What The River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

Synopsis: 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.

Full disclaimer: I have always loved anything to do with Ancient Egypt, at one point I wanted to be an archeologist. So when I read the synopsis of this book I was almost instantly hooked. I also had some high expectations going into it.

Right off the bat, this book was excellent. It wove multiple cultures together in a way that was both interesting and beautiful. In the past I’ve always read about the more European people visiting and exploring Egypt. So having the main character from South America was already intriguing. Woven among this story is magic. While most magic seems faded in the world, it seems that there are more magical objects hiding amongst the ruins of Egypt. Which just so happens to be where our main character’s parents are drawn to.

Our main character Inez Olivera, is a really fascinating character. Though she grows up in privilege, she feels lonely. Her parents are always gone exploring and she’s left behind. While she still resides with her extended family, and live a comfortable life – she longs for basically what everyone wants. A family. Her parents come home only for short visits and then run off to Egypt again to continue exploring. Which understandably leave Inez wishing she could go with them.

What kicks off the adventure is when Inez gets word that her parents have died. While an obvious shock, there is a certain amount of mystery of ‘how’ the died. Without being able to get clear answers in Buenos Aires, she books passage and sneaks away to Egypt. On her own for the first time, she shows surprising resourcefulness in traveling across the ocean, and once arriving her guardian had sent his assistant to thwart her attempts to investigate. It doesn’t help that the assistant – Whit – is incredibly handsome. Which adds a level of intrigue to her mission, as its very much the author’s attempt at an enemies to lovers trope.

Inez keeps most of her ‘investigation’ to herself, and worms her way into joining her Uncle Ricardo on his expedition. While the pacing of the book is slow, I think it gives the story time to build – though in about fifty percent of the book it seems unnecessary and almost boring. Whit is a jerk for pretty much the entire book, and just when you think there’s some redemption possible, he turns and betrays Inez. In the meantime Inez can’t help but be drawn in by Whit’s attractiveness.

The more we learn about Inez’s family, the more questions it seems to raise. It’s like peeling back an onion and in one chapter you are feeling sorry for what happened to her parents, to suspicious in the next. Up to the very end of the book we only end up with more questions than answers, which makes me glad that the author is planning a sequel that will be released November 4th, 2024. Especially when the author left us with a huge cliffhanger.

Overall while a bit slow and lengthy, with some flawed character design – it was a fun book to read. I will definitely be picking up the sequel: ‘Where the Library Hides’, when it’s released – as I am eager to read what happens next.

Overall Rating: 6/10
Re-Readability Rating: 4/10
Audiobook Narration: 10/10