Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are usual. Quiet with a constant undercurrent of terror. I’m still playing the waiting game. But we’re not here for any of that. It’s the last Wednesday of June, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I decided to go with an Egyptian mythology retelling. I knew the very basics going in, but it’s not a mythology I’ve looked into much, so I was just along for the ride. Isis of Egypt: Goddess of Thrones by Malayna Evans was released yesterday (the 23rd) from Alcove Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!

Isis of Egypt: Goddess of Thrones follows the goddess Isis from birth throughout many of her greatest challenges. It’s not easy being the power behind the throne of the gods, but someone has to find and manipulate the right gods into power. But what happens when her beloved husband is kidnapped after years of peace and prosperity? The goddess abandons everything to search for him, letting chaos reign in her absence. Will her journey bring her husband back to her? Will she be able to end the chaos when she returns? Only time will tell.

Plot: it’s the tale of Isis. I didn’t know much going in, so I’m trusting the author (who has a Ph.D in Egyptian history) to know her stuff. The setting and story were lovely. I enjoyed how much page time went to the minor gods and goddesses. The pacing was pretty good, though a couple of spots lagged. I’m gathering those were the areas that the lore didn’t really cover, because it was mostly filler. But I learned a lot and had fun doing it. My only complaint would be the attempt to make Set sympathetic at the end. The entire book basically highlights what an asshole he was, then when he gets his ass kicked, we’re suddenly supposed to feel bad for him because he had crappy role models? Nah. He’s quite literally the personification of chaos. Just let him be the asshole.

Characters: mostly likeable/understandable. For a book told in close third person, most of the characters are surprisingly fleshed out. Except Osiris. He was basically perfect in Iris’s eyes, which was annoying. Also, apparently there’s a lot of incest in Egyptian mythology. It’s weird. But at least they don’t deny it/skip over it like some mythologies (looking at you Christianity). However, Isis and her siblings are gods, so I guess that’s what makes it okay. I don’t know. I spent far too long trying to convince myself it wasn’t icky, but never quite succeeded.

Writing: kind of preachy. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with the ideas in this book, but everything was so overexplained that it quickly became too much. It was written in more of a memoir style than as a novel, so most of it is Isis telling us the lessons we should learn rather than showing us. Yes, we get it. Stop beating the horse. It’s already dead.

Ultimately, I had mixed feelings about Isis of Egypt: Goddess of Thrones. I really enjoyed learning about Egyptian mythology. The plot and characters were good for the most part. The writing was lacking. It was a solid look into Isis if you’re interested in Egyptian mythology.

Overall, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Actually, a solid 3.5, but rounded up because I didn’t feel a 3 was fair. I enjoyed it well enough and think it’s worth a look if you don’t mind something that overexplains everything.