2.5 rounded down

I really enjoyed What the River Knows, and after THAT ending, I was so excited to read this sequel. However, I was left quite disappointed by this book, and definitely enjoyed its predecessor more.

Firstly, the characters had very little growth. In fact, I think they somehow regressed. Inez frustrated me with her naivety and lack of impulse control. She made bad decision after bad decision, trusted too easily, and dove headfirst into dangerous situations without a plan. She became really hard for me to root for, which is a shame because I enjoyed how cunning and determined she was in the first book.

As for Whit, I was disappointed with a decision he made in this book, and it completely killed the romance for me. There was not nearly enough grovelling for my liking, and I wish the author had gone in a different direction with his character.

I loved the sense of adventure and history that the first book had, but it was sadly missing in Where the Library Hides. From the title, I thought the characters would be searching for a library, but the library only comes into the plot at around to 70% mark. Up until this point, the characters aren’t really doing much except trying to track down another character. I just found the plot quite boring, and the pacing was inconsistent.

There were lots of plot twists - some that I saw coming and some that I didn’t. However, some of these twists didn’t make any sense, and with the sheer amount of them, it felt like the author was trying to mask the lack of plot with lots of big reveals. The reveal at the end felt very Scooby Doo-esque, and I really wish the author had gone in a different direction with that particular character.

The ending felt quite messy, and some things still don’t make sense to me. Instead of wrapping everything up in the text, we got a list right at the end of the book of what ended up happening to everyone. It felt like a bit of a cop out to me, and I would have much preferred a longer epilogue instead.

Overall, I was disappointed with this sequel. However, I will read the authors next book since I enjoyed the first in this duology.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodderscape for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first book and after that criminal epilogue I was hesitant to start this book afraid it won't be as good as the first one, and it wasn't, but I still liked it

the beginning made me interested, I needed to know what epilogue meant and how it's going to be resolved, but later... the middle was very slow, I felt like almost nothing happened and reading this book took me awfully long time (especially since I devoured what the river knows in like 2 days), because i needed to force myself to pick up this book - not that it was bad, but I just really didn't want to started reading, I blame it partially on my tiredness this week but still, only since 70% it managed to hook me

the ending was really good, kinda unrealistic and over the top and dramatic af, but I really needed to know how it's going to be resolved

about Whit - i liked him in the first book, but gotta be honest in the beginning I really didn't like him and couldn't understand how could they possibly end up together and for a long time I still wasn't convinced, but he won me over in the en

the epilogue was cute, maybe possibly there will be book about Arabella?👀 pretty pls

overall it was really good duology, one i will certainly recommend to many people and the first book is one of my fav books ever

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

After absolutely adoring What the River Knows and the lush world Isabel Ibañez created with headstrong Inez, charmingly frustrating Whit and all the family dynamics (and THAT CLIFFHANGER), I was very excited to dive into Where The Library Hides. And I certainly was not disappointed!

Picking up literally seconds after where its predecessor ends, this story follows the path being carved by Inez’ mother and herself alike as they try to solve the Cleopatra mystery all while dodging several levels of dogmatic bureaucracy, a certain startlingly tenacious new family member and an inconvenient romance to boot. The pacing didn’t let up throughout the whole journey and I lost count of the times I gasped at the plot twists. I loved how headstrong and determined Inez was and how she didn’t let Whit off the hook too easy. Overall, this was a fun and gripping conclusion to the duology that delivered on the stakes set out by the first one. I loved it!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.
I absolutely adored What the River Knows and have hugely anticipated this sequel for the longest time. I'll admit, I was a little exasperated by the happenings for quite some time in Where the Library Hides and was worried my excitement to return to this world was going to be let down. There is more focus on the romance between Inez and Whit in this one, which makes complete sense since the only way Inez could stay in Egypt was to align herself with Whit, but with this comes a LOT of miscommunication and secrecy from Whit that had my heart dropping. I loved both characters in book one a lot, and to say I got frustrated by Whit's inaction when it counted to Inez in the first portion of the book had me ready to ditch him for good.

There was a lot of danger, action and adventure from 50% onwards, so much double-crossing and a lot of secrets revealed. If you loved The Mummy (1999) and Indiana Jones then you'll 100% enjoy this duology - and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a spin-off with a few side characters too!

Sadly this one feels like it definitely had second book syndrome. I was not a fan, which is a shame because I didn't think its previous book was terrible!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the arc!

🌟✨/5

Just let me be a hater, okay? What the River Knows was far from perfect, but it interested me enough to give the sequel a try. In retrospect, I shouldn't have. Full of repititive writing, horrendous pacing and cringy romance and having almost nothing to do with the library, Where the Library Hides is far worse than its predecessor.

