendent of the royal family & he looks just like Prince Baka. The two boys decide to switch places so Jon can find out more information without putting the Prince in danger. While they are there they find out about all the corruption inside the palace & discover who is really behind Neb’s death & several other’s. Once Jon & the sphinx return to the present day there’s a surprise waiting for them.

But will Neb’s ka be released so he can reach his final resting place after thousands of years, or will he be trapped as a sphinx for all eternity?

Likes: This was a fast paced, short book with an easy to follow energetic story line.

You learn a little information about Egyptian culture.

Dislikes: -

Rating: ****