SEPTEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
Two narrators link ancient Egypt and contemporary New York. When Lilliana Young visits the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she’s not expecting to encounter an Egyptian prince named Amon, who has been reawakened from his mummified state. She has little choice in the matter, however, as he uses her life force for strength as he attempts to find his brothers and to complete an ancient ritual. With a youthful voice, Phoebe Strole makes Lily sound appropriately naïve and sarcastic, particularly in her delivery of Lily’s snarky one-liners. However, she adds little to Prince Amon’s stilted antiquated speech. Mark Deakins’s sonorous narration of past events provides a satisfying contrast. This is an easy, if not a particularly dynamic, listen. E.M.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
05/25/2015
When high school senior Lilliana Young becomes mystically tethered to a resurrected Egyptian mummy, her upper-crust, micromanaged New York City lifestyle is turned upside down. Lilliana and Amon, the resurrected prince and carrier of the Eye of Horus, travel to Egypt in search of Amon’s brothers, who are needed to complete a thousand-year-old ritual that will prevent Seth, the “Dark One,” from rising. They meet the Grand Vizier, an archeologist devoted to helping the brothers, but trouble emerges in the form of an unknown necromancer who intercepts their every move with flesh-eating demons, poisonous dust, and zombies. Along the way, Lilliana must decide whether to sacrifice herself to prevent the world’s “unmaking.” In this series opener, Houck (the Tiger’s Curse series) introduces a fantasy teeming with Egyptian characters and mythological stories come to life. Though the Amon’s thematic metaphors (“My throat is as dry as a sandstorm in the desert”) are trying, and the scenes between adventures can be tedious, Houck’s moving depiction of the love between Lily and Amon is memorable. Ages 14–up. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (Aug.)
School Library Journal
06/01/2015
Gr 7 Up—In this modern-day fantasy, privileged New York teen Lily escapes the pressure from her parents and false friends by seeking refuge in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On the first day of her spring break, she meets Amon, an Egyptian prince, who was mummified, yet rises once every millennia to reawaken his brothers and perform a ceremony to maintain the sun, moon, and the stars aligned and to keep the God of Chaos, Seth, away for another 1,000 years. Lily helps Amon navigate New York City, and he educates her about his past and the rituals of his native land. Together they travel to Egypt with the hope of achieving his immortality once again. Lily is a very self-aware heroine, who feels like an outcast except when she meets the resurrected royal. Amon is a mystery, a man of power and knowledge, and Lily stereotypically falls for him and can't help getting involved in helping him in his quest. The pacing of the story is even, with exciting culminating battle scenes. Rick Riordan fans who are looking for another series will delight in this fantasy. VERDICT An incredibly well-researched novel with an air of mystery and romance.—Stephanie DeVincentis, Downers Grove North High School, IL
SEPTEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
Two narrators link ancient Egypt and contemporary New York. When Lilliana Young visits the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she’s not expecting to encounter an Egyptian prince named Amon, who has been reawakened from his mummified state. She has little choice in the matter, however, as he uses her life force for strength as he attempts to find his brothers and to complete an ancient ritual. With a youthful voice, Phoebe Strole makes Lily sound appropriately naïve and sarcastic, particularly in her delivery of Lily’s snarky one-liners. However, she adds little to Prince Amon’s stilted antiquated speech. Mark Deakins’s sonorous narration of past events provides a satisfying contrast. This is an easy, if not a particularly dynamic, listen. E.M.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-04-29
A reanimated mummy has an important mission and needs 17-year-old Lily in order to succeed. Lily is astonished to find a living pre-Pharaonic Egyptian king named Amon behind the scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nothing in her privileged life has prepared Lily for what comes next as Amon takes her on one cyclone of an adventure. Amon rises from his sarcophagus every 1,000 years to protect the world from the destructive chaos of Seth, the Dark One. However, this time something has gone disastrously wrong, so Amon needs to borrow Lily's life force. Pragmatic Lily is no fragile bloom, but when Amon says things like, "You are as fresh and as lovely as a budding flower kissed by the dew of a golden morning," she can't help but notice his "physical splendor." But Amon, charming and kind though he may be, is harboring secrets that keep him from reciprocating Lily's growing love. The author weaves her story out of Egyptian lore, cinematic magic, selfless love, and cheesy dialogue, threading it with such oddities as a half-man, half-crocodile monster, massive biting worms, and rickety zombies. The tale feels occasionally overstuffed with mythology but is clever enough to remain surprising even to the last sentence. Happily, this paranormal romance has enough humor to keep the pages flipping, though it's unlikely to attract fans not already devoted to the genre. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)
