I wish I enjoyed this more than I did! The description, the start of the book, the magic, and the initial introduction to characters were perfect. However, the plot diminished reading about our plucky heroine, Inez, and the other characters like her parents, uncle, and broody romantic interest.

There were very abrupt character appearances as well as characters who received plenty of page time without contributing much to the actual story. The plot twists could be seen a mile away. Considering magical items are integral to the plot, there was a lack of worldbuilding with the magical system. Overall, this was a promising book that failed to deliver.

That being said, the writing is great and it was intriguing enough to keep me interested. And the cliff hanger at the end?? If there is a another book, I'm likely to read it.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read What the River Knows!

The actual fantasy aspect of this book was amazing - you could really see the extensive research the author put into Egyptian history and mythology. However, I thought the rivals to lovers aspect was way too instantaneous for it to count as rivals to lovers. Inez was also painfully stupid --- like PAINFULLY. But I do know that's a critical component of YA literature in general, so I am choosing to take that with a grain of salt. All in all, it was a quick and enjoyable read but nothing too memorable.

My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Age/rating: Older YA historical fiction/fantasy

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the eARC of this book!

Wow. This book was a refreshing, immersive and exciting adventure that I’m honestly sad is over. It has magic, romance, mystery, and twists around every corner.

To make matters worse, I now have to wait five months longer than everyone else to read the 2024 sequel…

The ADVENTURE: Follow Inez, the stubborn, plucky heroine from Argentina whose independence definitely gets her into trouble, as she travels to 19th-century Egypt to uncover the truth behind her parents’ mysterious deaths. Enter Whit, the attractive, irritatingly secretive and flirtatious British hero with a tortured past, who also happens to work for Ricardo, Inez’s stern uncle with a passion for Egypt’s history and a quick temper. I’ll still be thinking about these characters for a while!

The ROMANCE: I love Inez and Whit and all their rivals-to-lovers adorableness. You will definitely be swooning over Whit. This slow-burn romance is squeal-worthy and the banter in this book is *chef’s kiss* perfection!

The WORLDBUILDING: This book sucked me in to the world of late 19th century Egypt. I know the author did extensive research and fact-checking (she even got to go on a three-week research trip!) and it shows. The details were immaculate and now I desperately want to time travel and visit Egypt. Plus, who didn’t have at least a brief “wants to uncover archeological discoveries in Egypt” phase? 😂

I also enjoyed the emphasis the author placed on the fact that for a good chunk of time, the people of Egypt weren’t allowed to govern themselves or participate very much in uncovering their own history! I was exceedingly peeved at the British and French men in charge of government and archeological discoveries in this book (and rightly so). I love that Inez felt the same way.

The PLOT TWISTS: I guessed the first major plot twist (I was proud of myself), but it definitely didn’t feel “too predictable” to me, and there were more where that came from! The ending?? Let’s just say it was an expert-level cliffhanger that will make those of you who hate waiting for book two pretty mad 😆

It took me a little while to become friends with the writing style, and it started out a little slow-paced, but by halfway through everything had picked up, the writing style was flowing a lot better for me, and I was hooked.

Of course, this was an uncorrected proof, so I think another round of proofreading will polish up it up nicely! There were some errors and a couple minor inconsistencies,

Now, my personal disclaimers:
Like I said before, the beginning was a little slow and it took me a little while to feel invested in the story and the characters’ problems. I also wish the magic system was a touch more fleshed out, and I personally didn’t enjoy the language (though it definitely made sense given Whit’s character). For that, this book didn’t quite reach five stars for me!

I am invested in this story and can’t wait to eventually read book two! For lovers of historical fantasy, adventure, slow-burn romance, and ancient Egypt, you need to preorder this book!

⚠️ language (d*mn, several s-words and a few f-words), a few instances of shooting violence, a brief scene in a brothel (nothing actually happens), kidnapping, frequent drinking

🌶 plenty of tension and desire throughout, a few sweet kisses, a brief makeout scene that gets a little handsy but not very descriptive

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press/ Wednesday books for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this historical fantasy novel. It had good pacing and the character interactions were highly entertaining. The exchanges between Whit and Inez definitely gave off similar vibes to Rick & Eve from the Mummy. I found the "mystery" intriguing and it pulled me through the story. I wasn't surprised by any revelations but was entertained nevertheless. And with how it ended, I am going to have to read the next one to see what happens. This being a YA, it followed stereotypical YA conventions - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I just don't normally gravitate towards these kinds of books. The descriptions of Egypt and all the historical references and fusion of magic is what really sold the book to me. That was atmospheric and vivid.

