Book Review: What the River Knows

I have heard amazing things about What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez since last year and I started it right before leaving for vacation in Portugal and just finished it 2 days ago. Normally, it wouldn’t have taken me this long to read it as it’s 300 something pages, but obviously I’ve had less time to read while away! It especially wouldn’t have taken me this long if I were home because this book was so good and I didn’t want to stop reading it and I didn’t want it to end! Although, it did end in a cliffhanger and the conclusion to the duology comes out this fall.

The novel follows Inez Olivera, a young woman living in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1884 and who comes from a wealthy family. Inez lives with her aunt and cousins because her parents have spent the majority of the past 17 years in Egypt with her uncle helping to fund his archaeological digs. Inez has been wanting to explore Egypt for a long time, but her parents never let her join them. When she receives a letter from her uncle telling her her parents have gone missing in the desert and are presumed dead, she is distraught and sneaks off on a ship to Egypt to find out what happened.

Inez’s uncle, Ricardo, immediately tries to send her back home and has his assistant, Whitford Hayes, watch over her, but Inez repeatedly finds a way back. What Ricardo and Whit don’t know is that Inez’s dad sent her a ring and she’s been feeling a magic connection to it as well as having visions of the owner…Cleopatra.

Inez’s knowledge may be more helpful than any of them realize, but Ricardo and Whit may be hiding secrets as well.

I loved this book so much! The historical fiction aspects, the flirty tension between Inez and Whit, the mystery, magic, and sense of adventure. There was a twist that I predicted and also a shocking event towards the end that I did not see coming! The second book in the duology comes out this fall and I can’t wait to see what happens next especially after the cliffhanger and to see how it all wraps up.

Read this if you want a historical fiction novel with magic, enemies/rivals to lovers, and The Mummy vibes.

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