"Egypt: The Uprising" in review ~ Blog Tour + a giveaway!

Egypt: The Uprising (The Battle for Maat, #1) by Amira Aly

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Source: I received this book to review by partcipating in the blog tour organized by WOW (women on writing)
Genre: YA fantasy

Synopsis of the book: Aya is a teenaged girl trying to live through the Egyptian Revolution of January 2011 with her brother and aunt without getting swept up into the demonstrations and violence. But fate has something else in mind for Aya. What starts out as an attempt by Aya to drag her brother and his friends away from the demonstrations transforms into a battle with ancient Egyptian figures who have returned from the past to take control of modern Egypt. Can Aya learn enough about her mysterious past and powers in time to save her world from the evil threatening it?

Egypt: The Uprising in a fascinating combination of modern events, historical figures, secret organizations with magical powers, and adventure that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

My thoughts: This is a very interesting book. It deals in depth with the relationship of Egyptian mythology and the unrest in Egypt. Amira Aly has cleverly crafted a plot line that combines the bloodshed of the revolutionists and the ancient sacrifice of humans.

Overall I really have to say how impressed I am with her book. The three rating is due to my ignorance. I am not as familiar with Egyptian mythology as I would like to be and sometimes I had a hard time keeping up with the deities and their role in ancient society. There is a ton of information packed into this relatively short book.

It is intriguing. I may have to do a little research on my own and re-read the book then. There is absolutely no reason not to recommend this book. If for nothing else, the strong female lead character and to learn more about Egypt and the recent uprising.

The slaughter of victims of the Government crackdown is hard to read. I admire those who gave of themselves to try to better their government.

About Amira: Amira Aly lived in Canada up until her first year in university when she moved to Egypt to study medicine at the University of Cairo. It seemed she was on the traditional route of a medical career working as an intern and teaching assistant in the surgical pathology department. But then she discovered the wonderful world of freelance medical writing. And who could resist its charms?

Egypt: The Uprising isn’t Amira’s first book. There was that picture book she wrote when she was five years old. Sadly, publishers didn’t recognize its brilliance but it was the first step on a life filled with a love of writing.

When she isn’t writing Amira likes to read her favorite authors Anne Rice, Stephen King, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. She also spends time dancing, playing video games, and eating her favorite food Molokheya (an Egyptian green soup). She’d like to squeeze in time to learn a fourth language. She already speaks English, Arabic, and French. Amira lives in Cairo with her husband, 7 year old daughter and 17 months old son. Her children would like to add a dog to that list but Amira, still traumatized by the loss of a pet turtle, has sworn off pets. That, and she knows she’ll be the one walking the dog even though everyone promises they will.

Where can you find Amira? 

http://www.battleformaat.com/

http://amiraaly.wordpress.com/

  

Egypt: The Uprising Book Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVW66TLiElg

For the giveaway!

I will be able to have one winner of an ebook copy of "Egypt: The Uprising".  There will be a total of two entries.  The first is to leave your name and email address in a comment.  You can earn a second entry if you tweet about the contest.  You must use the hashtag  #ETUAly. Remember that you must be at least 13 years old to enter.

If you want to copy and paste this example you may.  

Enter to win Egypt the Uprising at Bookworm Lisa http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com #ETUAly

Please leave separate comments and the url for your tweet.  Leave your email address again with the tweet URL.  Winners will be selected using random.org.  The contest will run until September 7th.  I will announce the winner on the 8th and forward the name and email to WOW.