An interesting take on Ancient Egypt during Hatshepsut’s reign following her daughter Neferura dealing with Thutmose’s plot to end her mothers rule. I personally didn’t connect with the writing but like the ideas overall. I would recommend this book if the summary interests you or you enjoy different stories/interpretations of Ancient Egypt.

I received this book for free for an honest unbiased review from Netgalley.

Sexy and so interesting. It's a new topic of interest for me.

Neferura is the daughter of the female Pharoah Hatshepsut. Kemet is experiencing a period of relative peace, calm, and prosperity which is threatened by the emergence of Neferua's half brother, the Pharoah Thutmose. Hatshepsut was only intended to rule until Thutmose came of age. However, she is not willing to hand over power so easily. Thutmose resorts to threats, schemes, and tricks to regain his power. This puts Neferura in a challenging and dangerous position. As her mother's God's Wife, she is quite powerful under Hatshepsut's reign. Powerful enough that Thutmose justifies using violence to bring her down a few pegs.

This book was very impressive in its historical accuracy and research. There were many tidbits about daily life during this time period that were interesting to read as an aside to the main plotline. The characters were all based on real figures and everything that is known about them was followed in this book. Where we don't know what happened, Evans was able to fill in the blanks with her fictional story. Unfortunately, that's also what limited this book.

There were times that I would have liked Neferura to take more agency, to act more boldly, or to simply do something compelling. But since the real life character did not actually make that big an impression upon the historical record, she could only do so much. There were things that seemed like they were going to be high-stakes, significant points of contention... until they weren't any longer. The characters folded when they might have rebelled. But because they were based on real people, they really didn't have as much of a choice in the matter as it may have seemed.

Overall, this book was very enjoyable. I'm glad to have read it. But it didn't blow me away. I was hoping it would compare to Madeleine Miller's Greek mythologies, but it just didn't really have that much staying power. It was good, but not amazing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

As a historical Egyptian fiction lover, I am so sad that I didn't like this book. It was so boring and I just did not care about any of the characters.

"Neferura" transports readers to Ancient Egypt, telling a story of power, sacrifice, and a forgotten princess's tenacity. Neferura, the daughter of a renowned pharaoh, who must navigate treacherous court intrigues and face her fate.

I loved this novel and wanted to bring readers to a period and place full with history and intrigue. I'm glad the framework, which uses period terminology. Neferura's struggles and achievements take place in a vibrant Ancient Egypt.

Neferura, Hatshepsut, and the evil Thutmose were painstakingly crafted to give the plot depth and authenticity.

The plot revolves around loyalty and sacrifice, keeping readers interested without overpowering them. The enigmatic wisewoman and her network of spies add excitement to the play.

This book will be sending me into the depths of mythological and historical fiction for months to come. I was nervous at first to read this book as I was anticipating it reading similar to a dissertation or research paper- but I was so wrong. My knowledge of Ancient Egypt is minimal so I was excited to learn through this fictional story. I was immediately pulled into the relationships Neferura has with her priestesses and only wanted more as their stories developed. I have not read a story of such loyalty and friendship in a while and it was refreshing to not have the story centered around a romance. I appreciated the liberties Evans took to bring a story to us that sheds the light on Neferura. She could have picked a more well-known woman from history, but this book was exactly why I love historical fiction so much. With Evans' background in Egyptology, I am confident that this story is as accurate as it could be with what is known about Neferura. I can only hope that Evans continues to write and further to continue to write about Ancient Egypt because I will grab it every time.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this gifted ebook is return for my honest review.

This is a historical fiction dating thousands of years back to the time of the Pharaohs. If that is not intriguing enough, the book itself, from its very beginning, makes the reader fall for the story.

This story is based on an actual historic character about whom not much is known except that she was subjected to court intrigues and that she died young (Yes, this book made me go check out the Wikipedia page on Neferura). I love the way the author took this character and gave her life. It also paid that the author is a student of Egyptian history.

The underlying theme of this book is how feminine strength prevails and how sisterhoods formed have transcended ages and eras. Even in the extremely patriarchal society of the Pharaohs, women form bonds and ultimately win the freedom to lead their lives independently. I absolutely loved the end and the twist there. The characters, in all their strengths and flaws, were superbly sketched. The plot was well thought out, and the story was well paced. It was an intriguing read. I loved every page of this book.

I would love to read more from this author, and would recommend this book to all fantasy and historical fiction lovers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story! I liked the blend of magic and history, and the writing was very well done.

Beautiful cover and interesting premise -- Neferura is the daughter of the best-known female Pharaoh, Hatshepsut. Very little is known about her life, and this book attempts to fill out her story. Discussion topics are provided for book clubs, and author q and a.

I absolutely adored the setting, historical references, and variations of female power, but would have preferred less palace intrigue and more Ancient Egypt. I geeked out more about the few pages of history provided at the end than much of the story. And I found Neferura just so naive throughout.

Neferura was a bit of a surprise in its content, but as described, the perfect Ancient Egyptian historical fiction novel!