To begin with, nothing happened for almost 75% of the book. This could've been shortened to less than 300 pages without affecting the overarching plot. I couldn't care less about the MCs and their 'romance'. Inez made terrible decisions one after the other and Whit, well, Whit is a terrible person and no one can convince me otherwise. It was infuriating to see Inez forgive him without much though. The lengths the author went to to make him appear 'swoon-worthy' was ridiculous. The whole Isadora plot should've been scrapped from the story. Her intentions were extremely obvious from the start and reading through Inez's POV about how she loved and trusted her sister was annoying. And the way Isadora met her end...it didn't affect the plot at all. The author went overboard with betrayals and plot twists that made no sense. Reading THAT plot twist after the slow paced 75% cemented my rating of one star. The author didn't make good use of magic as a plot device. The atmosphere of Egypt which I actually enjoyed in book 1 was conspicuously absent in this. The climax was terrible.

Where the Library Hides did not meet my already low expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I'm sad that being ill last week took me away from reading this book quicker. I was so excited to delve back into the world with Inez and Whit and see how they would navigate everything we learned at the end of the first book.

I loved where the story took us and loved exploring more of Egypt with these characters. This second installment was non-stop with lots of fun plot twists! I was happy with the ending to this duology.

I can't wait to see what Isabel writes next and in the meantime I have some previous books to get reading!

It was good, I can’t say I enjoyed it anywhere near as much as the first but that’s mainly due to Whit’e actions. Unfortunately I view what he did near the start as a deal breaker and honestly for the rest of the book I was just waiting for it to end as I no longer cared about him or what happened really. It was good how it brought everything together from the first book and it had a satisfying ending but as I said could not get over what Whit did.

I looooove the setting of this book.The world building feels so real. However, the characters continue to make the same mistakes again and again to the point where I became a bit frustrated when reading. I felt like the plot kept trying to surprise you with twists that the twists became predictable and unsurprising because OF COURSE this person would reveal themselves to be evil/or good/ or die for no reason other than to create some form of drama when the plot seemed to lack any events.

I loved feeling like I was breathing the hot air of Egypt, but the characters and storyline ruined it a bit unfortunately.

Book 1 was packed my mysteries and betrayals, and book 2 is not lacking any of those neither! Picking up right where book 1 left, Inez now only has one choice if she wants to remain in Egypt and find her mother. Whit gives her the opportunity to do what she wants, but he has an ulterior motive... a motive that ruins the relationship that he was budding with Inez. The two still need to work together to find Inez' mother and her accomplices, but in doing so they discover long lost secrets that maybe were better if they were still buried.

The drama in this second volume starts right from page 1. Inez experiences another big betrayal from someone she wouldn't have expected, and now she needs to put herself back together while together with her newfound family, she hunts her mother. This series is full of adventures and an heroine who doesn't know how to obey and always ends up in trouble...always to end up saving herself though. The magical aspect add just a touch more to an already intriguing story.

[ARC provided by NetGalley and Hodderscape. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Where the Library Hides.]

Rating: 4/5

Roughly one year has passed since I read What the River Knows, and my expectations for its sequel, Where the Library Hides, were sky-high. Over the past year, I have eagerly anticipated the conclusion of this duology, and I’m glad that for the most part, this book was as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. There were some plot points and reveals that I found a little jarring but ultimately, this book is the romantic and adventurous sequel that I was looking for.

Picking up right where the first book left off, the story resumes with Inez grappling with her mother’s betrayal, the tragic death of her beloved cousin, and the ultimatum from her uncle regarding her inheritance. Faced with limited choices, Inez is left with only one option to consider; marriage to Whitford Hayes. However, Whit brings his own set of complications, and their union is fraught with secrets that threaten to unravel it.

First of all, let’s discuss what I loved. This duology definitely leans more into the romance side of the story so I was happy to see more of Whit’s point-of-view throughout the narrative. There’s a considerable amount of miscommunication which I generally dislike, so having Whit’s view on certain things helped clear that up for the reader. The unfortunate downside is that it made me want to bash Whit and Inez’s heads together on multiple occasions, but thankfully they get there in the end. I also enjoyed a lot of the twists and turns that the story takes us on, and had no issues with the pacing at all considering I was able to blast through this in under 48 hours.

Unfortunately, there were some elements of the book that were just a little disappointing. First of all, Inez’s naivety became quite frustrating throughout Where the Library Hides. I could completely understand that her upbringing might lead to being more trusting of others than she should be, but considering how the last book finishes, I’d have hoped that she might have learned a lesson about trust. In fact, I found her character development as a whole to be a little lacklustre. There are times where it seems like she’s ready to come to terms with something or where she might be going through some personal growth, but then it’s thrown out the window in the next chapter. That’s not to say that she doesn’t grow at all, but I’d have hoped for a little more.

