Being a fan of Ancient Egypt, especially New Kingdom Egypt and Hatshepsut, I was definitely excited when I saw this book was available to review on NetGalley.
Neferura follows Hatshepsut’s daughter as she navigates royal politics and escaping her dangerous fate.
Reading this, it was clearly evident that Evan did her research for this novel and wove it in with fiction. I couldn’t put this book down.
If you want to read an ancient historical fiction novel about the daughter of the first female pharaoh, this one is for you!

Enjoyed this easy and fast read. As my knowledge about ancient Egypt is limited, I cannot say how accurate or not the world the author builds is. However, I guess it's safe to assume that palace intrigues and manipulations were and are common among royalty. Loved the focus on women and their scopes of power. The characters and their stories were full of life and intriguing.
However, while the author most of the time wrote in a language that seemed appropriate for an ancient royal court — which of course is always based on speculation as ancient Egyptian is probably scarce today and hard to comprehend for the average reader — I stumbled upon a bit of modern speech from time to time that threw me off. Nothing serious, but my inner Monk felt distracted for just a moment.

Overall, this is an entertaining read for those who love historical fiction.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this book!

It was well written and kept my attention page after page. I felt it was also well researched and the author did a great job of blending history with a story VERY much worth reading. I look forward to reading more from this author!

I also want to say thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks, for the gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. And thank you to Netgalley for providing the means to do so. My sincere appreciation!

I had a lot of difficulty with this book. The world is well depicted, but the 'villain' doesn't really come across as evil. His actions are always reported rather than witnessed firsthand, or at least it takes a while for that to happen, which diminishes his villainous presence. I struggled with the pacing as well. It's very slow at the beginning, followed by a series of erratic accelerations. In the end, there's such an accumulation of court intrigues that I couldn't really get into the story or the character.

“Neferura” tells the story of the only daughter of Hatshepsut, Egypt’s only female pharaoh. As the god Amun’s ceremonial wife and the leader of the priesthood, Neferura wields power on her mother’s behalf and supports her reign. Among those closest to her are Iset, her handmaiden, and Senenmut, her tutor and father figure. When Neferura’s half brother Thutmose, the other pharaoh in name only, returns to court plotting Hatshepsut’s downfall, Neferura must reckon with her mother’s actions, choose a side, and try to maintain the beneficial changes that have occurred throughout Hatshepsut’s reign. Part historical fiction, part political thriller, part family drama, this book is full of tension and conflict from beginning to end.
Neferura herself is a fascinating character: she’s naive but holds great influence, and greatly concerned with the burdens of guilt carried by those around her - particularly her mother. Whenever anybody commits a crime or offense, Neferura worries not because of the effect of the action on the world but instead how it will influence the lightness of that person’s heart when it is weighed against a feather in the Land of the Dead. This core quality heavily influences how she makes her own decisions in the political machinations of her family. I also found Hatshepsut to be an incredibly compelling character, partly because I think many authors would have been tempted to write this story from her perspective. As the better known historical figure, we know a lot more about Hatshepsut than Neferura, but seeing her from her daughter’s perspective allows us to look at her with complexity and see her massive successes as a ruler right alongside her failings as a parent.
I think where I struggled with this book was the writing itself, which was often very dry, along with some pacing issues that had me slogging through sections. I also found some parts of Neferura’s narration to be quite repetitive, which could have been helped with some sharper editing. I also found Kamut to be a very poorly developed and shallow character and therefore really struggled to care about what was going to happen to him, although it was incredibly important to Neferura. I felt that the flashbacks and stories of Neferura and Thutmose’s childhood, and how they shaped the current plot, were part of the pacing issues. I would rather the whole first section of the book been dedicated to describing their youth and then picked up the rest of the story in chronological order.

Terrific story set in ancient Egypt! I was excited about reading this one as I love ancient historical fiction and this did not disappoint! Neferura is the daughter of female pharoah Hatshepsut who enjoys her power more than her daughter's company. Neferura has spent her life being the God's wife so she can serve as queen to her mother. Neferura has few close to her at the beginning of the story but as she begins to unravel some palace secrets that begins to change.

Neferura becomes stronger and surrounds herself with strong women who are on her side. It makes for a compelling story based on real people. I appreciated that the author used language from ancient Egypt and gave a glimpse of women within the time period. This isn't necessarily new but it was enjoyable. Of course there are strong men at her side as well who are likeable and unique characters.

I found the book easy to read and the characters were relateable. Overall a great read! I would not mind hearing more about this woman though I thought the ending was satisfying. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book!

I really really enjoyed this book, although so much of it was heartbreaking.
Took me a bit longer to get into it, but after about 30%, I was hooked and couldn't put it down.

Neferura is a historical fiction story about the Neferura of ancient Egyptian history. One could even call it speculative fiction since very little knowledge or evidence currently exists about Neferura’s life.