A young girl who thought she lost her parents has been learning the hard way that no one can be trusted. I absolutely loved how this story played out. And that cliffhanger!

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=3.75 | 😘=3 | 🤬=3.5 | ⚔️=4.5 | 15+

summary: girl goes to Egypt because her parents died and there's a magical ring and ancient artifacts and tombs and also she falls in love with an unreasonably attractive English guy because YA

thoughts: this was fun!! most of the twists were predictable and/or disappointing, but the very very end definitely caught me off guard, and I had a genuinely good time reading a regurgitation of the three YA fantasy male love interests. the world building was also pretty cool, so... overall a good time, I guess? like I wouldn’t buy this, but I’d definitely put it on hold at the library, and I'm definitely looking out for the sequel :)

Isabel Ibanez does not fail with her writing. Her books are just magical, from the characters to the actual storyline. They are just phenomenal. I could not put this one down!

i loved the south american influence and the characters were so real! will definitely be reading this author’s work in future

I think this book had a very strong start. It was very fast paced and kept my interest. I love Ancient Egyptian History so the setting was absolutely fascinating. I loved the electric chemistry between Inez and Whit. The ending leads me to believe there will be a follow up book to this. I think the part that didn't quit work for me was when Inez first finds out her mother is alive. I thought it was done a bit abruptly and left a bunch of plot holes in the story. I also wanted to know more about Whit's background. Who was he engaged to? Overall I enjoyed reading this. Thank you for the ARC!

Spoiler Alert- if you love YA books and The Mummy (Movie), you will probably love this book.

What the River Knows is a historical adventure set in Eqypt with action and magic intertwined. The characters were well-developed and the writing was very enjoyable. It is very geared towards the YA audience, but I know adults who read YA will also enjoy this story. I did find the pacing a little slow for me, but this is clearly a setup for a larger story. My one wish is that it had more puzzle solving. I was hoping for a lot of Dan Brown/Curse of the Specture Queen level sleuthing, but that was not the intent of this book.

Overall, I can totally see myself recommending this in the future.

Inez Olivera travels to Egypt following the news of her parents' tragic demise in the desert. She seeks answers as to how they lost their lives and what they were seeking. However, she soon finds many more questions as a dashing young man named Whitford Hayes attempts to send her right back home to Argentina, by order of her Uncle.

Inez's curiosity and adventurous spirit do not allow her to leave without her answers. She finds her way to her parents' disheveled hotel room, only to find more clues about whom she can and can not trust. Inez begins to feel a strong pull to stay and join her Uncle Ricardo's mysterious archaeological dig. Tingles of magic and a deep connection with an ancient Pharaoh lead her to discover even more clues, all the while falling for the intriguing young man keeping her uncle's secrets.

The action of this novel does not fully pick up until halfway through the book, but by then it is a wild ride to the end. There are so many plot twists that I did not expect, and some that were fairly predictable. The mysteries seem endless and left me wanting a sequel as soon as possible.

When they compare this to The Mummy, they aren’t lying! I definitely got a Mummy vibe from this book and really enjoyed it. This book kept my attention and kept me wanting to read more to figure out what was going to happen. There is a huge cliffhanger and I really hope there is another book! Thank you so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

This book was written in such a flow-y way, I got sucked into it right from chapter one. It's first pov narration by two MCs (but predominantly one of them), and it was so fascinating to follow their journey in this book.

This book also has one of the best historical fiction plotlines I've read! It's set in early 1900s Egypt (colonized by the British, French etc.), following a band of archaeologists (from various countries including Argentina, Britain, Egypt) who want to save some key Egyptian artefacts from being sold off to the colonizers. I love Egyptian mythology, and I loved this plotline which focussed on Cleopatra, as well as some of Egyptian gods she and her family were compared to.

