Review - Song of the Nile (Cleopatra's Daughter #2) by Stephanie Dray

Title: Song of the Nile

Author: Stephanie Dray

Series: 2nd (Lily of the Nile)

Pages: 416

Published: October 4, 2011 by Penguin

ISBN: 9780425243046

Source: Author sent for honest review

Description: Sorceress. Seductress. Schemer. Cleopatra's daughter is the one woman with the power to destroy an empire...Having survived her perilous childhood as a royal captive of Rome, Selene pledged her loyalty to Augustus and swore she would become his very own Cleopatra. Now the young queen faces an uncertain destiny in a foreign land.The magic of Isis flowing through her veins is what makes her indispensable to the emperor. Against a backdrop of imperial politics and religious persecution, Cleopatra's daughter beguiles her way to the very precipice of power. She has never forgotten her birthright, but will the price of her mother's throne be more than she's willing to pay? 

I Give This ...

I have to be honest and admit that I just wasn't feeling this one as much as the first book in the series.  There was some spark that was missing.  Selene felt one-sided.  She wanted what she couldn't have and that made the story feel overly redundant.

I missed the romance quite a bit in this novel.  I kept waiting for Selene to see something in Juba for her to fall in love with.  Maybe if she had that she could stop chasing the idea of Egypt so shamelessly.  I know Selene felt that Juba had betrayed her in a way, but she never even gave him the chance at forgiveness.  She claimed to be in love with her brother, but I just didn't feel it.  Family marriages might have been common in Egypt during this time, but that didn't necessarily equal love.  I think she was so blinded by duty that she refused to let herself be happy any other way.

 I think I was bothered the most by Selene and the Emperor's relationship.  She was trying so hard to win back Egypt that I felt she gave away her dignity in the process.  I think she felt she was playing a game were she had the upper hand.  But, she forgot who she was playing against.  She was at his beck and call but was always trying to justify it against what her mother might have done in the same situation.  I also hate what it seemed to do to Juba every time Selene answered his summons.

I did enjoy seeing what Selene's life might have been like after she left Rome.  It was something I've been longing to read about since I first read about her.  I'm hoping her story might continue.