Absolutely LOVED this one!! There were so many twists and turns throughout the series that there wasn’t a single moment where I was bored.

Inez was just everything. I loved her stubborn attitude and how despite being hurt she continued to love whole heartedly. I love how her strength really comes from her intelligence and willpower. My poor girl went through it in this book and there were so many times where my heart just hurt for her. She truly deserves the world.

I’m not going to lie I kinda hated Whit for like 60% of the book. He made me so angry so many times but as the book went on I really started to understand his character better. Also his love declaration couldn’t have been more perfect. Nothing beats an angry love confession. 🤭 I love how he made it so clear through his actions that he would do anything for Inez. Even though he had messed up, he was willing to spend the rest of his life making it up to her.

Overall, it was such a great ending to this duology. I’m so sad it’s over because I absolutely loved both books.

This is the YA-ish continuation of "What the River Knows," in which Inez, Whit and the other characters introduced in the first part of the duology follow up on clues on who ransacked the tomb of Cleopatra found in the first book.

The series might be enjoyed by slightly older teens who are interested in archeology or ancient Egypt and won't mind some very very light fantasy elements - I do emphasize older teens because there are mentions of graphic deaths and clear hints of sex, but the writing doesn't quite read like it's meant for adults either.

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Personally this book just wasn't my cup of tea, though I did like the first one a fair bit. I found it meandering (the first book's plot felt tighter) and the characters infuriating (I felt they lost some of the slight nuance they had initially in "River"). Though I read it through, in large part because it's rare for fantasy-adjacent books to have a main character who is Latin American, let alone Bolivian. So that aspect is great and could perhaps capture readers who maybe aren't as interested in the fantasy elements.

Thank you very much to the publisher and author for sharing the ARC

One of my most anticipated reads for 2024 - it was still really fun and entertaining, but it didn't quite grab me like What the River Knows.

Wow. Secrets of the Nile is officially one of my favorite duologies.

First of all, this has got to be one of the most beautiful covers of all time. I don't even care that I got an ARC from Netgalley—I will be buying a hardcover copy once it's actually released.

Inez and Whit CARRIED this book. I can't remember the last time I was this invested in two fictional characters—in fact, I was so engrossed that I read the book in one day. From a character (and rivals-to-lovers) aspect, Where the Library Hides is incredible.

Whenever I read about Whitford, I could only picture Brendan Fraser in The Mummy. I'm pretty sure they are the same person.

If I'm being honest, the plot didn't quite deliver in several ways. The magical elements took a major back seat. Other than a few magical items sprinkled in here and there, magic added almost nothing to the story.

For most of the novel, I completely forgot that the characters were in Egypt. The setting was not emphasized nearly as much in the second installment, and I missed the vibrant, lush descriptions of Cairo. Also, even though Inez and Whit had a specific goal (I won't spoil what it is), nothing much happened to actually move them toward that goal until the last half of the novel.

Ultimately, if you're like me and happy to read books for character tension and vibes only, you'll love this. If your sole goal is to be immersed in a magical, exciting adventure story set in Egypt, you may be slightly disappointed.

See my Goodreads review pasted below my suggested grammar corrections.

I have 3 grammar related things I caught maybe before it is mass printed?
- page 193 of ebook: “The only thing that could is us getting escorted out of the bank…” need to change to “could do is”.
- page 225 of ebook: “… I could do nothing. that wasn’t quite true.” Felt jagged and the T in that isn’t capitalized.
- page 272 of ebook: “I remembered the night we had.” Was a vague enough sentence that it took me out of the story for a second. I immediately was wondering what night he was referencing and if that was an incomplete sentence. Better maybe would be something like: “I remembered how she was last night.”

Okay now my Goodreads review:

I read the whole book in one day. I had been DYING to find out what happened after the first book’s ending.


