A few weeks ago I got an email from an author I had never heard of before asking if I would participate in the tour for her new book. Ordinarily I don’t take review requests, but since Daughter of the Sun is the first book in a series called Cult of the Cat and I am a crazy cat lady I simply had to read this book.
I’ll let the blurb tell you a bit about the book:
Sixteen-year-old Trinity was born during a solar eclipse and left at the doorsteps of a convent along with a torn piece of papyrus covered with ancient symbols. Raised by nuns in the English countryside, she leads a quiet life until she’s whisked away to the Island of Cats and a grandmother she never knew.
But before they can get to know each other, her grandmother dies. All that Trinity has left is a mysterious eye-shaped ring. And a thousand grieving cats. As Trinity tries to solve the enigma of the torn papyrus, she discovers a world of bloody sacrifices and evil curses, and a prophecy that points to her and her new feline abilities.
Unwilling to believe that any of the Egyptian gods could still be alive, Trinity turns to eighteen-year-old Seth and is instantly pulled into a vortex of sensations that forces her to confront her true self—and a horrifying destiny.
Daughter of the Sun is a wonderful novel filled with fascinating mythology, history and of course cats. Hundreds upon hundreds of cats. As a crazy cat woman, I honestly feel like I have been waiting my entire life for this book full of cats.
As someone who is fascinated by ancient religions and has spent a lot of time studying them I was particularly thrilled to see how well researched Daughter of the Sun is. The mythology is quite accurate(with just a touch of fudging to allow for the ongoing cult) and the actually taught me a couple new things about ancient Egyptian culture. And if you know something about Egyptian mythology coming in it gives you fascinating insights into where the book will go next.
I’m also a huge fan of the Seth character in this book, which kind of surprised me because I’m always nervous about characters named after that particular god(Seth is a common name for Set, a god with a specialty for causing trouble). This Seth, however, reminded me of the god in many ways despite being significantly kinder.
Trinity, the actual main character of Daughter of the Sun, has a lot of spunk and a great narration style. I get tired of overly sheltered main characters in YA sometimes but Trinity’s reactions to being introduced to the world are so much fun I never minded it in this book.
All in all Daughter of the Sun is one of the best books I’ve read all year, with an excellent story, good pacing, fun characters and lots of interesting mythology. I’m happy to give this book a 4 out of 5 star rating and suggest that you purchase Daughter of the Sun now. As for me, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next one.