Most of the narration is done by Inez, and I love her so much?? She had so much stacked against her, and I loved her guts and her drive to do the right thing. And I love loved her emotional journey, I can't wait to see where her story goes in book 2.

Also, what was that ending??? Twist after twist after twist in the last 30%, including a heartbreaking betrayal, and a devastating death 😭 not to mention the new shocker the epilogue threw at the reader (I NEED TO WAIT UNTIL BOOK 2 TO GET THAT RESOLVED, WHYYYYY 😭)

Also last but not the least, the romance!! The banter 😭 it's enemies to "okay, the other person is not gonna go away, they're a nuisance", to grudging respect to friends to lovers, and this dialogue pretty much summarises their evolving relationship:
Inez: I have an idea.
Whit: Have I told you how much I live in terror of your ideas?

If you like reading historical fiction (say, like These Violent Delights), read this one!

TWs - death of parents and sibling, gun violence, violence against animals (to be specific, crocodiles), person almost killed by a crocodile when they fall into a river (putting this here, coz I'm terrified of crocodiles, so in case you are too, you need this TW)

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

I am fortunate enough to have visited Egypt a few years ago. I fell in love with the country and the history. When I read the synopsis for this book I knew I had to read it. There is a little bit of everything: historical fiction, romance, adventure, suspense, mystery, and murder with a small amount of magical artifacts all based in the setting of the amazing country of Egypt. I am not usually a fan of books about supernatural or magic, but it is very light in the book. I thoroughly appreciate when a book has many different genres wrapped into one and when the author can seamlessly incorporate all of them. This is one of those times where it was very well done. I loved the main character and how she always fought for herself. The author does a great job at transporting you to Egypt and I really felt like I had been taken back there while reading the book.
The ending left me like WHAT? I cannot wait for the next book to come out!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for a digital ARC.

Based on the description, I was expecting a humorous, fast-paced adventure with witty banter and fun times. Well, it was an adventure.

And it kind of feels half done? And not just because of that cliffhanger. Yikes. Wasn't prepared for that.

There's dual pov with Whit getting 15ish% of page time. His partial chapters seem to be afterthoughts put in only because the author has to show the readers things Inez wouldn't have access to.

There's a lot going on so the book was never boring, it was just far slower paced than I was expecting.

The descriptions are lovely though and it's obvious that the author took care in writing Egypt as more than just a backdrop.

This story was so incredibly well told - every page just kept getting better and better. I honestly can’t say enough amazing things about this book; you’ll just need to pick up a copy for yourself so you can experience the magic firsthand.

This story felt like nothing I had ever read before - Inez Olivera is a young lady from 19th century Buenos Aires. Inez spends time with her auntie (Tia Lorena) and her cousins (Elvira and Amaranta) who are just like a sisters to her while her parents explore the world, spending much of their time in Cairo, Egypt.

Inez is heartbroken when she finds out that her parents died. She’s full of questions and sets off to get answers. She lands in Cairo where her uncle (Tio Ricardo) takes a guardianship role of her while she’s in Cairo — along with his assistant Whitman.

We go on a wild adventure through Cairo with Inez, Tio Ricardo, and Whitman. Inez is full of spunk - she doesn’t mind stretching the truth or flat out lying in order to get ahead — a trait that we later learn runs in her family deeper than we realize. We learn that nothing is as it seems, and as the story continues to unfold nothing goes as planned. The murder mystery builds in intricacies and we’re not even sure who we should be trusting… I laughed, I teared up, I screamed, I gasped, and I even face-palmed a few times.

There’s lots of Spanish thrown into the book - which is delightful and keeps the story feeling authentic.

The ending absolutely crushed me. The book is quite fast paced as it is, but the last 15% really kicked it up a notch. The -TOO SHORT- epilogue had me screaming - I can hardly wait for the next book in the series to come out and to continue this journey with Inez.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to consume this ARC in return for my honest review. Isabel Ibanez is an incredible author, and I can’t recommend this book enough!!

This was such a wild ride! I loved the MC Inez and how stubborn and strong willed she was. The Egyptian setting was really refreshing and different and it was a lot of fun to follow Inez around on her quest to discover what really happened to her parents. There are magic touched artifacts, journeys across the treacherous Nile, the tomb of Cleopatra herself, and secrets and mysteries galore.

