In ancient Egypt, a forgotten princess must overcome her family’s past and remake history.
The winds of change are blowing through Thebes. A devastating palace fire has killed the Eighteenth Dynasty’s royal family—all with the exception of Nefertari, the niece of the reviled former queen, Nefertiti. The girl’s deceased family has been branded as heretical, and no one in Egypt will speak their names. A relic of a previous reign, Nefertari is pushed aside, an unimportant princess left to run wild in the palace. But this changes when she is taken under the wing of the Pharaoh’s aunt, then brought to the Temple of Hathor, where she is educated in a manner befitting a future queen.
Soon Nefertari catches the eye of the Crown Prince, and despite her family’s history, they fall in love and wish to marry. Yet all of Egypt opposes this union between the rising star of a new dynasty and the fading star of an old, heretical one. While political adversity sets the country on edge, Nefertari becomes the wife of Ramesses the Great. Destined to be the most powerful Pharaoh in Egypt, he is also the man who must confront the most famous exodus in history. – Goodreads
Still obsessed with Michelle Moran’s work. I’m going to have to take a break for a while simply because the $10 Kindle price tags are killing my wallet.
The Heretic Queen is about Nefertari, who is Nefertiti’s niece and Mutny’s daughter (Mutny was the MC from Nefertiti). With no family left—her father and brothers died in a fire and her mother died soon after giving birth to Nefer—she grows up in the palace as a princess, playing with Asha and Ramesses like they’re her brothers.
Then she hits puberty and vaguely decides that she’s in love with Ramesses (my only qualm with the book—when the hell did that happen!?) and runs off to a temple to be a queen in training in an effort to win the Pharoah’s heart.
The only problem? Her Auntie Nefertiti dismissed the gods in favor of a single, new god and brought a massive plague to Egypt, which gave her the reputation of being a heretic. That reputation was passed on to Nefertari, who must prove that she will not be the same ruler as her aunt.
I loved the worldbuilding. I felt that I already had a clear picture of ancient Egypt from Nefertiti, and this sequel just built on it. The character development was also good—though I felt that Ramesses was lacking. I wasn’t exactly sure why Nefertari had such a huge crush on him—after all, all he did was chase her around and pull her hair in the first several chapters.
Overall, I really enjoyed this installment and can’t wait to pick up another 🙂 4/5 on Goodreads!
lifebetweenreads.com 