First, the pros:
- I’m overall happy with where the story went. It was interesting from start to finish. It had me laugh out loud on multiple occasions.
- I actually GASPED at one of the plot twists. Did not see it coming at all.
- I enjoyed Whit’s POV. Wasn’t sure if I would, but it 100% made the book.
- the length of the book was great. A lot of the time authors drag out books in a series and it decreases my enjoyment of the book. This one was exactly as long as it needed to be.
- I’m struggling putting into words what I love so much about Whit and Eniz, because they frustrated me almost as often as they made me like kick my feet and giggle. Maybe it’s because their feelings are so realistic for their circumstances and previous experiences.


The cons:
- this book didn’t have the same magic of historical Egyptian culture like the first book did. Not sure if it was possible to top the last book though so, I can’t be mad at a different setting.
- sometimes the miscommunication trope between Whit and Eniz made me want to throw something, but it was rectified well enough that it didn’t ruin the storyline or romance for me.


Catch me buying the physical copy of this book as soon as it is released later this year. (The covers are literally so pretty?)

Anyways, the second book is definitely worth the read. I am so excited to see what the author develops next and how her writing develops overtime. She’s definitely earned a fan, and I will be reading any future books she releases.

4.5 stars

This was a great conclusion to the duology! This book has tension, mystery, romance, bad guys… all the vibes of movies like The Mummy and Indiana Jones. There weren’t many twists and turns in this book I felt like I was constantly trying guess what would happen. You get a lot more of Whit’s perspective in this book which is a lot of fun because you get to learn more about him and get in his head. All the characters in this book were so interesting and complex and really contributed to an exciting story where you can’t figure out anyone’s true intentions and who the good guys and bad guys are.
This was a really fun historical fantasy and I highly recommend checking it out!

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

I'm so grateful I got an ARC of "Where the Library Hides." I'd been trying to get my hands on it, and luckily NetGalley and Wednesday Books granted my wish. Let me tell you, I read the sequel to "What the River Knows" in one day because I was so excited. From the beginning, I knew I was going to love it. The romance between Whit and Inez had me hooked, and the mystery and adventure kept me intrigued. Even though the book was set only in Egypt, which was different from the first book, I still loved it. There were unexpected twists and betrayals that made the story even better. I loved this book so much that when I got to the end, I wished there were more pages. Isabel Ibañez's writing is truly amazing, and this book is the perfect conclusion to the duology. I hope we get more adventures in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley and Wednesday Books, for the ARC of "Where the Library Hides"!

If you read What the River Knows, then you need to continue with Where the Library Hides. And if you haven't read the first one, then do it now. Isabel Ibañez takes us on an adventurous mystery through these two stories with twists, turns and some unexpected situations.

thank you netgalley for an arc of Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez

Ibañez has quickly become a favorite author after the conclusion to this dulogy. I read this in a fevered rush, desperate to finish the story and unwilling to put it down. The mysteries and tension continues from the first book, the chemistry between the two leads sizzling and gut=wrenching at turns. I love how this book explores the idea of family and family relationships. This book closes out what I might consider a perfect duology, up there with Rebecca Ross.

I am struggling to write a review for a book that was so suspenseful and had twists and turns…I don’t want to ruin any spoilers?! All I can say right now is that I loved this duology. Inez and Whit have my heart. And at this point, I would read Isabel Ibañez’s grocery list.
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Whatever you do, please read What the River Knows and be ready for Where the Library Hides this November!!!!
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Thank you, NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC of Where the Library Hides!
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

A delightful sequel! This book gives everything that it promises, and more. The vibes are immaculate.

Content warning: kidnapping, drugging, gun violence, child endangerment

While I did spend about 70% of <I>Where the Library Hides</I> internally screaming at one character to just voice their feelings out loud, Ibañez does make up for the shocking cliffhanger from <I>What the River Knows</I> by not making us wait too long to find out what the epilogue meant.

There are a lot of secrets exposed and double crossing happening all while further mysteries about Cleopatra's life are discovered (I want to explore an ancient secret library!). After the discoveries in an office I had an inkling about one of the villains but I didn't fully guess what was happening making that reveal even more brutal.

I love that Inez really came into her own in this book and that we FINALLY learned more about Whit. This is a bit more of a heist/spy thriller than the first book which kept the pace of the plot steamrolling on. I did miss the archeological aspects of the first book but appreciated that this sequel wasn't just the same plot rehashed.

