Review--What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez

 

Bolivian-Argentinian Inez 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 forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns 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 archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient 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 soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s 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 parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.

What the River Knows is the first book in Isabel Ibanez's Secrets of the Nile duology and it starts out with a bang! I honestly wasn't sure what to expect with this story but truly it was hearing "The Mummy meets..." that snagged my attention as I loved that Brendan Fraser movie! Lol. I feel like this book perfectly captures some of that movie magic and makes it its own with this mysterious story.

Inez has longed for the day that her parents would let her come to Egypt with them on their travels. Ever since she could remember they have spent most of their time in Egypt on adventures seeking mummy tombs and Inez just wanted to be apart of that journey as well. When she waits for their latest letter which she hopes will contain the answer to her inquiry, she is devastated to hear that her parents have disappeared and are presumed dead.

Without further ado, Inez decides to go Egypt and seek out answers herself. Her parents could very well be alive as they were working with her uncle, Ricardo, on her mother's side to look for the elusive tomb of Cleopatra. After her long and tremulous journey she is greeted at the docks by her uncle's assistant, Whit, who promptly tells her she's going back home. Inez being the fierce and headstrong heroine that I love, tells him where he can shove that lovely detail and manages to outwit him and get herself to her parents' favorite hotel where she will start her own investigation.

Needless to say, Whit was not prepared for the kind of young woman that Inez turned out to be! 

In a turn of events Inez basically gets herself a place on her uncle's excavation team to continue the search for Cleopatra's tomb and along the way Inez uncovers chilling secrets that may lead her to the answers to her parents' disappearance. Inez is no longer sure of who she can trust in this part of the world. She is virtually on her own and there's danger at every turn, quite literally with the elements of the desert and the wild creatures that call this country home.

This story was so exciting! I loved the adventure, the danger, the mystery, and this tantalizing romance brewing between Inez and Whit! It's not so much as an adversaries to lovers as I wouldn't necessarily call them adversaries and enemies goes too deep as well. They just border the lines of polite with one another mixed in with a dash of sarcasm of course! What I loved about Inez is that she's not afraid to speak her mind and she's a rather capable young lady! Yes, she does require help every so often, but this is a young woman who is determined to go after what she wants, no matter the risk! Then you have Whit and this is a boy wrapped heavily in mystery! We do get snippets of his point of view to help paint a bigger picture of who he is and I lived for these moments! He has his own tortured past that takes time to reveal, but we learn quite a deal about his character as well and how he came to be in her uncle's employ.

As far as the romance itself goes, well, it's a bit like pulling nails or teeth! There are sparks here and there when you can see things brewing between the two but there's always something holding them back.

This book continued to surprise me throughout as well! I did make some guesses as to where things were headed and I was right in some regards. Of course there were greater details that I couldn't quite see coming at all and then that ending! My mind is still reeling! But it's really that epilogue that makes you shout! Watch yourselves!

I will say that one thing that did kind of upset me was that mummies didn't play as quite a bigger role in the story than I thought they would. I wasn't really expecting a mummy to come to life like in the movie, but I guess I just thought an actual mummy might be more key to the storyline than what was given. I'm not call this a huge letdown, but I guess I was expecting just some kind of spark, some tiny form of magic to help add some pizazz to the story. As far as we are concerned with magic, there wasn't a great deal of that either. I will say there is a bit of it in the story, but again, I had kind of hoped for just a little bit more. 

It was truly the characters that kept me going with this story! I swear Inez and Whit reminded me of Evie and O'Connell from The Mummy. Just those little moments they had with each other where they bickered and argued. It was a riot! It was the kind of feeling you'd get if those two actors were playing teenagers in the movie instead (although that clearly would not have worked out as well either!)! So yes, their chemistry is what I lived for as I continued to read through the pages.

All in all, What the River Knows was an enchanting mystery steeped with secrets and dusted with romance! It was a story you could easily sink into and be hooked by its mysteries. The characters were deeply endearing and led me to continue to eat up these pages despite a hectic work schedule! This was a book I so easily fell in love with despite the odds against me. I cannot wait to see how it will end with Where the Library Hides, and oh what a title that is! Prepare yourselves for an exciting adventure if you dare to pick up the Secrets of the Nile duology!

 

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars