Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and author Malayna Evans for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this novel to review. All opinions within this review are voluntarily given and entirely my own.

Neferura is a historical fantasy set in the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt and is loosely based upon the life of the titular Egyptian princess, Neferura.

Neferura is introduced with a glossary of terms, and with author Malayna Evans stating that she has chosen to use certain vocabulary as it would have been utilized by Ancient Egyptians (as opposed to using classical or more modern vocabulary). This (in my opinion) is a good choice which adds depth and immersion to a story set thousands of years in the past. While this is categorized as adult fiction, I do think that this novel could very easily be enjoyed by an older young adult or new adult audience.

Malayna Evans is a white, American author, but she does have a Ph.D. in Egyptian history, and her knowledge is made apparent in Neferura through thorough, atmospheric historical detail. The depiction of the Ancient Egyptian relationship to the Kemetic gods is easy to comprehend and contextualize, and does not devalue the significance of Ancient Egyptian religion.

While I did enjoy the idea of a network of solidarity between the women in this novel, I found the execution lacking in some respects. Neferura’s relationship to Satiah, and the power imbalance inherent to their dynamic, exemplifies this well. I do think that there is a difference between a story told from a woman’s perspective and a story told through a feminist lens, and this, alongside other, larger and smaller grievances (like Neferura stating that her mother wears kohl to distract from her “double chin and crooked nose”), ultimately left me wanting more from the 'feminist' aspects of Neferura.