We have Neferura, daughter of the famous Pharaoh/Queen Hatshepsut, who is essentially helping her mother run Egypt when her half-brother and Pharaoh Thutmose comes back to the capital after essentially being exiled to the military as a child. What Thutmose wants, how he tries to get it, and the battles had are our story. There's really something here for everyone - romance, intrigue, mystery, etc. All of the above kept me a,captivated reader..

This book was. . .fine.

Honestly, it was very nearly a DNF for me. I downloaded it ages ago and began reading right away, but the opening chapters were s-l-o-w and the first-person narrator did not draw me in. I thought, "Maybe I'm just not in the right place for this book right now," and set Neferura aside in favor of other titles, unknowingly initiating a cycle of \slog through-utterly lose interest-vow to finish later/ that would continue for months. Finally, I powered through, but even then I had to give myself rewards for reaching certain milestones (e.g. "When I get to 33%, I'll take a break and read a novella from my TBR pile." or "When I finish Part 2, I'll go for a walk and listen to an audiobook for an hour.") Turns out, my initial disconnect with both the pacing and the characterization hardly improved through the rest of the novel.

Don't get me wrong—this book is not bad. It is incredibly well-researched, fairly well-plotted (even if not well-paced), and filled with intrigue. The eponymous main character grows from a naive and artless young lady who is easily manipulated to a canny woman who takes control of her destiny. I would have loved Neferura. . .if I ever felt a connection with her. Unfortunately, I did not.

In a nutshell: it's hard to read 300+ pages of a novel when you never really care about the protagonist.

Neferura by Malayna Evans
Egyptologist Malayna Evans brings the gods and politics of ancient Egypt to life during the reign of woman Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Neferura tells the story of Hatshepsut’s only daughter, who is responsible for the prosperity of Kemet as the high priestess and god’s wife of Amun. She takes her role very seriously, even though she sometimes longs for a different kind of power—and freedom—she sees in the women around her who don’t bear such a burden.

When her half-brother Thutmose returns to her mother’s court without a summons, Hatshepsut and Neferura both know that he’s planning something—perhaps even challenging Hatshepsut for the throne. Neferura discovers details about Thutmose’s plot and knows she can’t stand by while her mother handles things; Neferura has to take the fate of their nation into her own hands. Full of court politics, gods, and power, Neferura is more historical fiction than fantasy, but the language and richness of Egyptian mythology make this a solid crossover for fantasy readers.

There are many paths to power.

They all come with a price.

Neferura
by Malayna Evans
Pub Date: 13 Feb 2024

Neferura, princess and high priestess of Kemet, knows her duty is to her people. When your mother is the great Pharaoh, it is hard to forget. But Neferura's unique position at court comes with high stakes for her country, especially when she's forced to serve her vile half-brother, a man determined to stop Neferura's potential rise.

Peace, it seems, never lasts for women who wield power in the open. Especially when they cross a vengeful man.

When Neferura overhears Thutmose's plot to end her mother's rule, she knows he must be stopped, no matter the cost. The discovery of a mysterious tattooed wisewoman and her shadowy network of spies offers an uneasy alliance. But the wisewoman wields more power than Neferura knew possible—power with the potential to rival her own. Neferura must decide where her loyalties lie and how much she's willing to sacrifice to protect the people she loves before everything crumbles at the hands of a tyrant.

Not quite for me, but a good book regardless! Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the free ARC!

I absolutely loved this lush, emotional, and engaging historical fiction. It’s been a while since I found something that brought my childhood fascination with ancient Egypt back to life, but this really transported me.

In addition to being well-researched and historically considerate, the characters had such emotional depth. This is, at its heart, a story about female friendship and about deciding what’s important to you in life.

The mystery, the court politics, a touch of romance, and memorable characters made this a 5 star read for me!

Overall, I think that this novel has A LOT of potential but unfortunately it just did not hit the mark for me.
Things that I loved about the story and writing was that strong female characters were at the forefront of the novel and that it seemed like the subject matter was thoroughly researched and that the author took care to make sure that all contents were historically and culturally accurate.
Things that were not so great about the book were that the pacing was really off (I really struggled to get past part 1 of the book) and that the writing style seemed a little juvenile to me. This book is classified as a YA but it seems to me to read even younger than that. It is also odd to me that this book was characterized as a fantasy book because it does not seem to have any tyle of fantastical or magical elements to it. I think that this title would be better suited as a historical fiction rather than a fantasy.
My biggest flaw with this title is the "tell, don't show" theme that the writing takes on. The book is 80% internal monologue which did not translate well for me and really added to the slow pacing in Part One of the book.
As I got into Part 2 and Part 3, the action and pacing really picked up, but unfortunately for me, it was a little too late at that point for me to be able to fully immerse myself into the story. The ending of the book was a little too predictable to me as well.
To get back on a positive note, Part 2 and 3 showed great improvement. Neferura was given a lot of character development and increasing maturity in these parts. The plot was well developed and the action was great! I love to read court politics in a novel and this one had tons of it.
I want to stress that this book was not bad or poorly written, it was just a bit too immature for what it is marketed to be in my opinion. I think to a younger audience and categorized as a historical fiction, it will be a real hit.

