This is book two in a fantasy trilogy...I haven't read book one. I chose this book because I was intrigued by the title "The Novice Collector" and the Egyptian Setting. I just hadn't realised it was the second book in the series, the book starts from what appears to have been a cliffhanger from the first book with the protagonist Max in the middle of a chase, trying to get away from a shadowy figure known as the Lieutenant with a golden key to his grandfather's magical cabinet tied around his neck.

This is a middle grade adventure set mostly in Cairo, our protagonist Max is just about to celebrate his 13th birthday, his grandad lives in Cairo and has a special magical cabinet of curiosities in which there are objects which enable time travel back to the time of the pharaohs.

Max is joined on his adventures by the intrepid Youssef and Kiki, a girl he meets hiding in a mummy's container in the Cairo Museum. In England, Max feels he is in the shadow of his Olympic focused fencing sister, but in Egypt he feels he is amongst equals. In this the second book, Max must decide whether to return to England with his parents or stay in Egypt and become an apprentice collector under his grandfather's tutelage.

The Egyptian setting feels authentic with action moving from the museum through the bustling chaotic streets of Cairo to the market and an Egyptian cemetery. The story also covers important themes of antiquity theft and recovery.

It is an intriguing tale but I feel you'd be a little lost like me if you hadn't read the first book: "Boy Between Worlds: The Cabinet of Curiosities."

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC. I leave this review voluntarily.