Cleo: Book 1

I had no idea what to expect with this book, but having read the Atticus stories with my daughter, and really enjoyed them, I thought I would give this a try. First of all I have to say I love the cover and the fact that the spine of the book is golden I think is amazing!From the moment I started the book I was hooked. I have no historical knowledge of the time, but I loved the modern way Cleo thinks and I find that helps connect with the character. This book was non stop action, very emotional in places and I enjoyed every minute of reading it. I really did find it hard to put down and it is definately a book I will read again. Hope we don't have to wait too long for the sequel

Perfect match for the other one as waterstones had them as out of print

Wow. That book went quick. I enjoyed this soo much can't wait until the next book comes out. I read this book in one day. I couldn't put it down it gripped me so much. Whiever reads this review- trust me. An amazingly written story. About old times written with a modern style. Read it. You have to.

Fabulous book!

I love historical fiction and was thrilled when I found out Lucy Coats had based a book on the adventures of a young Cleopatra. Woven through with facts and interesting tidbits about the Gods and daily lives of ancient Egypt, this book will open up your mind to a long forgotten time. Giving young readers a chance to put themselves in the sandals of one of histories greatest figures, Cleo is a very enjoyable read!When the horns sound, declaring her mothers death, Cleo knows her own demise can’t be far behind. Deserting her home city of Alexandria, she and her beloved body-slave, Charm, flee to a temple of Isis where years later, Cleo emerges a fully fledged priestess. Now charged by the Goddess herself to recover a map stolen long ago, Cleo’s bravery is tested to the limits when she is forced to return back to the palace of her childhood. But much has changed while she has been gone.Her two evil sisters now sit upon the twin thrones of Egypt and the whole kingdom suffers from famine and plague. Abandoning the true Gods, her sisters now worship the bloodthirsty Am-heh, better known as the devourer, and now his evil taint hangs like a dark cloud over the palace. Only Cleo, chosen of Isis, can save Egypt, but first she must find the map and restore power to the real Gods… but many dangers await her, and Cleo will need all her courage if she is to complete the tasks ahead…I really liked this book, but ultimately I think a younger YA or older MG would be its true target audience. I passed this book along to my friends sister who is thirteen and she just adored it! Mostly I think because Cleo acts and speaks in a very modern way in which the Tweens and Teens of this generation can easily relate to.Cleo herself is actually a very girly sort of character. Conscious of her looks, she constantly doubts herself and often needs reassurances - and the occasional push from her best friend - before she gets things done. While sometimes she comes off as a little whinny, she is at the core just a young girl who has been thrown a big destiny. Yet there are moments when you see her growing into the confident, clever queen she is one day to become.One thing I really liked about this book though was her blind faith in the Goddess Isis. Cleo trusts in her goddess to make everything alright, but I like when Cleo comes to understand that the Gods can’t be everywhere at once, and sometimes bad things happen and there is nothing anyone can do about it. It’s a harsh reality check for her, but I think it makes her realise people must make their own destinies. And while the Gods can’t always solve problems, they will always be there to listen to them.However a niggle I had with this book was the instant love between her and the hot librarian Khai. I really hope they get to know each other more in the next book as right now, other than there love of learning and devotion towards Isis, I don't get the impression they have much in common. Hopefully we will get to see their relationship develop more.Otherwise this book does have a cliffhanger of an ending. Cutting off right at a very action packed moment which - not having the next book - can be quite frustrating. Although it does assure that I will be reading the next one :)Overall Cleo was a fun read with a very relatable main character. A nice book to while away an afternoon. 3 stars!

*I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*I've always been interested in Cleopatra and i've read a few other things about her but nothing in the YA genre so this was a first for me. Although having read other bits about Cleopatra i do know that certain aspects in this book are just not true. But then again this is meant to be a work of fiction and the author doesn't try to make out that this is in any way historically accurate. What i'm saying is do not read this if you want to learn truths about Cleopatra, do read it if you like alternative history adventure stories with a slight amount of truth. To be fair there isn't much that has survived from the time of Cleopatra actually written by her or really about her that wasn't highly political.I have to say it took a little bit of work to get into the story at first, Cleo did come off as a completely nasty and spoilt child, but once you get through the first few scenes she starts to mellow a little. I loved reading about the different scenes around Egypt as Cleo sailed along various waterways getting to and from palaces and temples, i felt this did set a wonderful scene to the book. I also loved the relationships Cleo had with certain other characters such as Charm, they really felt more like sisters than her real sisters were to her. I would have liked to know more about Cleo's actual sisters and why they felt drawn to the dark side, more explanation may have made it easier to understand.You could definitely tell that this Cleo was a teenager by some of the daft things she said and did, especially when it came to Khai, but then again you could see her learning some maturity as the book went on. She tried not to react straight from the gut every time and did some thinking before she did anything towards the end of the book. She also started to realise she couldn't just call on Isis to help her out of situations, she actually had to work herself and she realised that it might not always turn out well for everyone involved.Overall i did enjoy this book but feel that it could have benefitted from a little more background both for the characters and also the actual time period. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series to see what happens to everyone and whether Cleo manages to finish her task. I'm also interested to see how far into Cleo's life the next book goes and when we actually leave her.It needs to be said that this book doesn't end tidily, it does feel like book one in a series so don't read it expecting the find an actual end to the story.