Review by Kirkus Book Review
A fantasy deep dive into ancient Egyptian mythology. Nefiri works for the Egyptian police force, but she buys medicine for her younger brother through the Hyksos black market. Khafset, a Hyksos Canaanite, promises her the recipe for the medicine if she helps him steal a god's spear from Ra's temple. Despite the hostilities between the Hyksos and the Egyptians, Nefiri agrees, against her better judgment. But when she touches the spear, Set, the god of destruction, chooses Nefiri as the one to awaken him in the Egyptian underworld, sending her and Khafset on an odyssey they can't refuse. Gods and goddesses, pharaohs and queens support their quest to bring balance to Egypt--a land divided by slavery. Nefiri's Nubian mother is deceased, and her fair-skinned Egyptian father abandoned her as a child. Now she learns more about her heritage and the source of her magic. Whether she can trust Khafset with his "honey eyes" with her heart--and her quest--remains to be seen. This novel incorporates wide-ranging and detailed characters, backstories, and settings from Egyptian mythology, which add complexity to the storyline, sometimes to the detriment of the pacing. In this fantasy Egypt, people are never quite what they seem; transformation is the rule, not the exception. The plot twists are equally complex as 16-year-olds Nefiri and Khafset struggle to align their goals. A dense, mythological fantasy of epic proportions infused with romance and intrigue. (note to readers) (Fantasy. 15-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
