The Eye of Nefertiti: A Pharaoh's Cat Novel - Maria Luisa Lang

Synopsis:

The Eye of Nefertiti is both a stand-alone novel and a sequel to The Pharaoh’s Cat. The time-traveling ancient Egyptian feline with human powers returns together with his beloved Pharaoh and his close friends, the High Priest of Amun-Ra and Elena, an Egyptologist’s daughter.

The cat is quick-witted, wise-cracking narrator as well as free-spirited, ever-curious protagonist, and the story he tells is an exotic, imaginative, spell-binding tragicomedy. The cat travels from present-day New York City to England, both ancient and modern, then to ancient Egypt, where he confronts a horrible demon and experiences a sublime emotion. Once back in England, he descends into a psychological abyss so deep only the Pharaoh can save him.

The Eye of Nefertiti interweaves feline and human, past and present, natural and supernatural. It contains numerous surprises, twists and turns, intriguing characters, both human and animal, fascinating revelations about ancient Egyptian history and culture, and an ingenious application of the Tarot and an Italian opera.

Review

I must first of all thank Maria for supplying me with a free copy of the book in return I am to truthfully review it.

The Eye of Nefertiti is a stand alone novel but is also a follow on from the first book A Pharaoh's Cat. Having read the first book I felt it easy to transition into this book but I know that having read this book that even if you haven't read the first book, everything is pretty much in here for you to catch up on anyway so it isn't really too necessary to read the first unless you want the detail.

After the ending of the last book, we are in New York and its been a few months and there is now a new addition who is very much an adorable little fella. As it was with the first book, its a quick read and easily completed in a sitting or 2 depending on the time you have, and it still isn't a simple book about a cat, it looks at the deep meanings of connections, mixing emotions with historical fiction and magic. We see more than just ancient Egypt and modern day New York this time, we also get to see both modern and ancient England which made me smile because I love it when books are based in my country for some reason. Throughout the book there is a mystery that must be solved and we’re left very curious as to how things will play out. Although it is easy to work out a couple of bits and bobs as I say, as a whole the way things play out was just a big surprise for me.

We once again have a number of amusing moments to play audience to; we once again get to explore ancient Egypt and have a mystery to solve as well as having interesting characters and have scenes that pull at a variety of emotions. It gives us all we could expect from the story.

I simply just loved this book, having already fell in love with and attached myself emotionally and mentally to all of the characters in the last book I just simply moved into this book and with each page turn I was finding more and more reason to stay connected and laugh and cry or a mix of the both. The plot was very interesting and unique and I just couldn't put it down. With all of the new messages and lessons I finished the book with a sense of something, I'm not even sure what but I was kind of refreshed and seeing the world ever so slightly different. It opened my eyes in some way and I'm pretty sure I cried for a little while but no one needs to know that.

Leaving this the very same way I left the first book, its an easy 5/5 and if any of you check this out, come back tell me how you felt about it all and lets see how different or same our experiences were.

The Pharaoh's Cat - Maria Luisa Lang

Synopsis:

The Pharaoh’s Cat, a tragicomic fantasy narrated in the present tense by the cat himself, tells of a free-spirited, wise-cracking stray in ancient Egypt who suddenly acquires human powers and immediately captivates the young Pharaoh, making him laugh for the first time since his parents’ death.

The cat becomes the Pharaoh’s constant companion and, at the royal palace and on a tour of Egypt, participates in the festivities, developing an insatiable appetite for good food, wine, and gossip. Gradually, he renews the Pharaoh’s ability to enjoy life and inspires him to become a stronger leader. The bond of selfless love they share will change Egypt’s destiny.

The cat has a good friend in the High Priest of the god Amun-Ra and seeks his help in solving the mystery of his human powers and the supernatural manifestations that plague him. He has a mortal enemy in the Vizier—the second most powerful man in Egypt--who hates him for his close relationship with the Pharaoh. The Vizier’s persecution of the cat ultimately results in his fleeing with the High Priest to present-day New York City, where they find an ally in an Egyptologist’s daughter.

Review:

First of all I want to thank Maria for providing me a copy of The Pharaoh's Cat in return for a honest review, I hope you enjoy.

The Pharaoh's Cat is such a lovely read, you can pretty much get through it in a day or 2 if you have some time to kill. I didn't really know what to expect from such a book with all the aspects of it combining bits of several genres but it was such a great read that I'm pretty attached to now. Its not simply a story about a cat, it is so much more, of love and friendship the repercussions of actions and most noticeably Egyptian history I suppose and even more messages about how actions can effect lives. These lessons and messages are not plainly put to you, they are so delicately woven into the storyline that is sweet and spans thousands of years.

The story told from the perspective of the cat, The Pharaoh’s Cat is made up of amusing moments. In both ancient Egypt and modern day New York, we get to play audience as the mystery surrounding the walking talking cat is unrolled and solved. Throughout, we encounter several interesting characters and watch as many wonderful and uplifting scenes unfold. It really does pull you in and I found myself simply unable or unwilling to put the book down for hours on end.

With the characters and the scenes I completely fell in love, to keep the story short some scenes that I wished had been plumped out more were short but still very adorable and vibrant. I got attached to everyone and thing, it was just too hard not to. Characters shown on the negative side had my bad emotions whilst every other character shown on the positive side got all of my great emotions and when plot twists came I'm sure both loads of emotions clashed and fought with each other for a long time. Although short and simple The Pharaoh's Cat made me laugh, cry, curse and simply just forget the real world for a while. I love the information about Egypt and how well it all fitted into the story.

Once finishing the story I moved right onto the second book and simply fell further in love. Short, sweet and simple this book gets a 5/5 from me. Even though some people saw parts as negatives which bumped down their ratings I simply just loved this book to much to not give it a 5/5. if you need a short book to fill in a hole, something to laugh at and love definitely check out this book and I hope it has the same effect on you as it did me.