Hey guys! Today I'll be reviewing "The Eye of Nefertiti" by Maria Lusia Lang. I'd like to thank the author for providing me with a copy. This novel is actually a companion/sequel to "The Pharaoh's Cat", but it functions as a standalone book as well. I didn't read "The Pharaoh's Cat" (although I'd love to whenever I'm a bit less busy!) but "The Eye of Nefertiti" wasn't confusing at all. There's a detailed summary of the first book at the beginning of this novel, making it understandable.
The book follows Wrappa-Hamen, a cat blessed with the ability to speak and walk upright. Wrappa-Hamen is originally from ancient Egypt, but having a pharaoh as a best friend and access to a time-traveling boat has its benefits. He now lives in NYC in present day. HIs pharaoh friend was reincarnated as a baby, Alexander. The High Priest, also from ancient Egypt, and his wife Elena are the parents. Wrappa Hamen and the Gato Hamen (the High Priest) are best friends. Their relationship is super cute, pretty much a bromance.
The book follows Wrappa-Hamen, a cat blessed with the ability to speak and walk upright. Wrappa-Hamen is originally from ancient Egypt, but having a pharaoh as a best friend and access to a time-traveling boat has its benefits. He now lives in NYC in present day. HIs pharaoh friend was reincarnated as a baby, Alexander. The High Priest, also from ancient Egypt, and his wife Elena are the parents. Wrappa Hamen and the Gato Hamen (the High Priest) are best friends. Their relationship is super cute, pretty much a bromance.
The story really gets rolling when Elena, an Egyptologist, is invited by to London to write a woman's book and live at her house in the meantime. If there's one thing I learned from this book, it was you shouldn't automatically accept a stranger's offer to come to her house in a different country to write her autobiography. Things will go wrong.
In Wrappa-Hamen's case, he's sent on a wild adventure back to ancient Egypt. He gets drunk, gets chased by the police, catnapped by a child, falls in love, and overall has a crazy time. Oh, and there's a ton of cat puns. You can never go wrong with cat puns.
This book also taught me about some intriguing parts of history, including the story of the missing eye of Nefertiti. These factual aspects of the book combined with the journey of a walking, talking cat make for an interesting story!
If I had to choose one word for this book, it'd be cute. The story is relatively short at 200 pages and is mostly lighthearted. It was fun to read a book with a cat as a main character, and I could imagine one of my three cats getting into similar mishaps (hence the name of this blog, Paws and Paper).
I would recommend this to anyone interested in Ancient Egypt, or history in general. It's a great read and doesn't take too long. In fact, if a time-traveling cat sounds interesting to you (and it should), pick up this book and turn some pages.
The only complaint I have is that at times, it felt a bit rushed. It seemed like Wrappa-Hamen was always running out, with each scene only lasting a few pages. This was especially obvious near the conclusion of the book, where it felt jumpy and Wrappa-Hamen's sudden revaluation of love felt hollow.
Besides that, I enjoyed this light-hearted novel about my favorite animal. Thank you to Ms. Lang for providing me with a copy.
Keep reading!
Colleen
In Wrappa-Hamen's case, he's sent on a wild adventure back to ancient Egypt. He gets drunk, gets chased by the police, catnapped by a child, falls in love, and overall has a crazy time. Oh, and there's a ton of cat puns. You can never go wrong with cat puns.
This book also taught me about some intriguing parts of history, including the story of the missing eye of Nefertiti. These factual aspects of the book combined with the journey of a walking, talking cat make for an interesting story!
If I had to choose one word for this book, it'd be cute. The story is relatively short at 200 pages and is mostly lighthearted. It was fun to read a book with a cat as a main character, and I could imagine one of my three cats getting into similar mishaps (hence the name of this blog, Paws and Paper).
I would recommend this to anyone interested in Ancient Egypt, or history in general. It's a great read and doesn't take too long. In fact, if a time-traveling cat sounds interesting to you (and it should), pick up this book and turn some pages.
The only complaint I have is that at times, it felt a bit rushed. It seemed like Wrappa-Hamen was always running out, with each scene only lasting a few pages. This was especially obvious near the conclusion of the book, where it felt jumpy and Wrappa-Hamen's sudden revaluation of love felt hollow.
Besides that, I enjoyed this light-hearted novel about my favorite animal. Thank you to Ms. Lang for providing me with a copy.
Keep reading!
Colleen