I really enjoyed reading this book! I read this book in one sitting because I could not put the book down, I highly recommend reading this book!

Very interesting story set mainly in Venice about two sisters, Gods of Ancient Egypt and the struggle of power between Gods and Humans.
I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. I was provided a copy by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I actually really enjoyed it, though the language was a little simplistic and would be more suited to a Young Adult audience. I'd recommend this to my history-buff teenage nieces.

As an avid fan of Egyptology, I enjoyed the Egyptian theme of this novel and the innovative way Schaff-Stump incorporated the Egyptian Gods with a new myth story. While the book's cover and description was what peaked my interest, I quickly became immersed in the story of the Klaereon and Borgia magical families. One thing I liked about the novel, is how the underdog, Lucy was able to overcome the "fate" rendered to her by her family. The author was able to add some complexity to keep the intrigue rolling. However, there were a few things that really did mesh well with me, such as the Roman influences. While I understand that Egypt was colonized, I had hoped that Schaff-Stump would try to focalise on actual Egyptians. Furthermore, the setting in Venice thoroughly had me confused as I was waiting for it to change to some location in Egypt.. I did wonder why she chose the Egyptian Gods to bind to her characters instead of Roman or even Greek. I feel like the story would connect better if that was the case. But regardless of the faults I found, I would still read the next installment in this series. Hopefully, Schaff-Stump will go to Egypt in the next one and explain more in depth the backstory behind the Egyptian Gods, and their power struggle.

I was enjoying the beginning of this book overall. The premise is certainly original and interesting. The writing is good and did not feel amateur-ish or anything of the sort.

However, about 40% of the way through, I started to feel a bit confused. The magic system and the different elements of the mythology and the different mythological creatures... it all started to jumble around in my brain and I kind of lost the connection I initially felt to the characters and story.

By the time the ritual scene came about, I was thoroughly confused about what was going on. I understood the over-arching goals, but when it came down to explaining the details, it just seemed like too much information and too many different names and diversions from that over-arching goal.

The Vessel of Ra is a unique blend of dark fantasy and historical fiction with plenty of surprises. Seriously, buckle your seatbelt because the speed of this plot is breakneck.

What I loved about the book was the blend of myth with fantasy elements. I thought the story was very unique. There wasn’t another book I could really compare this too, which is great. Schaff-Stump weaves a terrifically complex storyline with varied characters and diverse settings. I loved seeing the Egyptian gods and elements of Biblical fiction blended in an entertaining way.

The main thing I didn’t like was the lack of reaction to events as they happened. Significant moments would occur, and I didn’t believe what I was reading at first because there were no emotional shockwaves that I could relate to. So I would have liked if the author had taken a few more sentences to ‘feel’ these chapters, because really big unexpected things happen! Additionally, things were a bit gory for me, but this is a minor complaint.

Schaff-Stump has a very intriguing and page-turning story. I was impressed where the story went. My only wish is that Schaff-Stump would have been a bit more time with her characters sitting in the emotions of a moment. Otherwise, recommend!

This was an interesting book with a good blend of historical and fantasy elements. I liked the setting in Venice and also the inclusion of the last remnants of the Borgia family as magicians. The blending of Egyptian gods with Christian mythology and demons was also somewhat of a new take on blending mythologies. Lucy was really great as well, and I don't think I've ever actually read a book like this where the main character is a dwarf. It added a new layer to the story where she had to fight against people's prejudice against her, even though she was actually the strongest magician there and they just couldn't see past her appearance.

My big complaint is that although there is a reason that this particular family ended up with this scroll where they are connected with these gods/demons, it's still basically a story about white British people controlling Egyptian gods and I think it would have been so easy to make the family Egyptian instead. Considering the history between those two countries in particular it was just something that stuck out like a sore thumb to me.

Little Summary:

So, this dark fantasy and historical fiction story follow three main characters: Lucy Klaeron, Carlos Borgia, and Lucy's older sister Octavia. The all three are so different that it made this read so enjoyable. There is deceit, betrayal, love affairs, justice, violence, magical beings. What more can you ask for in a book? So, Lucy and Octavia are born into the Klaereon family. For centuries their family has been bound to a contract to fight the demons that were imprisoned in the abyss by King Solomon. At birth, a demon attaches to each child born to the family that is a Binder, acting as a familiar until the child's sixteenth birthday. On that day, a trial unfolds. Either the Binder wins and binds the demon to them or the demon wins and binds the Binder to them.

