Scan barcode
A review by _spirirbound_
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Rating: 3*
When Inez receives the news of her parents’ tragic deaths, she inherits a fortune and thousands of unanswered questions. When sailing to Cairo to seek the answers she desperately desires she packs her sketch pads and the last gift her father ever sent her; an ancient ring. Upon arrival in the foreign country, the old worlds magic that is tethered to the ring pulls Inez down a path that leads her to wonder far more about her parent’s disappearance that she has been led to believe.
As a massive fan of the cult classic 90’s films ‘the Mummy’ and ‘the Mummy Returns’, this book gave me HUGE similarities, however, wasn’t able to give me the same loving feeling in regards to characters, their overall development and story. You can tell while reading this book that it is a massive ode and love story to Egypt and our author did an exception job, this was absolutely flawless and by far my favourite thing about this book.
What really let me down was our characters, I simply didn’t truly love any of them. I grew fonder of our main heroin Inez, however, found a lot of her inner dialogue frustrating a lot of the time especially in regard to our love interest, Whit. I actually like Whit as a character, but I do not like Whit and Inez as a romantic couple based on Inez’ inner dialogue and immaturity in regard to romance. I will say this picked up FAR more in the last 30% of the book, but it dragged for me. The cliff-hanger ending left me incredibly confused and the INCREDIBLY frustrated that we have to wait until book two to unveil what occurs! However, that cliff-hanger is really the only reason I want to actually read book two.
I also guessed the entire plot of the book in regard to the mystery of Inez’ parents, which was sadly frustrating as it seemed so plainly obvious.
I so desperately wanted to love this book and it makes me so sad when I write reviews with more dislikes than likes in a story! But I will still read book two in hopes that it’s slightly better than its predecessor!
When Inez receives the news of her parents’ tragic deaths, she inherits a fortune and thousands of unanswered questions. When sailing to Cairo to seek the answers she desperately desires she packs her sketch pads and the last gift her father ever sent her; an ancient ring. Upon arrival in the foreign country, the old worlds magic that is tethered to the ring pulls Inez down a path that leads her to wonder far more about her parent’s disappearance that she has been led to believe.
As a massive fan of the cult classic 90’s films ‘the Mummy’ and ‘the Mummy Returns’, this book gave me HUGE similarities, however, wasn’t able to give me the same loving feeling in regards to characters, their overall development and story. You can tell while reading this book that it is a massive ode and love story to Egypt and our author did an exception job, this was absolutely flawless and by far my favourite thing about this book.
What really let me down was our characters, I simply didn’t truly love any of them. I grew fonder of our main heroin Inez, however, found a lot of her inner dialogue frustrating a lot of the time especially in regard to our love interest, Whit. I actually like Whit as a character, but I do not like Whit and Inez as a romantic couple based on Inez’ inner dialogue and immaturity in regard to romance. I will say this picked up FAR more in the last 30% of the book, but it dragged for me. The cliff-hanger ending left me incredibly confused and the INCREDIBLY frustrated that we have to wait until book two to unveil what occurs! However, that cliff-hanger is really the only reason I want to actually read book two.
I also guessed the entire plot of the book in regard to the mystery of Inez’ parents, which was sadly frustrating as it seemed so plainly obvious.
I so desperately wanted to love this book and it makes me so sad when I write reviews with more dislikes than likes in a story! But I will still read book two in hopes that it’s slightly better than its predecessor!