The book begins as Neferura is coming into womanhood, with her half brother returning to the Palace and her mother Hatsheput trying to establish her legacy as the longest reigning female pharoh. With her vengeful brother’s return, all of what Neferura believed to be true regarding her life, religion, and family is challenged.

Neferura is a story of courtly intrigue, friendship, religion (lightly), patriarchy and abuse, and the experiences of women - along with the historical underestimation of women.

I loved this book. It starts slow as Evans builds Neferura’s character, world, and establishes identities and relationships. At roughly 40% into the story though it picks up and Neferura’s life truly begins to change - leading to steady medium pacing as readers navigate the court of Hatsheput and Thutmose III. I also appreciated that Evans included several pages at the end going over the actual history (what little is known) and characters, and explains who was inspired but what real characters from history and those that were entirely fictional.

For fans of:
⚱️Ancient Egyptian History and Mythology
📜 Court Intrigue
💪🏽 Strong FMCs
🏠 Found Family
🪞 Character self discovery and growth
🫶🏻 Powerful friendships and loyalty
❤️‍🔥 Nontraditional HEAs

Do yourself a favor and preorder Neferura! The book releases February 13th!

Thank you to @netgalley @sourcebookslandmarks and @malaynaevans for the ARC.

Neferura takes Egyptian history and turns it into a story that is easy to read and appreciate. The text is definitely aimed at a younger audience than myself, which it definitely assists in making the story palatable but it does appear to be written for a much younger audience than the YA audience it is aimed at.

The beginning of the story is quite slow, but it does pick up towards the second half of the book, which I did enjoy more. Some events feel a bit "too easy" in terms of pushing the plot along and getting our heroes to where they need to be. I love seeing female friendship in these stories, so the relationships between these characters were very heart-warming.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and appreciated the writing.

To start this would be a great YA historical drama, either for highschoolers or someone just getting into historical fiction. The writing isn't bad, but it's not great either. The pacing is off, there is so much melodrama, and the plot is a bit weak. However, it is a great example of feminism in a historical setting.

This ended up being one of those books that I wanted to like more than I did. It is easy enough to understand without a background in ancient Egyptian history, but having that knowledge before reading helps make some character actions more realistic and helps you understand certain cultural references. The prose is also easy to read. My main issue with the book is the way that the plot is presented. Certain actions or twists felt more predictable than I would have liked from this sort of story. The second half of the book moves faster than the first half, and I found that I enjoyed the second half more than the first as a result. As for Neferura herself, I appreciated the development she saw as the plot progressed. Even though this book isn’t for me, I did enjoy the historical elements and scholarly theories presented at the end of the book. The histories and theories are something that I could reasonably find myself looking into on my own time, so I am glad that this book was able to serve as an introduction of sorts to this specific part of Egyptian history.

I received an ARC through NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was a wonderful reimagining of the life of Neferura during the reign of her famous mother, Hatshepsut. 👑

Historically, not much is known about this woman. Other than common knowledge that she is the daughter of two pharaohs and held a powerful position at court, it’s not know when she was born, if she married and when she died. I really enjoyed Evans’ take on what could have happened with a twist, as well as address the idea that there was animosity between Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. ⚔️

In this take, Neferura needs to take on her brother as she learns about a plan to sink her mother’s reign. As she slowly starts to trust others and a mysterious wise woman with connections everywhere, Neferura soon finds that she needs to sneak around in order to save herself and her mother. 👀

I found Neferura’s character to be a sheltered, but loyal daughter to her mother. While she’s a quick learner in the art of spying, her judgement at times is rash and not well thought out in my opinion. I found Hatshepsut to be the kind of queen and pharoh that she needed to be: cold and calculating, but with a vulnerable side that she very rarely nor seen can’t to show. Thutmose is despicable, but his experiences do shed light on how he came to hate his stepmother and half sister, though this mixed with his egotism and spoiled nature is a cocktail for disaster. The wise woman, I found, to be my favorite of the bunch with her duplicitous nature. She did what she thought was needed for her group and nation, and wasn’t afraid to throw the royals and nobles under the bus. 🦂

While the plot was engaging and well thought out with its extensive research, I did find that it felt rushed here and there. Now this might’ve been done to progress the story and show the tension of the characters, but some events could have lasted a bit longer to really make them stick. 🌴

Regardless of my thoughts on the overall packing, I did have a good time reading this and found myself immersed in Ancient Egyptian history. Definitely would recommend it for those interested in Ancient Egyptian history, women of the time, and of course a glimpse of what Hatshepsut looked like as a ruler. 👸🏽

Big thank you goes out to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for accepting my request in exchange for an honest review, and to the author, Malayna Evans, for writing a wonderful historical fiction on a mysterious woman! 🔍

Publication day: February 13!

Overall: 4.25/5 ⭐️

On StoryGraph I gave this 3.5 stars.

