| Title | : | The Princess of Egypt Must Die |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1301647632 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781301647637 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 55 |
| Publication | : | First published November 26, 2012 |
The Princess of Egypt Must Die Reviews
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I've always been fascinated by Egyptian history so when I saw this short story for free on Amazon I just knew that I had to download it. I don't know as much about Egypt's history as I would like so I was excited to start this story and hopefully learn a little bit in the process. I've never heard of Arsinoe and her story was interesting and heartbreaking, unfortunately I felt like The Princess of Egypt Must Die just didn't quite do justice to what could have been a fascinating story.
Because of the short length I felt like the majority of the story was rushed and not very well put together. I was thrown into the world of Arsinoe without any prior knowledge and had to piece together little everything along the way. Additionally this story is a very dramatic one; full of lying, backstabbing, and deceit, however because of the rushed feel of the story I felt like a lot of the suspense and drama was lost because the author was in such a hurry to move from one event to the other. I felt like this story was a summary rather than an actual short story.
Even though Arsinoe was somewhat developed I felt like all the secondary characters were nothing more than shells. I barely knew anyone in the story other than Arsinoe and because of the nature of the story I felt like I needed to know the secondary characters a little more to truly appreciate it. There was lots to learn about each of the characters, and they each had their own angle, but they were barely skimmed over in order to move more quickly to the next event.
I wouldn't say this was a bad short story, just because of the original and fascinating premise, but it just wasn't long enough to make it truly amazing. Had it been a full length novel, which would have given each of the events enough time to be properly executed and allowed all of the secondary characters to develop more of a personality, I would have enjoyed it much more. Fans of Egyptian history will be interested by the story but this novel feels more like a summary than an actual work of fiction. -
I find it hard to comment on this as an introduction since I’ve not yet read Stephanie’s ‘Lily of the Nile’ to which this connects. The difference between this and Stephanie’s is that this novella can stand alone as a read. Taking the story from Alexandria to the mountains of Thrace, this story hooked me for the oddest of reasons. Not because of the writing, which is certainly high quality, atmospheric and gripping, and not because of the characters, though they are well fleshed out and believable. And not because of the point of view, since it is written in first-person present tense, which is not my favourite POV to read from.
No. This hooked me because it is a fantastic, strange and wonderful mix, belonging to an era of great change and cultural mixing, when the pharaohs were as much Macedonian as they were Egyptian. The world is an odd mix of Egyptian, Greek, Macedonian, and even more barbarous peoples such as the Thracians. And Stephanie seems to have submersed herself in the cultures of all of them and got into the heads of her characters who feel truly alive in a fascinating world. In fact, it was so absorbing that Lily of the Nile is now on my list, largely because having read the novella I need to know what happens next. -
It's been a few weeks since I read this book but I really wanted to leave a small review. I thought this was a really good story. I've read a few short stories involving Ancient Egypt and I've noticed how they never are really what I consider good. The Prince of Egypt Must Die was definitely an exception on that. It was a tragic story and some people might not like those very much but I enjoyed it a lot. I've only read one other short story by Stephanie Dray, in
A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii which I loved so I definitely want to read more by her since I'm really into history. The writing was excellent and I loved the way Arsinoe's character changed (although it was sad) from a rather meek girl to a powerful woman. I need more stories like this. -
I didn't like this book. Sadly, under the new TOS, I can't tell you that Stephanie Dray seems to be an intelligent woman with great taste in reading which is why you should try this book.
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Arsinoë, Princess of Egypt
I adore Stephanie Dray. She's one of my favorite authors and I have all of her books. I haven't read every one of them, but I know that each time I pick up Dray's books I'm in for a treat. I recently purchased all three books in the Cleopatra's Daughter series and I'm anxious to start the first book. Dray is a student of Middle Eastern studies and it serves her well. This quick read is based on the life of Queen Arsinoë II who was born into the Greek-Macedonian Ptolemaic Dynasty that ruled Egypt. From the beginning, we are introduced to a young, naive princess. When the story concludes, Arsinoë, aware that she's been weak and too trusting (her mother warned her!), vows to seek revenge on those that betrayed her kindness.