I also struggled with some of the plot twists that became a little tiring as time went on. It felt like everyone had some big secret or betrayal hiding up their sleeve, even one particular character that I wanted to love more than anyone else. And that leads me to Whit, who arguably contributes the biggest betrayal in the book - and that’s saying a lot considering what we know of Inez’s mother and another big character. Even knowing what we do of his character, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed in how he handled certain circumstances, and although he redeems himself in the end and I could almost understand his motives, I couldn’t fully justify his actions.

One other small issue I had was with the title, which alludes to a focus on a hidden library. Yes, it pops up in the story and becomes a main plot point, but I’d have expected it to be a little more present from the get go.

Of course, this is a fantasy romance, so I’m by no means here for perfection or realism. Despite the areas that I found problematic, I still had a really fun time with this sequel and I loved how the story concluded. The combination of historic events and romantic fantasy made this a thrilling read that was easy to get sucked into, and I’ll absolutely be keeping an eye out for future books from this author. In fact, there might have been something hinted at towards the end of the story, so fingers crossed for that!

What The River Knows was one of my favourite reads last year and the follow up certainly didn't disappoint. I admire the writing style of Isabel Ibanez. She just has the talent to have me sitting down and finish a book without realizing.

Inez continued on with charming and frustrating me in the same time but I kind of even grew to love being frustrated by her. I still love Whit, of course and I love these two together. The only thing what made me a bit sad was that the atmosphere wasn't as well defined as in book 1.

The story focused a bit more on the characters with less action but it pulled me in just as What The River Knows. Inez and Whit are a great pairing, love them. I can't wait to read more from Isabel.

4.5 stars
TW: murder, death, grief and trauma over death of a loved one, manipulation, theft, kidnapping, betrayal, serious injury to a main character, imprisonment and ill-treatment of supporting characters

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.

I absolutely adored What the River Knows and have hugely anticipated this sequel for the longest time. I'll admit, I was a little exasperated by the happenings for quite some time in Where the Library Hides and was worried my excitement to return to this world was going to be let down. There is more focus on the romance between Inez and Whit in this one, which makes complete sense since the only way Inez could stay in Egypt was to align herself with Whit, but with this comes a LOT of miscommunication and secrecy from Whit that had my heart dropping. I loved both characters in book one a lot, and to say I got frustrated by Whit's inaction when it counted to Inez in the first portion of the book had me ready to ditch him for good.

But I gave this book 4.5 stars and thankfully all that antagonism and building tension between the pair erupts in the most thrilling of ways. The action does take some time to mount but when it does, it's completely worth the wait. Inez faces a lot of manipulation from people who she cares about in this book, and it's emotionally tough to watch someone who is so strong and reckless face such pain, especially from Whit. Her grief over Elvira makes her a prime suspect for further deceit and I loved the unravelling of this character's placement in her world. The constant suspicion and "are they, are they not?" of multiple people around Inez was a great way to keep the reader intrigue up, especially when Whit was being so frustrating to endure.

Another thing I thoroughly enjoyed was how Ibanez incorporated my love for ancient history with more storytelling of Cleopatra and the involvement of Greco-Roman ties. Through the magical element of this tale, I appreciated the glimpses Inez got from the past, how Cleopatra guided her to the secret library and Inez uncovered not only what everyone was searching for, but also the dark revelations of her parentage. The twists and turns when it got to the latter portions where history and family collide were fantastic and I feel so rewarded by all that happened after the struggle of the earlier portions of this book. When the lore of the land and action took place, I really felt like I was completely on the adventure with Inez and Whit, and experienced a range of emotions and severe anxiety that everything would work out. This was peak writing performance for me, and I was able to forgive almost all my hang-ups from earlier segments in the novel.

I touched on the romance before, but this one is definitely steamier, which helped with the maturing of their relationship. The two intimate scenes are written well not to extend past upper YA standards, but more importantly, showcased their love story. The first was more explorative and shy, to get the ruination deed done in Inez's eyes. The second was much more rewarding, and I appreciate the author's decision to include them in this read.

Overall, I'm so sad this duology is complete now. I didn't think I'd come out the other end of this in love with the world still, considering how it began, but I should have trusted in Ibanez's stellar storytelling gift because this was such a fantastic ride. And if the epilogue hint at another Egyptian adventure comes to fruition, please sign me up immediately.

You know when you love a book so much you don't know how to praise it? This is me with this book.
So let's start simple; I loved the characters, Whit and Inez. I enjoyed their back and forth despite the changes in their relationship and I do not think I will ever get enough of these two. The fierce protectiveness these two have for one another is just so sweet!

I also thought there weren't going to be more mysteries, more backstabbing and more adventures involved, but I was bamboozled yet again. There are so many characters that one has to look out for, you as the reader don't know who to trust!

As with the first book, the setting and descriptions transported me to a world I have only seen in movies. It felt like I was there with the characters, through the hardships and the dangers.
It's safe to say that I think this book will be a great movie adaptation because Isabel Ibañez just has a way with words!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC for my honest review.