Overall:
This book had really solid pacing that kept me turning the page pretty quickly throughout. Last year I read "The Woman Who Would Be King" -- a non-fiction book covering Neferura's mother, Hatshepsut. So I had a pretty solid understanding of the whole "god's wife" thing and how Hatshepsut came into power, which I think helped as I read this particular book. I enjoyed the depictions of friendship, and the plot was exciting enough, but I'm not rating it higher because some of the plot points seemed out-of-place and I wasn't a super huge fan of some elements of the ending.

Characters:
Neferura was just a bit too naive/oblivious a couple of times and it felt a bit out-of-character. She has been raised at court and talks about being good with court politics, but then several times makes enormous mistakes due to her own naivety.

The friendships between her and Iset and the priestesses were lovely to see.

I felt like Thutmose came off a bit too mustache-twirly. He was just suddenly there and this sudden incredibly violent and psychotic villain.

Plot:
The ending just felt a little bit too tidy. It was nice to see a super happy ending to some degree, but I just don't believe that these particular people probably had this happy of an ending. Which I suppose is the fun of fiction at times. But this being historical fiction with a lot of elements based in reality, I guess I would have like a little bit more of a realistic ending.

Yes! Finally a historical fantasy about Egypt. I loved this book. I couldn’t stop reading. This was such a fun story with mystery and romance!

Neferura by Malayna Evans is a historical fiction novel that tells the story of the daughter of the famous Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut, who faces danger and betrayal from her half-brother Thutmose. The novel is based on extensive research and historical accuracy, and it portrays the culture and politics of ancient Egypt in a vivid and engaging way. Evans is an Egyptologist and her passion and knowledge are evident. The novel also celebrates the power and friendship of women, as Neferura forms alliances with a mysterious tattooed wise woman and other female characters who help her navigate the complex court intrigues.

However, the novel also suffers from some flaws that may disappoint some readers. The pacing of the novel is uneven, with a slow and dragging first half that does not capture the reader’s attention or curiosity. After starting and reading the first third, it took me two months to pick it up again to finish. The writing style is almost too juvenile to capture the teen and adult audience (which many YA books are able to do quite successfully) and it fails to convey the depth and emotion of the characters and the plot. The characterization of Neferura, and others, is weak and inconsistent, and they often act in ways that are not consistent. The novel also lacks a satisfying climax and resolution, and it leaves many questions unanswered.

Overall, it is a novel that has a lot of potential. It may appeal to readers who are interested in ancient Egypt and female empowerment, but it may also frustrate readers who are looking for a more mature and compelling historical fiction.

Neferaru is a story centered on a fascinating subject: the daughter of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut.
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The writing is solid. I was easily carried along from one sentence to the next. The budding romance between Neferaru and Kamut was fun to read, and the secret society of scorpion wisewomen was interesting to explore.

It took some thinking to understand why I couldn’t get into this story. This is what I landed on:

A story should consist of an inevitable and compelling progression of events - and that’s what Neferaru lacks. Things happen randomly with predictable consequences and without escalation of stakes. It does not feel like the story progresses.

I also found the protagonist impossibly naive, which makes it difficult to root for her and follow her on her journey. I kept wanting her to feel more real, but she felt flat.

I’d recommend this book for someone who loves stories of Ancient Egypt. I think it will get those readers their fix, even though it wasn’t for me.

As usual for me, I think my rating is lower than it may have been if I’d sat and read this intentionally and not just as my bedtime book this month. Kindle reads tend to rank lower for me than hard copy books, and I think it’s partly just my environment when reading them. This was an engaging story though, with many fascinating characters, in a setting I’m not very familiar with, which made it even more interesting. At times heartbreaking and full of twists and turns, I think many will thoroughly enjoy Neferura’s story.

Taking on a figure that's relative unknown to the masses--Neferura, the only child and daughter of the great Pharoah Hatshepsut--this novel was a triumph. It turned this figure, of which there is not quite much known about thanks to Thutmose, and creates a world that feels lived in. It's handled with great care and research, while still focusing on what matters the most: the characters.

For despite the worldbuilding being so so so good, the character work is the best part of this novel. It handles the plot with a deft hand and the politics are easy to understand. It balances accessible prose but doesn't dumb it down at all, making this perfect for just about anyone who finds the summary interesting.

Neferura is the story take place in Ancient Egypt under Pharaoh Hatshepsut's rule. Princess and also Priestess of Kemet make our MC tangled between political intrigues, family issues and journey to found her trueself.

I always love ancient Egypt setting and the author did her researchers and gave us a story that captivates perfectly condition and languages on those era. The story is well written and the plot is intriguing and fascinating. But the pace is slower than my usually fave. The characters also have alot potential but need more flesh out at here.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark Publishing for providing a copy of this ebook. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This just wasn’t a good fit for me, but I think it was well-written and I know a lot of people will enjoy it!