In Dray's foreword, she mentions that she'd like to write more about this fiercely determined princess. Oh! I can only hope. History proves that Arsinoë, Princess of Egypt, goes on to become Queen Arsinoë II. I'd love Dray to tell me the rest of that triumphant ascent to the throne of ancient Egypt. -
1 1/2 stars
Ok, so let me disclose first that I’m not usually a fan of short stories. I hate that they’re not long enough for me to get fully immersed in the world and well, few authors have a talent for writing good short stories.
With that said, I found this short story rather painful to read. I finished it because it’s a really short read. It’s written through Princess Arsinoe’s first person perspective and I think that is part of the problem. Everything in her head seems to be rainbows and lollipops. She’s 15 years old living in a court full of catty women and has a ruthless power-seeking mother, yet still views the world innocently and wants everyone to get along. Not to mention she’s a cry baby. I hate weak heroines and Arsinoe is weak in every sense until the last few pages of the story. It takes her life being on the line for her to get that not everyone is on her side. I just find this sort of innocence hard to believe being that Arsinoe lived in such a ruthless household. But, then again it seems like she is left to her own devices all the time because Cassander is able to get close to her without any guards around.
This brings me to the other problem I had which is the romantic aspect of the story. There is really no development in Arsinoe’s and Cassander’s relationship. I’m sure this is due to the shortness of the story, but at the same time Arsinoe is so easily flattered. I really feel like she would’ve taken any compliment from any man and interpreted as love. Cassander, though, sealed the deal by saving her from a hippo. Yeah, you read that right. LOL.
Anyway, the story does come together at the end. Arsinoe shows some growth as her innocence is shattered. It’s just the journey to get there is an unbelievable, eye roll producing sort of journey. I think The Princess of Egypt Must Die would work as a prequel to a longer novel about Arsinoe’s revenge. I suggest skipping this story unless a Dray produce’s a full length novel on Arsinoe. As for me, I’ll be moving on to her Lily of the Nile series, which I’ve heard is a better read. -
This short book could have been something. However, poor editing, the simplistic style, and a rushed ending left me feeling flat. I was taken out of the story within the first few pages when the author tells us that Arsinoe takes the "reigns" of the horse. This an error that an editor should/would have caught. There are a few more of these little niggling mistakes that just should not happen in a professionally published book.
I have a suspicion that the author meant this story to be a YA-type princess story like those Scholastic has done for Marie Antoinette, Queen Isabella I of Spain, and others. The oddly stilted first-person present tense and the author's care to avoid mentioning Arsinoe's thoughts about her marital relationship lend even more credence to that hypothesis. It certainly wasn't written on an adult vocabulary level.
I also think that Arsinoe's exaggerated naivety early on and over-night transformation into a cold, calculating avenger stretched credulity. It needed more substance.
STILL, the book holds promise. The early Ptolemaic period of Egypt is rife with great stories and the author chose a main character who could have been engaging. I believe the author needs to decide on her target audience (teens, adults), get a good editor, and then write for her targeted audience, instead of trying to cover as many bases as possible. In trying to please everyone, she pleases no one.
In the end, I can not recommend this book - yet. However, if the author makes some changes, this could be the beginning of a very good series. -
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 about Princess Asinoe and how she managed to get her revenge would have worked really well expanded as a full length novel. -
*3.5*
Un corto relato basado en la vida de la princesa egipcia Arsinoë, quien se convirtió primero en reina de Tracia y luego en Faraón. Pero primero debe sobrevivir a las intrigas de la corte y las conspiraciones de su propia familia para destruirla.
Fue bastante interesante, aunque me quede con ganas de leer más. Me hubiera gustado que la historia continuara hasta que Arsinoë cumple sus objetivos. -
Reading Challenge 2015:Un libro de un autor que nunca hayas leído antes
¡OH POR TODOS LOS CIELOS!
Cuando me lo topé fue tan de "Mñe, está corto y nunca he leído algo sobre Egipto. A ver qué tal" Y acabó gustándome más de lo que creí que lo haría. Cassander es ayyyy, no sé, me gustó un montón su personaje. Y Arsinoë se me hizo un personaje femenino hermoso. Siento mucha admiración por ella y se volvió más grande cuando al final leyendo la nota de la autora caigo en cuenta que realmente existió.
Ahora, por lo que leo, Stephanie parece gustar de escribir historias inspiradas en personajes históricos buscando apegarse lo más posible a lo que sucedió y eso me parece increíble. Voy a darle un vistazo a sus otros libros porque me gustó su manera de escribir y los giros que le da a las cosas.
Ojalá este libro no hubiera sido tan corto. Muy muy muy bueno. Y el final sdfghjkl #allthefeels -
This book was riveting and amazing. Just when I was getting sucked into what happens it ends! She definitely should've made this into a full length novel. I feel so bad for Arsinoe. She has a mother trying to prepare her for the intrigues of court life when all she wants to do is get along with everyone. I know it was a part of the time, but I thought it was disgusting how she was forced to marry such an old man. I was starting to think she might have a happy ending when she and Cassander fell in love, but that was not to be. I want to know how she is going to get revenge on everyone that betrayed her and caused her love to be killed. I love Stephanie Dray's writing and I look forward to more from her.
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Who is this princess Arsinoe? And why am I only hearing about her now?
While reading this, I thought she was a made up character but reading the authors note at the end, I see she had a lot of history behind her. I enjoyed this short story, but when it ended I wanted more, because all this revenge talk was so different to the sweet girl I'd been reading about.
And it's such a tragic love story, things happened that I didn't see coming, at all.
It's definitely worth checking out, I got mine free on the iBookstore and I think I'll be checking out the Cleopatra's daughter series because I definitely need to start reading more books set in ancient Egypt -
This is a very short introduction to ‘Lily of the Nile’. It was pretty good I did enjoy it very much... till I reached the end, I was disappointed because the whole story lead me to know more and more about Princess Arsinoe. The end of a book shows Princess Arsinoe's critical turning point, a full potential of her character development. It gave me a high hope to read more about her... then I was slammed the door on my face by one page of "Author's note " about Queen Arsinoe, and told me ‘Lily of the Nile’ is not going to be a story of Queen Arsinoe, but Cleopattra Selene. For me, No need for this introduction, just straight ahead to read book 1 of the series ‘Lily of the Nile’
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WHY IS THIS BOOK SO SHORT? I absolutely loved it. But it is an example of why I get so reluctant to read a short story. I'm going along, totally absorbed, it then WHAM! It's finished.
I really wish this was longer. I'd still be reading it right now if I could. :(
*insert rest of whine here* -
2.75 stars
I thought this story had a lot of potential. The writing wasn't too bad but the plot and the characters lacked depth and the story just wasn't able to create any real atmosphere.
I think if this had been a full length novel, the author may have been able to create something really interesting. -
Arsinoe was such a dull protagonist. She was unable to make me feel anything for her. If this hadn't been such a short story, I probably would have tossed it on my DNF pile.
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El último 5% del libro, lo mejor con mucha diferencia. Y en esa parte tan buena, incluyo la explicación de la autora sobre por qué escribió la historia de Arsinoë.
El resto del libro fácil de leer, pero demasiado predecible. -
awesome short read. so much happening in a few short pages. nice plot and twists. I found it to be entertaining and light reading which is why I gave it 4 stars.
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Excellent Short Historical Romance
Based on the life of Queen Arsinoe of Egypt, the author gives us a poignant, richly written peek into history. While this novella was very well done I can only wish we could read the rest of Arsinoe's rise and tale of vengeance. -
The Princess of Egypt Must Die was a good read. It was pretty short, but I found it interesting and liked the MC.
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By rights, I shouldn't have enjoyed this as much as I did. One, it's the most cliched story of forbidden love, where you know every beat of the story before you read it. Two, it's so short, there isn't much time available for character development. Three, the author explains in the afterword that she wanted to develop a backstory for what made the real, historical Arsinoe such a cruel and bloodthirsty ruler and I couldn't help but think - the reason you came up with was a boy? Really?
And yet, despite all these things...I was totally into this. The only thing I can put it down to is the writing. Somehow, the author made me care about the characters, root for them, and even though I knew what was coming, be gripped by the story until the end. By the last page, I was practically yelling, "Kill them all, Arsinoe! Get your revenge, girl!" There are books that are 300+ pages that never work for me, yet in just a handful of pages, this clicked. It did its job as a free and easy introduction to Stephanie Dray's work and it sold me - I have already ordered the first 2 books in her Cleopatra Selene series. Nicely played, Ms. Dray; you have won yourself a reader. -
2.5 stars.
