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A review by rakoerose
Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C. by Kristiana Gregory
3.0
While a nostalgic read, also one that shows its age. I still adore what this book gave me as a kid, which was a story centered around a girl with incredible autonomy when a lot of media did not so so.
Would it be so terrible to be a princess in exile?
The writing style and plot is very much aimed at its age group, and would probably be a bit boring to those beyond it. However, the intensities of Cleopatra’s life still make this interesting. I also just like the epistolary format, the inner conflicts that come from the diary style. Cleopatra is a wonderful figure of history and it’s fun to try and imagine these early years of her life.
There are some… rather large and glaring inaccuracies in this book which, as a child, can be easily overlooked. In particular issues with placing so much emphasis on monotheistic religions without much mention of Cleopatra’s own polytheistic Egyptian beliefs, as another reviewer here explains in much better detail than I could! The only Egyptian god mentioned here is Isis, when the list is extensive.
I also found the Marc Antony elements of this… startling. In this book Cleopatra is only 12-14 years old and enters into a romance with Antony who is in his mid to late 20’s… Incredibly troubling considering it’s 1) inaccurate because Antony did not have feelings for Cleopatra in their few meetings at this stage and 2) possibly incredibly damaging for the young demographic of this book to see such a large age gap romanticized. If this diary had been from the time when she was 28, I’d have less issues!
Can it be stated that for the time it’s accurate that 12 year olds were married? Yes. But considering the inaccuracies already laced here, I think leaving Antony out of this narrative would have been fine.
Overall, I think this book is okay. My nostalgia painted it in a better light for me, and some of the core themes are good. I just think some things were sacrificed in the name of making the plot more intriguing!
Would it be so terrible to be a princess in exile?
The writing style and plot is very much aimed at its age group, and would probably be a bit boring to those beyond it. However, the intensities of Cleopatra’s life still make this interesting. I also just like the epistolary format, the inner conflicts that come from the diary style. Cleopatra is a wonderful figure of history and it’s fun to try and imagine these early years of her life.
There are some… rather large and glaring inaccuracies in this book which, as a child, can be easily overlooked. In particular issues with placing so much emphasis on monotheistic religions without much mention of Cleopatra’s own polytheistic Egyptian beliefs, as another reviewer here explains in much better detail than I could! The only Egyptian god mentioned here is Isis, when the list is extensive.
I also found the Marc Antony elements of this… startling. In this book Cleopatra is only 12-14 years old and enters into a romance with Antony who is in his mid to late 20’s… Incredibly troubling considering it’s 1) inaccurate because Antony did not have feelings for Cleopatra in their few meetings at this stage and 2) possibly incredibly damaging for the young demographic of this book to see such a large age gap romanticized. If this diary had been from the time when she was 28, I’d have less issues!
Can it be stated that for the time it’s accurate that 12 year olds were married? Yes. But considering the inaccuracies already laced here, I think leaving Antony out of this narrative would have been fine.
Overall, I think this book is okay. My nostalgia painted it in a better light for me, and some of the core themes are good. I just think some things were sacrificed in the name of making the plot more intriguing!