5 stars - YA historical fantasy

What the river knows was one of my favourite reads of last year so I was super excited to get back into this one after that jaw dropping cliff-hanger. Picking up where book 1 ended I had no trouble picking the story back up.

Spoilers for book 1!

Inez has to decide whether to accept Whits proposal of marriage so she can stay in Egypt and claim her inheritance. She wants to find her mom to send her to prison for Elviras death and the stolen artefacts and find out what happened to her Dad. However we know Whit is hiding / planning something with his plans to marry Inez.

I went through a rollercoaster of emotions reading this book from anxiety, anger and betrayal to hope and happiness. I absolutely loved the story arc and my jaw dropped at some of the twists and turns the author created. I also loved the drawings and little pictures through the book as they really helped me picture the characters.

I would say given the title, the library part of the book is very small - I would have loved to see more scenes within the library but overall I still enjoyed the story for what it was.

Sad the story is over but I think the author hinted at a spin off story which I hope comes out!

I felt like this book was even slower than book one, but still as gripping. However, I was pretty frustrated by the title when we're only starting to talk about the library around 70% of the book, so it takes way too long to arrive and also there's not much importance put on its discovery.

I think this 2nd book is more centered around characters' relationships than the plot on itself, as even the main goal was to find Inez's mother (even if it was related to Cleopatra). I was totally expecting all the betrayals happening here - and they were done well and on the long run, not quickly discovered or forgiven -, however I wasn't expecting the reveals about Inez's father and it was really amazing, and the whole story surrounding him was really interesting!

But as I said, I feel like the focus hasn't been enough on the plot itself, and there were very little action, except towards the end. The title really put a focus on the library but we have not enough on it and its discovery, it was done too quickly and I expected the library to have a huge focus here due to the title but alas, no. Otherwise, the story itself and how it developed was really catching, I loved that mix between actual Historical elements and liberty took from the author, especially on the magical artefacts. I'm also really satisfied by this duology's ending!

“Where the library hides” by Isabel Ibanez is the sequel to “what the river knows” which was a five stars for me last year, so you can imagine my excitement when I got approved for the arc of this.

In here we follow Inez and Whit immediately where we left them off in book one. While hunting down her mother to bring her to justice, Inez is going to have to deal with more family drama, betrayal from someone very close to her all while trying to understand what happened to her father. Whit while hiding his own past is trying to help Inez get to the bottom of things, while trying to win back her trust.

I personally loved how action packed this was, as I said it started off where we left, so there was no boring recap or stall at the beginning. I personally loved Inez and Whit even more in this since you get more in depth of their pasts. The setting is as immersive and fun as the first book.

This book is also full of plot twists, some more easy to catch than others, but it kept the pacing super interesting. Overall a great sequel, one of the few that didn’t disappoint this year!

And also even if the ending is final, I loved the little crumbs of a possible continuation with different characters. If that ends up being true, I’ll definitely continue with this series! Thank you netgalley and hodderstoughton for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was so excited for this sequel after reading What the River Knows. The setting: muah. The characters: muah. The story: muah. Everything about the first book screamed that I would love the second.

I wish I did.

This book fell so frigging flat for me. It felt like they were hosting a competition to find the worst person alive in Egypt. Is it Lourdes? Is it Sterling? Is it possibly Whit? Is it this other person who suddenly also has evil intentions?

Talking about Whit though, I absolutely loathe this man. I liked him in What the River Knows, but here? Despicable, I wish he didn't appear anymore in the book after. This man did not repent for his sins, in my opinion. And why did we get so many scenes from his POV? Unnecessary.

He did get one thing right though. Inez was so naive throughout the book, you'd expect her to develop some more trust issues after what she goes through. But no, every person she meets she immediately trusts.

I also didn't really connect with the story. Yeah, Lourdes is now missing and you're wanting to look for her, but the pacing just felt off? Granted, it took me almost 3 weeks to finish this book, but sometimes things were moving so slowly, and at the end it just felt like a continuous sequence of plot twists.

I did and still do love the setting. A couple hundred years back in Egypt? Hit me up.

But this book unfortunately just really wasn't it for me.

I devoured the first book in this duology, and am forever grateful for being able to read this one in advance!

This was amazing! The perfect ending to the duology. I think I liked this one even more than the first, and that rarely happens for me! Inez and Whit grew so much and I enjoyed the side characters as well! I can't wait to see what Ibanez writes next!

Inez is still reeling from the betrayals of the first book, but has to pull herself together and find a way to rally before the treasures she held discover are lost forever...

Like it's predecessor, Where The Library Hides has definite Mummy vibes and is a strong fantasy adventure. There were plenty of twists (some more believable than others) and a good helping of romance, making this an absolute triumph!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review