Be aware that the final third of this is a sample of Lily of the Nile so although it makes no secret of the fact that it's a "novelette", it's even shorter than it seems at first.
I find it difficult to get into such brief stories because there's little room for complex character development, one of my favorite elements of reading. I didn't really feel for the love between Arsinoe and Cassander and at first, I found Arsinoe annoyingly naive for her age but fortunately, she wises up pretty quickly. The other thing I wasn't keen on was that it was written in present tense (I was glad to see Lily of the Nile is past tense). But the story, however short, served it's purpose. It shows a child maturing into a hardened, vengeful woman who will go on to do great things - that seems to be it's intent and it accomplished that well. It read like a prequel teaser to the rest of Arsinoe story and now I'm hoping/wishing the author writes a full length novel on her (though in past tense, please). -
I hated the author's Lily of the Nile but as this is short and free, I'm going to give it a go.
After reading...
I simply do not like Dray's writing. The synopsis for the short story is better written and more interesting than the entirety of the story itself. Arsinoe's sister is not shown to be ruthless but instead at times petty like any teenager can be. Arsinoe is shown as weak and naive and the "love" shown in the story is weakly drawn. Dray was attempting to postulate as to why Arsinoe II grew up to do such damage, but I think she utterly failed. Also, Dray gave no context as to Arsinoe's time or who she was, she could have been nearly any player named Arsinoe in Ptolemaic period unless you read the author's note first or reviewed the history of her yourself. There are a lot of Berenices, Arsinoes, Cleopatras and so forth in this line, Dray could have been clearer. Although had she been more clear I do not think it would have made for a much better story overall--unless of course Dray chose to write a story with Arsinoe older than a teenager. -
A fantastic short story. I was wholly entertained and wondering what was going to happen next and even better, it's about a strong woman in history, a queen and pharaoh of Egypt and what, possibly, could have made her so bitter and tough.
The story follows her marriage to an old king when she is only 15. She is attracted to one of his sons, who returns the feelings, but another son is plotting to have her thrown off the throne. It's also about how one can desire to have friends and trust so much, they often trust the wrong people.
Read the rest here:
http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2013/... -
A short story about Queen Arsinoe II and I loved it! But really, with Stephanie Dray, you can't go wrong. The story grabs you right away and leaves you wanting more. No spoilers, but I did cry at the end. I hope that after she finishes the series on Cleopatra Selene she'll write about Queen Arsinoe II.
The story left me wanting more and I really want to see how Arsinoe would rise to power. A tragic romance, my favorite, where in a short time, I really got to know the main character. I felt like I could understand what she was going through and why she felt the way she did. This will definitely work as a full-length novel. -
Talk about a tragic love story! In few words, the author created a beautiful and loving character in Arsinoe, who was a pawn,trapped in the customs of her time. Arsinoe was forced at 15 to marry a much older man with children her age and older. One son plotted to destroy Arsinoe, another was her true love, but, of course, they couldn't be together.
This truly needs to be a longer book! It was that good! To follow Arsinoe throughout her life when she became a bitter and heavy-handed queen and Pharoah of Egypt would make an amazing read when told with Stephanie Dray's talent! -
I've always been interested in Cleopatra's ancestors and descendants, so this was pretty darn fun. Also pretty darn short -- I understand she has other series to work on, but I wanted to know more about this character! It's a very promising introduction to Dray's work, and the Kindle version is free on Amazon. How can you resist?
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A short, pointed, and powerful story of a young woman's coming of age in a dangerous place and time. The fairly simple language (and omission of any details beyond PG-13 level) make it an obvious YA read. It does end suddenly, but it whetted my appetite for more... a good sign.
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This is a free kindle/nook book by a great author, Stephanie Dray. That said, this novelette, although full of detail, lacks character development and ends abruptly. I would be interested in reading a "real" novel of this time period.
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2.5 stars. I really like the setting, in a huge Egyptian and Greek mythology lover and it definitely kept my interested but, I really didn't like the main character (she was far too naive) and it ended when it was just about to start getting real good! But I enjoyed it.