Whit was the perfect broody English love interest. The banter and tension between him and Inez was top notch. I loved that we got bits of his POV here and there as well.

The ending was absolutely brutal, like can my girl Inez catch a break? And that cliffhanger, oh man. It’s going to bother me for a long time aka until the next book comes out because apparently this is not a standalone. Highly recommend this book!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

I got access to this arc from NetGalley, and I am so thankful for that . i am absolutely in LOVE with this book, and as soon as I can get my hands on a copy i plan to. I am so so so excited for everyone to get the chance to read this, it was such a fun read.
first off, the characters? i absolutely loved them. the plot twist with *certain people that i won't put because i won't spoil it* 👀👀SHOCKED.
Inez was such a fun character! she was so adventurous and daring and brilliant (like 98% of the time) and honestly i would've done everything that she did without hesitation. she was such a fun character to read from and honestly - i would've fallen head over heels for Whit within seconds. (props to her for how she handles him for real lol). the setting in egypt? i must be going through a phase of mesopotamian based literature because this is the third book series I've read in the last two weeks that is heavily based around egypt, cairo especially. it makes me wish i was an archeologist or a person who could just travel to these places and experience it myself!
the plot was so interesting how it kept twisting, but wasn't confusing at any point. it flowed smoothly and took my breath away with each turn of events. I lanes is an amazing author hands down, definitely one of my favorites!
i want to experience this book again and again i loved it and i can't wait for the next one! (also PS - that epilogue?!?!?! are you kidding me??? i need the next one stat!)

From Argentina to Egypt, a young woman seeks to uncover the truth of what happened to her presumably passed parents. As she searches for answers, she uncovers more than she expected and much more than she ever hoped to find.

Isabel Ibañez captured me with Inez Olivera. Having experienced the intrigue and pull of Egypt on a solo trip in my early 20s, I could feel her excitement, her tension. I could smell the spices in Khan al-Khalili, feel the Nile under my feet on a feluca, taste the chocolate covered dates. I could dream myself right back to the hot, busy streets of Cairo and beyond. And while I didn't exactly uncover the great mysteries of ancient Egypt, I did experience the thrill of standing opposite some of the world's more remarkable and important antiquities. Ibanez recreated that world beautifully and imbued it with even more magic than it already has.

In fact, I would have liked even more magic weaved into the story. I loved how nonchalant the characters were about the existence of magic and how it remained. The tastes of it drew me in but I wanted to see it and feel it even more.

Whether or not you've ever fallen in love with Egypt, you will certainly fall in love with the characters. Inez is so fully developed, I felt I understood her. Whit and Tio Ricardo were enticing and, though we didn't know much about them, I know we were given just enough. The relationship between Inez and Whit also felt within my reach. As someone who doesn't typically read a lot of romance or YA novels, this was just enough for me. I loved Inez's willfullness. I loved her flaws. I expected Whit to be more predictable than he was but Ibañez kept me on my toes. And I caught myself smiling more than once as Whit and Inez found their way closer and closer together.

The relationships between the women in this story also felt incredibly important. While their interactions didn't take up as many pages, the weight of them made up for it. The relationship between Inez and her mother was interesting and complex. Inez's relationship with her cousin Elvira felt real and sustaining. Even the budding relationship between Inez and Isadora was substantial and impactful. And maybe more important than them all, the relationship Inez has with the last queen of Egypt becomes a driving force of the story.

I will say the epilogue of this book destroyed me. I did not know this was the first book of a duology and so I was expecting some closure. And as soon as I thought it was within my reach, it was torn away from me! But now I'm thrilled that my journey with Inez isn't over! I can't wait to find out what Whit is really up to and the lengths Inez will have to go to for the truth. Looking forward to being back in Cairo.

I was super excited to read this based off of the description, but it wound up being way to long for me.

I loved the descriptions of Egypt, and I genuinely felt bad for the main character, Inez, as she searched for answers about the disappearance of her parents. It was fun to go on a journey of discovery.

The book is historical fantasy, incorporating magic (but not enough for me), and with chemistry within the romance, and certainly does bring you into the atmosphere; it just could have been about 100 pages shorter.

I received a copy of this from St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, via NetGally, for an honest review.