(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I felt this book was quite an entertaining read, even though I might have enjoyed it a little more when I was younger. It was a fairly simple mystery story, but I liked the fact that the danger the characters were in seemed real. And even though it was aimed at a younger audience, I felt it was good that the author didn’t shy away from describing the bad things.
I liked the contrasts between the two main characters, Ryan and Cleo, but I felt that there wasn’t enough foreshadowing at times. Some of the things that were revealed were more of the, ‘Why did that happen?’ rather than, ‘Oh, that makes sense!’
It was really interesting to see the different parts of Egypt and I found myself really able to relate to how Ryan and Cleo felt about the priest in Ancient Egypt, who was probably about the same age as them. I’ve often felt a kind of connection… mostly with characters, but there have been some historical figures I’ve felt able to relate to.
There were some really sad moments in this book. It was really easy to emphasise with the characters and although there weren’t really that many twists, I still found it a really enjoyable read. I think this is probably a book series I definitely would have been drawn into as a child.
As it stands, I think my younger brother might get some enjoyment out of reading this. There was clearly a lot of research that went into this book and the characters were interesting and engaging. I don’t know if I’d read this book again, but I would probably read the next book in the series at some point in the future.
Ink of Blood 