While there is more story to tell, the Secrets of the Nile duology is nicely wrapped up. Most loose ends are tied up and the ending is satisfying. I wouldn't say no to more Inez and Whit adventures though.

I will say that the drawing of Whit at the end was so NOT what I thought he looked like, that sketch does not match his personality or behavior in this series at all. So that was a bit odd.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

I adored the first book and wanted to love this so badly. This wasn't bad, it just didn't knock my socks off like I hoped it would.

This picks up where the first book left off, and the plot was pretty straightforward. They're trying to find Inez's mom and stop her from taking the precious Cleopatra artifacts. Like before, I loved the Egypt backdrop of the story.

My main qualm was the romance. Whit was such a jerk at the beginning of this book, and he never redeemed himself in my eyes. Inez seems to forgive him way too quickly because she wants to be loved, which is understandable but frustrating.

I really enjoyed some of the plot twists and turns! Some were predictable, some not, and one in particular downright shocked me.

Overall, I still do recommend this duology!

An incredibly follow up to What the River Knows. Where the Library Hides reads almost as a "Part II" which I absolutely adored. The characters, settings, and plot are all excellent and I could not recommend more highly. This does tend to be more edgy YA - the characters are 19/20 but any mature scenes are fade-to-black or relatively non-explicit. I would feel comfortable giving this to any older YA patron. I also really loved Inez's journey throughout this book. This girl, I am so glad that she caught a break in the end. Anyways, I cannot wait to foist this on all of my friends when it comes out in November. 10/10 cannot recommend this highly enough. Everyone should read this duology!!

I practically begged to know what came next after the end of WTRK and Wednesday Books said we need to help this poor girl. And I'm so glad they did.

This is weird to explain but basically the book itself isn't actually five stars but the vibes and feelings it gave me are worth ten stars? I don't know, I just know I had a very good time with this. Like the first book, this took a little while to get going. It wasn't as adventure or tomb unearthing-filled (they didn't even leave Cairo until the halfway mark) BUT I could not put this down and read 200 pages in a day. After the events of the first book, especially that ending, it became a lot harder to trust many of the characters and that suspense kept me on my toes all the way through. Never knew what any person would do and I kind of loved that.

WTLH is a worthy finale to such a fun duology and I can't wait to see what else Isabel Ibanez writes next!

This is the conclusion to the story that began in What the River Knows. Inez continues her search for answers
about her parents. She is married to Whit but was that wise? I think you need to read the other book first, then enjoy this one.

As someone who loved the first book, this was a great sequel! The main characters relationship developed so much more in this book and I loved every second of it. It had moments that made me audibly gasp with certain plot twists, and I genuinely really enjoyed the book overall!

National Treasure vibes and I am here for it.

This one has a bit of a slower pace in the first half than WTRK, but the tension between Inez and Whitt will drag you through every possible emotion. The second half picks up the pace and throws multiple plot twists at you.

I’m not usually one to want a book to be picked up for film/series adaptation, but this series really could be a hell of a lot of fun to watch on screen. Who do I speak to about this?

Warning: my review may contain spoilers!!

I was literally checking my Netgalley multiple times a day waiting to be approved! This was definitely one of my most anticipated books for 2024 and I'm so happy I didn't have to wait till November to see what happened with Inez and Whit! I read this in like a day, I couldn't put it down! I'm so obsessed with this series. It's so fun and atmospheric and high-stakes. The Ancient Egypt vibes were once again immaculate, but it's Inez and Whit's love story that makes it one of my favourites; I can really feel the chemistry and emotion between them (although I think I would have liked Inez to hold out a liiiiittle longer in forgiving him). I'm bummed this is just a duology; I hope Isabel will do more some day with the characters cause I'm not ready to say goodbye forever!

Such a wonderful duology, it ranks up there as one of the best books I've read this year. Would love to see it optioned and on a streaming services. Delightfully original and well paced, the characters only slightly annoying and plastic at times.