Lucy is appeared as weak. (And most of her family make her believe she's worthless) Octavia is the strong one according to everyone else. The family is afraid that Lucy will lose her fight with Ra, and that the demon will be free to unleash its evil on the world. Octavia is trained to kill her sister on the day she is to battle Ra, not even considering helping her sister either just killing her. Things go to the deep end, Octavia is possessed by Ra and Lucy is murdered. Lucy comes back from the dead, determined to save her sister from the clutches of Ra.






First off, behold the beauty of the cover!
I will not lie when I saw this cover on Netgalley I jumped on it without even reading what it was about. A fatal flaw about me! But I'm so glad I requested this and got it! It was amazing!


Pros:

I loved the Egyptian undertones and different kinds of lore wrapped into one intriguing fantasy world.

The flashbacks of all the main characters really shed the light on how they got to this point in their lives. I admired how beautifully Catherine Schaff-Stump wove the past and present seamlessly into this book!

The characters were all on different sides of the moral and ethical scales. Which I personally loved.
The romance in this is very heated! (There is more action than romance too!) And there is a little love triangle thing going on. And it's not the kind where it's annoying either. It fits and saddens me, to be honest.

When the action and violence were happening, my heart was pounding and was reading faster just to see who was going to survive!

Lucy, I loved her character and also wanted to shake her, in the beginning, to tell her she was beautiful and unique! Of course, though she couldn't hear me! When she came back from the dead though is when she really made me root for her. She was so badass!

Carlos Borgia was my absolute favorite lanky little boy I want to protect from EVERYTHING! He's honorable and wants to do whats right always. His grandfather, on the other hand, is well... not as honorable.


And Octavia... well I certainly appreciated having a character that had a dark side with her lust for power and love. It's human to want. And she definitely wanted all of it. She's a character I'm between loving and hating for some reason.
The demon familiars were my favorite side characters! Their sass was everything to me! And Khun can do as he pleases if I was in that book(: I adored him.



Cons:
That I have to wait for the second book now!




This book will release from Curiosity Quills Press on September 12, 2017!


Recommend:

I gave this a five-star rating simply because it was a fast read, and I really enjoyed the world in The Vessel of Ra. Plus, totally reread material! And for me to reread a book that is a truly great piece of work(:
Get this book when it comes out, you will regret it if you don't! I know I will be buying a physical copy to add to my bookshelf :)



*I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Curiosity Quills Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.*

Lucy and Octavia are born into the Klaereon family. For centuries their family has been bound to a contract to fight demons imprisoned in the abyss by King Solomon. At birth, a demon attaches to each child born to the family, acting as a familiar or companion until the child's 16th birthday. On that day, a battle ensues. If the Binder wins the battle, the demon is returned to the abyss to be summoned only for magic or, if evil, the demon can be banished. But if the Binder loses the battle, the demon takes control, using the Binder for its own purposes.

Lucy is seen as weak. Octavia is strong. The family is afraid that Lucy will lose her fight with Ra, and that the demon will be free to unleash its evil on the world. So, Octavia is trained to kill her sister on the day she is to battle Ra. Things go horribly wrong however -- Octavia is possessed by Ra and Lucy is murdered. Lucy comes back from the dead, determined to save her sister from the clutches of Ra.

This book is exciting and interesting! At the beginning, I had a bit of a difficult time figuring out what was going on and why....but as the story unfolds and more details revealed, I was totally hooked! I don't want to reveal too much of the plot in this review so there aren't any spoilers. All I'm going to say is that the plot, characters and setting of this book really impressed me. Very enjoyable fantasy novel!

The cover art is gorgeous! And the colored illustrations inside the book were awesome, too! This book will release from Curiousity Quills Press on September 12, 2017!

The Vessel of Ra is the first book in the Klaereon Scroll series. I can't wait to see how the rest of this series unfolds! For more information on the author, check out her website: https://cathschaffstump.com/

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Curiousity Quills Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

I'm not one for historical fiction unless it keeps me on the edge of my seat or it has fantasy/paranormal and this one did both. Thank you to negalley for the arc for an honest review, the publishing team, Curiosity Quills Press, and Catherine Schaff-Stump who wrote an attention grabbing, unique, interesting, fantastic novel I couldn't put down until the very end.

This book really had it all. A kick butt main character, adventure, possession, fights, death, coming back alive, and trying to save the world against the clock.