Book Review: What the River Knows + Where the Library Hides
I was pretty much sold on moving this debut duology, What the River Knows and Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez up on my TBR list when it kept being compared to The Mummy, one of my all-time nostalgic favorite movies. Plus, I love a historical fiction fantasy read. Now having read them, I’d say they’re more comparable to The Mummy II in a lot of ways, but don’t worry, there are no mummies coming to life in these books. Just a young girl from Argentina trying to understand why Egypt had such a hold on her parents, who are presumed dead. Along the way, she meets a roguish, handsome ex-British officer, discovers ancient artifacts, and determines not all is as it seems in Egypt. There are magical objects, sinister villains, and lots of action. While I struggled a bit with book one, I absolutely adored book two. Here’s why you might too:
Things to Know:
Completed duology
Egyptian setting
Magical objects
Dual POV
Historical Fiction
Discusses effects of Colonialism
I’ll be honest, What the River Knows was not my favorite read. I was annoyed constantly at Inez and how immature and naive she was, and some of the absolutely idiotic decisions she makes, but then I had to remember she was just 18. She’s also WAY too trusting. Her uncle was also a hard pill to swallow—he was absolutely horrible to her for most of the two books—she literally spent months at sea coming to Egypt, and he can’t even be bothered to say hello and wants to send her home immediately—so much so he sends Whit to get her a ticket home.
We’re also hit over the head quite a lot with the effects of colonization of the British. It’s not just a casual mention here and there, it’s a constant drum beat. While these things are true, it definitely pulled me out of the story, and made it abundantly clear how the author feels. Again, not a bad thing, it just disrupted the flow of the story on occasion.
Whit is meant to be the perfect book boyfriend, but he had a lot of issues for me, namely that he’s an alcoholic in book one, and slight spoiler, kisses Inez when he’s engaged to another woman back in England. Those were both hard no’s for me. However, much is explained, and by the end of book two, I have to admit, I was completely in love with him. Although, he really made some dumb decisions too.
The magic system is pretty ‘loosely-goosy’ as I like to call it. There’s not really a deep explanation for how or why it works, but there are magic-touched objects that can do various things: a scarf that shrinks objects, a shoe that becomes a torch (weird), and ink bottles with magical healing properties. There’s also a ring belonging to Cleopatra, and could lead to her tomb. Honestly, I wish we could have had more worldbuilding here, because what’s here is very cool.
Now, it’s probably sounding like I didn’t love this duology, but I have to say, everything turned around for me in book two. We’re left with a pretty bad cliffhanger in the epilogue of book one, as well as a shocking death I honestly didn’t think was going to happen. While pretty predictable, I absolutely loved Where the Library Hides! I think you can see how Ibañez has grown as an author from her debut, and I loved all the little twists and tension she created. If you’re a fan of the lost Library of Alexandria, you will probably also love this book. And the pacing was non-stop action. Plus, I love to see a man grovel…
I would skip the audiobook. I, unfortunately, did not love the narrator for Inez’ POV, and I think I would have enjoyed it more just reading the physical book over my normal immersive reading (both book and audiobook). Many thanks to Wednesday Books for sending me PR copies. All opinions are my own.
Favorite Quotes:
“The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones,” He quoted. “Why is Shakespeare a constant in our conversation?”
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“I would burn the world over twice to save her life.”
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“Art should outlive its Creator.”
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