What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
SYNOPSIS
Bolivian Argentinian Inex Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth-century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old-world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgottn. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns for the most: her globetrotting parents, who frequently leave her behind.
When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archaeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and a golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old-world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she discovers there’s more to her parents’ disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.
With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parents’ disappearance - or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.
Note: This review was written in Oct 2023 but was not posted until (insert date) in solidarity of the SMP/Wednesday Books boycott.
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A stunning novel to quench your thirst for adventure and romance with fascinating historical settings and an action-packed plot.
Inez has wanted to travel to Egypt on a great adventure her entire life. After the tragic loss of her parents, she grasps at her final chance at freedom and sneaks away to Egypt. When she gets there, however, she is constantly waylaid by her uncle's infuriating assistant, Whit. So begins a clash of wills that will take them both on an adventure of a lifetime with mysteries around every corner.
We begin in Argentina with Inez as she desperately waits for word from her parents who are, once again, off in Egypt without her. The news she gets is more devastating than expected and decides to take it into her own hands to solve the mystery of her parents’ deaths. Whit is her uncles assistant and is tasked with sending her home but time and time again his efforts are thwarted with Inez’s conniving ways. She’s too smart to be handled like a child and matches Whit’s whit expertly. From sneaking away at the docs to running from him down crowded Cario streets, she’s always one step ahead. But her tenacity pays off and she is finally officially part of her uncle’s archaeological dig where she learns things of her parents she never wanted to know. But suprisingly, Whit is there for her every step of the way. No matter how they clash, they can’t seem to stop the connection building between them.
The characters drove this story and made me more excited for an adventure novel than I have been in years. Inez was extremely relatable, mainly due to her naivety. Typically characters like that irritate me but it was so accurate to how she was raised and I liked that she didn’t just, out of the blue, become a badass. She’s clever and daring but she’s seen and experienced nothing of the world, nor men. And her inexperience gets her into quite a few troublesome situations which just adds to her character growth. Her endless curiosity made for some fascinating situations that added so well to the plot even if they weren’t directly important. Whit is Inez’s opposite in almost every way, but he also has a stubborn streak am mile long, making him a perfect match for her. He’s jaded by the world even at such a young age. Just a little older than Inez, he’s lived 10 times the life experience but being around her brings out the youth in him once again. Despite his constant worry about her safety, there’s a certain carelessness that he takes on when he’s around her that’s so joyful to read. I’m looking forward to seeing how he grows as we get to book two. These characters are the perfect example of couples that make each other better people. The whit and banter between the two drove the dialogue to new heights and I was giggling, blushing, and laughing out loud throughout the entire novel. I couldn’t get enough of these two characters.
The setting was EVERYTHING. If you are a millenial/zillenial and didn’t watch The Mummy or Indiana Jones 500 times as a kid… then you’re a liar (I don’t make the rules). This book took all that nostalgia from those good classic adventure movies and spun them into a fresh new tale. We’re in Egypt before the major discovery of King Tut but there’s already an archaeological fever for the area and grave robbers around every corner. The political unrest after the bombing of Alexandria also lends an extreme point of danger for our characters. We focus a lot on the ethics of archaeology in Egypt at a time when the countries artifacts and treasures were constantly raided and stolen by imperial superpowers and the struggle locals faced in trying to protect their heritage. It’s the first Egyptian-based adventure story that actually focused on the extreme colonization of the country.
The mystery and the supporting cast were also spectacular and the suspense built right until the end and not knowing when book 2 is coming out has actually put a dent in my life span because of the stress. This book EASILY made it into my top books of 2023 and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. If you haven’t read it yet… what are you waiting for?! I gave this book 5 stars and I have high hopes for the sequel.