This was a brilliant read! I think anyone who loves ancient Egypt, strong female characters and mysteries will enjoy it. I really loved Neferura as a character. It was a realistic portrayal of a young woman, starting to question what she was raised to believe, to shed her naivety and see her family for what it is, to awaken to the possibility of love... I also loved her friendship with Iset, which carried a good chunk of the novel. Actually, throughout the novel we see Neferura interact with a varied cast of female characters and I really enjoyed seeing their relationships unfold. I thought it was great seeing Neferura reflect on the meaning of power and freedom and start to understand the implications of her position of privilege. This was in fact possibly my favourite thing about the book, this underlying reflection on what it means to me a free woman, a strong woman, a powerful woman, whether or not you hold political power. It's refreshing to read a novel featuring so many strong female characters, who are very much at the heart of the plot.
As I read and Neferura started to question the honesty of everyone around her, I felt just like her; I had no idea who was on whose side, who was manipulating who...
The use of traditional names rather than the ones we might be used to was at first a bit confusing but as the story went on it actually helped me feel really immersed in it. It was a great read and I'm excited to share it with my followers on bookstagram later.

I went into Neferura with such high hopes. I mean, a story about the daughter of two pharaohs seemed incredibly intriguing and the first line -- "in the end, everyone's heart will be weighed" -- captivated me. I like the first-person narration and I loved the historical details. I was not at all surprised, when I got to the end, to read that Malayna Evans is an Egyptologist, because everything from the kohl that Hapshetsut wears down to the medicine woman's remedies that Neferura and her friend find is absolutely spot-on.

So the historical part was a huge love. I also loved the Scorpions and Hathor, the shadowy female figures helping Neferura in her quest to ensure brother Thutmose does not take the throne. The mystery and the politics of it all was wonderful, and I loved seeing strong female friendships. So, I was hooked until midway through the book, when things took a turn for the "oh no arranged marriage."

I think (like with Ellen Alpsten's Tsarina) that this may be a case of right book, wrong reader when it comes to the second half, because it was very well done, but just not my cup of tea. If you are a fan of fictionalized retellings of lesser-known historical women who end up in miserable marriages but ultimately (spoiler) survive their horrible husbands, the second half will definitely be for you. For me, I just felt that Neferura ended up having little agency and power in Act 3 and it really erased all of the character growth that she had previously had. I enjoyed the epilogue, but felt I was skimming pages of misery to get to it.

Thank you to NetGalley, SourceBooks Landmark, and Malayna Evans for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

First, thank you to NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of this book! I enjoyed it so much! Egypt has always been fascinating to me, and this book did such an amazing job of highlighting the culture, artifacts, religion, deities, and more that are celebrated in Egyptian culture. The glossary at the beginning of the book was extremely helpful, it would have been a much harder read without it. The authors note in the back of the book was also helpful, that explained which characters were based on true Pharaoh’s, queens and kings in Egypt history and which were completely fiction. I came to truly care for these characters and was happy with how things ended for them. My one suggestion would be that some of this book didn’t seem super relevant to the story line, it could be shortened in some areas.

Many thanks to SourceBooks and Netgalley for the ARC!

In Ancient Kemet (Egypt), Neferura, daughter of Queen Hapsheptshut and Thutmose II spent most of her days being god's wife to the Amun and serving in his temple along with her fellow priestesses. Life for her is mostly idyllic, if she can manage to ignore her imperious mother and the wagging tongues at court. However, when her half-brother, Thutmose III returns, he brings with him chaos, knowledge of secrets that were better left unspoken, and a thirst to take his rightful place as co-ruler, and most certainly not secondary to a woman.

When a chilling secret regarding the death of her father is threatened to be leaked, it's up to Neferura to uncover the basis for the secret, lest not just her family, but the entire kingdom.

Wow, I really and truly enjoyed this book. As someone who has a little bit of an appreciation for the ancient world, I found myself really absorbed in the worldbuilding of this book. I love how Evans explained so many minute features of the ancient world, from their wig-wearing and foods that they ate to ways the culture and hierarchy that the Ancient Kemet people adhered to. There were so many times that I felt truly immersed in the story.

The secondary characters of Senemut, Kamut, Iset, Hathor, Thuiu, and many others were compelling and nuanced. They felt fully fleshed out and I enjoyed reading about them until the very end. However, when it came to the royal three, their personalities often felt a little over the top. Thutmose III often felt like a cartoon villain in his motivations and dedication to sheer cruelty. We never allowed to see him really be vulnerable or truly afraid. He wanted power, but once he seemed to get everything he wanted, I felt that his character seemed to deflate a bit for me. Neferura also felt a bit pompous and extremely stubborn at times, beyond her being a royal, but her changes towards the middle and end of the book seemed to round her out. She stops being a character with much of her head in the clouds and one who takes more agency in her life, which I enjoyed.

I felt that the pacing was well-established and there were periods of time where I was able to catch my breath before I was whisked off to the next conflict. All-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys ancient historical fiction and empowered female characters,