The Princess of Egypt Must Die

This is another juicy slice of historical awesomeness from Stephanie Dray. I've fallen hard for Dray's Cleopatra's Daughter series, a kind of magical historical trilogy that is dark, unapologetic, epic, and fun. So when I saw this short story, I did grabby hands and got started.

I know nothing of the historical Arsinoe II, but being aware of Dray's dedication to historical accuracy, I sat back and let the story unfold.

Arsinoe is one of the pharaoh's daughters, sweet and eager to be loved, teased mercilessly by her older, ambitious half-sister. When contracted into marriage to the King of Thrace, she finds some measure of happiness in her new home among her friendly in-laws. But good things rarely happen to royalty, and Arsinoe has some show more pretty awful things happen.

This is a short story -- which was too bad because I seriously wanted more! This story is more straight-up historical (rather than magical historical or historical fantasy), for those who care, and is a great intro to Stephanie Dray if you're new to her. show less

Novella about Arsinoe, daughter of King Ptolemy of Egypt and a secondary wife, who is married off to the elderly King Lysimachus of Thrace, but has fallen in love with his bastard son, Cassandra. Part of what made her the ruthless queen of her later years.

This very enjoyable and well researched historical novella is let down by its rather Mills & Boon-ish cover. If I hadn't seen enough of the author on FB to trust her historical sense, the cover would have been enough to deter me.

I enjoyed this story of Arsinoe, a Princess of Egypt, a tender-hearted young woman who just wants someone to notice and love her.

This is a very short story so don't expect lots of details. I think those who haven't read a lot of Egyptian stories would be interested in this, especially young adults. It did make me want to read more about Arsinoe which I think is always a sign of a good book.

Ms. Dray writes characters that you want to know more about, in this case you feel like after you've eaten a filling meal but very shortly find yourself still hungry for more. - And isn't that a good thing?

3.5 stars. A short story for meant for young adults, and I mean, really really short. I was reading the Kindle version and thought I had more to go but the rest of the book turned out to be an excerpt for the author's novel Lily of the Nile (which I have read, by the way, and it is the book that made me a huge fan of Stephanie Dray. Simply amazing.)

The Princess of Egypt Must Die is pretty good for what it is and the audience it's meant for. It's not a very happy story though, but then I am fond of tragic romances and tales of forbidden love. The thing is, it ends very abruptly, so abruptly that I was shocked when I reached the end. A part of me wishes it had been longer, because I definitely wanted more. I think the story told here show more about Princess Asinoe and how she managed to get her revenge would have worked really well expanded as a full length novel. show less

This young adult novelette set in ancient times is a pleasant enough read. I didn't like the first person voice, but aside from that there's nothing to find fault with. Being YA, it doesn't have the depth and breadth of a regular novel. That, plus its short length was why I only gave it 3 stars. I will seek out Lily of the Nile, the author's novel about Cleopatra Selene, as long as it isn't YA as well.

Yes, it was a very short book. Would have liked it to be longer but this is what Ms. Dray wanted to write. But it was a great read.