Books Are Gems

Ayan's Book Review: 

The Secret of the Sacred Scarab 

-by Fiona Ingram

Hi, 

Do you like ancient Egyptian history? I most certainly do. Do you like adventure books? I adore them, too. As much as I love learning about ancient Egypt, I enjoy reading mystery and adventure books.

‘The Secret of the Sacred Scarab’ is a mix of both and much more; it also has mythology, history, legends, and hieroglyphs clues (my favorite).

This book is a story of two cousins, Adam and Justin, and their trip to Egypt, where they go on an educational trip with their journalist aunt. Aunt Isabel had invited them to stay with her and Gran for a week. They were supposed to take notes of their learning and share them with their classmates. But Adam wanted to have an adventure on their trip. And they most certainly did. Right from their first day in Egypt, they experienced strange things that led the two into mystery and peril.

The main characters felt very real to me. I could immediately connect with Adam and Justin. Adam’s fear of traveling by airplane for the first time made him very relatable. I enjoyed the adventure along with Adam and Justin: walking in the market, sweltering heat of Egypt, crowded streets, bus rides, visiting Sphinx and the pyramids; everything felt real and full of life.

I loved that the story was fast and engaging right from the very beginning. I learned a lot more about Egyptian mythology and history than I had expected from a fiction book.

None of the book’s parts were confusing. I also liked the end of the book glossary, which contains more information on the Egyptian terminologies used in this book.

I recommend this book for children eight years and older as there is not much violence in the book but more suspense, adventure, and mystery that will keep the readers hooked until the last page.

I give this book 5/5 stars as it qualifies for a fun read. I can’t wait to read Book 2 in The Chronicles of the Stone series.