Michelle Moran

A Novel

Nefertiti

One of my reading goals for 2025 is to reread some old favorites and finally get around to writing reviews for them. Nefertiti by Michelle Moran was a favorite of my high school years; I haven’t revisited this novel in about a decade. I still stand with my original five star rating, but I do feel this is a book that doesn’t have as much staying power on multiple rereads.

In Nefertiti, we follow Nefertiti’s life through the catlike green eyes of her younger half sister, Mutnodjmet, or Mutny for short. While Nefertiti and her husband Amunhotep often come across as shallow, selfish and lacking in depth, Mutny is a wonderful character who finds herself trapped in court intrigue when all she wishes for is a quiet life to tend her garden.

It’s not until almost the end of the book that Nefertiti herself starts to feel more three dimensional; we get a glimpse of how great a queen and Pharaoh she was.

This book takes readers through the tumultuous reign of Amunhotep (later Akhenaten) and his disastrous life in the desert city of Amarna he and Nefertiti built. The descriptions are vivid, rich and beautiful; ancient Egypt feels so real.

This is an enjoyable book, especially more so as it goes on. Mutny is a remarkable character. While in this reread I didn’t necessarily feel as strong a love for this novel as I did years ago, I would still highly recommend for anyone who has never read it. You can’t get much better if you want to be immersed in the height of Egypt.

Amanda

One of my reading goals for 2025 is to reread some old favorites and finally get around to writing reviews for them. Nefertiti by Michelle Moran was a favorite of my high school years; I haven’t revisited this novel in about a decade. I still stand with my original five star rating, but I do feel this is a book that doesn’t have as much staying power on multiple rereads.

In Nefertiti, we follow Nefertiti’s life through the catlike green eyes of her younger half sister, Mutnodjmet, or Mutny for short. While Nefertiti and her husband Amunhotep often come across as shallow, selfish and lacking in depth, Mutny is a wonderful character who finds herself trapped in court intrigue when all she wishes for is a quiet life to tend her garden.

It’s not until almost the end of the book that Nefertiti herself starts to feel more three dimensional; we get a glimpse of how great a queen and Pharaoh she was.

This book takes readers through the tumultuous reign of Amunhotep (later Akhenaten) and his disastrous life in the desert city of Amarna he and Nefertiti built. The descriptions are vivid, rich and beautiful; ancient Egypt feels so real.

This is an enjoyable book, especially more so as it goes on. Mutny is a remarkable character. While in this reread I didn’t necessarily feel as strong a love for this novel as I did years ago, I would still highly recommend for anyone who has never read it. You can’t get much better if you want to be immersed in the height of Egypt.

Raised far from the Egyptian court with her sister, Mutnodjmet, the beautiful and ambitious Nefertiti becomes the wife of the radical new pharaoh, Amunhotep, encouraging his plans to overturn Egypt's state religion and making powerful enemies in the process, while her sister, recognizing her sister's dangerous position, does what she can to protect her family. A first novel. Reprint. 40,000 first printing.

Monicap

Great Historical fiction novel! Totally sucks you into the world and makes you invested in the characters.

Nefertiti â€“ wife of Amunhotep (Akhenaten), mother-in-law of Tutankhamun and the only female Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt â€“ was the most beautiful and adored woman in Egypt. She also had a sister, who watched in fear, anger and awe as Nefertitiâ€™s star quality brought about the ruin of a nation

Isobel 

Could not stop reading once I had started. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Missy Zuber 

This book was sitting on my bookshelf for a good few months before I decided to read it and now I can see that it was not even worth buying. I read the reviews before even reading this and thought they were harsh but I was wrong.

Nefertiti was not what I had expected. Instead of it being from her POV it was from her younger half sister's. The characters were nothing like how I imagined the real people might have been either. I never pictured Nefertiti to be as selfish and demanding as she was portrayed. Akhenaten was not how I imagined him either. Some parts made me think but otherwise it was a poor read.

Nefertiti is one of the world's great legendary beauties. Seen through her sister's eyes, she is vividly brought to life in this heartbreaking story of celebrity, ambition, love and loss. At the tender age of fifteen, Nefertiti marries Akenathen, the Prince of Egypt, her dreams coming true as she rises to fame and fortune. Bathed and decorated by a team of body servants her natural beauty is enhanced until she becomes mesmerizing. She is soon the darling of the people and her husband's closest confidant. But when her husband breaks with a thousand years of tradition, defying the priests and the military, it will take all Nefertiti's wiles to keep the nation from being torn apart. She's prepared to sacrifice her sister to strengthen her power and this act will lock the two women in a feud that only death can break...

Nefertiti A Novel

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