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Inez Olivera enjoys a good life among the wealthy set in late-19th-century Buenos Aires. She loves her cousins, one of whom is her best friend. But she misses her parents half the time — they travel every year for six months to Egypt, their second home. Not only does she miss having them around, but she is frustrated that they never take her along. Inez yearns to travel to exotic locations; she’d love to see this place they hold so dear.
Then Inez gets a letter from her uncle, whose archaeological expeditions her parents had been funding. He tells her they have gone missing in the desert and must be dead. She’s devastated, but she can’t simply stay put and accept that they’re gone. She packs her bags, leaves a note for her aunt and boards a ship to Egypt. When she arrives, her uncle insists she cannot stay. While 19-year-old Inez has inherited her parents’ riches, her uncle is in charge of that money until she is older. She has to listen to what he says.
Or not. Inez manages to keep finding ways to elude a journey back to Argentina, even when her uncle assigns his annoying (but handsome and charming-when-he-wants-to-be) assistant to make sure she gets on the ship. She wants so much to go on this next expedition with her uncle; it’s secret and clearly important. Inez’s father had sent her an antique ring that had some magic attached to it, and she’s putting together clues that tell her it must all have to do with Cleopatra. And she knows she can help: the magic in the ring has attached to her and she could sense more that may be connected to that legendary queen.
Her uncle doesn’t want Inez in danger, and she has no idea just how much she is in for once she does get herself on the expedition. It’s not clear whom she can trust: indeed, it’s as clear as the muddy river water.
This is my first time reading a book by Isabel Ibañez. Another reviewer on Rated Reads has read two of her young adult fantasies: Woven in Moonlight and Written in Starlight. What the River Knows had a bit stronger content than those two (so it was more than I was expecting); neither had any strong language. I’d say while this is officially young adult I’d almost call it “new adult.” I enjoyed the book, and I was definitely turning pages quickly toward the end, as the action got intense and some of the mystery played out. But there were times in the first half that I wasn’t quite as engaged in it as I may have expected to be. Perhaps because the characters fell into categories so easily: feisty, stubborn heroine; handsome and charming hero with a difficult past who may or may not be trustworthy. Toward the end, they felt a bit more real to me, but it took a while. I was also super disappointed to figure out about 85% of the way through that this was going to be the first in a series and the story would not conclude here. It’s good to know that ahead of time.
Rated: Moderate (very close to high). Profanity includes 5 uses of strong language, around 15 instances of moderate profanity, about 60 uses of mild language, and 15 instances of the name of Deity in vain. There are also 14 uses of British (bl-) profanity. Sexual content includes mentions of brothels, a couple of kissing scenes (one of which goes a bit further than just kissing), and references to an affair. Violence happens regularly; it’s an adventure with plenty of danger and bad guys. There are some scenes with some description of blood and gore.
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*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
