This was exceptional. I love reading anything regarding Ancient Egypt and even more so when its done well! The characters within this were fab. The main characters themselves were exciting and strong. Info regarding Ancient Egypt was acurate and a great learning experience throughout. I just wanted this story to go on and on.
Plenty of action, including warfare and other graphic violence, recalled in first-person by a strong FMC who (no spoiler, this) has had two fingers chopped off to stop her from shooting a bow. Her three sidekicks are equally bold in their quest for personal and political justice in 18th Dynasty Egypt. (The story aims to flesh out the few facts--and claims--that archaeology gives us about Pharaoh Thutmose IV, turning them into a cohesive and spellbinding adventure. I'm not an ancient Egypt freak, so I don't know how credibly she does it--it worked for me.)
Hofmeyr's deft at character and plot, and what I admired most about the writing was how the kids'strengths are often also their weaknesses, alternately bringing them to safety and plunging them into peril.
The story's pace is fast and furious. There are some passages of historical explanation, but the topics are fascinating and on the edge of gory (mummification; ancient methods of making bows and arrows; the use of man-eating crocs in worship), so they never bog us down.
A good read; I'm going to get me the sequel Eye of the Sun.
*no spoilers were harmed in the making of this review*
"I hope my story will soon enough be carved in stone so the truth will be known to all" ~Isikara
Hey guys, so I finished Eye of the Moon by Dianne Hofmeyr. I will be honest with you, really the only thing that I liked about this novel was how rich in Egyptian mythology it was. When I first picked it up, it sounded like a story filled with action, adventure, thrill and romance. And well....in my opinion, although it did have action, it just was not presented in a manner that I particularly enjoyed. I just could not really lose myself in this book. I held no tender feelings for the characters whatsoever. The main character Isikara, most of the time I either thought she was stupid, bold, or recklesss. One of these traits, among shallow others, had her getting tossed around in the endless cycle of "getting caught" "escape/get rescued by someone else". Oy. And the prince, well, he was a prince who showed a glimmer of nobleness, kindness and smartness. That's about it. But the thing is, there were just so many events happening, one after the other after the other, I think the author spent too much time on the scenes and the events, that she neglected to write about how the characters felt about such events. There is hardly any headspace for the characters. They just drift about the storyline with no feelings or thoughts really. Everything is happening outside of them, but nothing is really happening inside. Since there was so much useless and frankly boring descriptions within this book, I practically skimmed majority of it. So, I will admit, I might have missed some crucial details/inner monologue. maybe, I doubt it. But, even if I did, I do not think it would have change my perception of this novel. That being said, this is all my opinion about this novel. if you do not like it, feel free to read it and give your own. I encourage it! OH! Another thing that annoyed the hell out of me. There are so many exclamation marks in this novel, like, many that did not need to be added to that sentence. it was just so weird, and peppy? Anyway, the storyline was okay, i'm sure others have enjoyed it more than I have. I think I was just expecting something different than what was presented. What that is, I don't know exactly. This story just didnt spark anything it me. Sorry not sorry. Neither did the characters. And sadly, there were not really any sparks between the characters either. Not like that had many opportunities to speak to one another, seeing as how they were almost always either on the run or in binds. Now, there was a faint hint of attraction between two characters that were not the main characters, but I will not say who, cause that could spoiler it. So, yeah. This book, in my opinion, was meh. I think it's safe to say I could have gone on with my life without reading it. But I did, So yeah. Alright, as always, if you guys have any questions or comments, drop em below. Till next time. Bye
Main character who is reckless and causes a lot of the problems that happen. Honestly, the exclamations the characters said made me annoyed. I didn't like any of the characters either...at all. Unfortunately, I won't be picking up the second book.
Thrilling and compelling, this story about a young girl who gets forced into helping a stranger takes the reader on a journey through Ancient Egypt. A tale of loss, adventure, and finding family.
Antik Mısır dönemini anlatan çok güzel bir kitaptı.Sürükleyiciydi hemen bitti. Karakterlerini, kurgusunu baya sevdim. İkinci kitabını da okuyacağım yakında.
Isikara, figlia dell'Imbalsamatore Reale e Tuthmosis, principe dell'Egitto si innamorano durante la fuga che gli salverà la vita.... Romanzo intriso di misteri, leggende, omicidi.
This book initially starts off slow and kind of iffy but as soon as Tuthmosis is introduced, it picks up pace and grabs your interest. I really enjoyed the story and I loved the relationship each character has with each other. Namely, Kara, Tuthmosis, and Anoukhet :)
Unfortunately, this is a Did Not Finish as, though it was full of clear research on the author's part, I got weary of the romance cliches (seriously, getting jealous because Love Interest just looked at another pretty girl? So old and I've seen it way too many times before), and the characters felt too two-dimensional, and mostly there to further plot or be the classic villain, love interest, or ally. Also, I highly questioned Thutmosis having *blue* eyes, when there probably wasn't any mixing with Northern European people in Ancient Egypt. Likely a little quirk to make the love interest more "unique" from his peers.
Attention all readers! This book will blow your mind if your the type of person who likes the adventrous books like Indiana Jones books. This is a book where every page is an adventure.
I REALLY liked this book. Adventure, romance... what more could you want?! Oh, and it's set in Ancient Egypt! Even better. If I could, I'd give it 4 1/2 stars.
This book is honestly just ok. I'll admit that I didn't know what the intended audience was age-wise, and so I was a bit surprised to find that the story was written as being more simple than the original summary on Goodreads made it seem, and of course the text was bigger and the content altogether more "innocent". If I were younger, I would probably like this book a bit more. I don't dislike it or anything, but there's really very little to be said about it. The characters are...meh, so-so. The crocodile parts about the feeding and cleaning and wrapping up (mummified crocodiles, seriously?) was pretty cool, and it's nice to see some Egyptian mythology brought into it as well, but, other than that, there's no real substance to the story. I'm never feeling what the heroine is feelings, I don't see things clearly because...well, they just aren't described clearly. I honestly think that this book was written with the attention span of kids in mind, because that's what the book's advertising for and that's probably the main age group that reads it. 8-12 is a bit presumptuous in my view, though--but, then again, this is coming from a girl who read the original, unabridged version of Dickens's Oliver Twist when she was 13, so I'm not really the best judge for all "average" readers.
The concept was interesting though, and no doubt it's already been applied to YA novels as well. But then, in those, the romance aspect might be overplayed, whereas here, it wasn't. (Not much chemistry between the two main characters, I don't think.)