Cleo by Lucy Coats

Title: Cleo
Author: Lucy Coats
Publisher: Orchard Books
Publication date: May 7, 2015
Pages: 320
Rating: 3/5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Her precious mother is dead - and it isn't an accident! The young Cleopatra - Pharaoh's illegitimate daughter - must flee the royal palace at Alexandria or die too. As her evil half-sisters usurp the throne, Cleo finds sanctuary at the sacred temple of Isis, where years later she becomes initiated into the secret Sisters of the Living Knot. But now Isis's power is failing, Egypt is in danger, and Cleo must prove her loyalty to her goddess by returning to the Alexandria she hates. She must seek out the hidden map which is the key to returning Isis's power - on pain of death. But will she be able to evade her horrible sisters? And will she find dreamy Khai, the über-hot Librarian boy she met as she fled Alexandria years before? Cleo's powerful destiny is about to unfold...

Sadly this book was my first DNF, so I'm just going to review it based on what I've read. But first let me tell you why I didn't finish this book.

1. Cleo seemed whiny to me - I hate whiny teenage characters. I pictured reading a strong Cleopatra even in her younger years, and I understand that I have to picture her a bit more fragile, but still. Too whiny. 
2. Too wordy - One of my pet peeves of reading is seeing too many paragraphs clumped together. Although the writing was beautiful, I felt like it was too much. It described Cleo's current emotional state too many times. 
3. I'm just not a fan of Historical Fiction - Sorry, but personal preferences won this time.
4. The format of the ARC I received was messy - I had a headache from the missing letters and the overall format of the paragraphs. I found it to be too strenuous.

From what I've read, I can give it three stars, since it wasn't entirely horrible. I can see lovers of history enjoying this book. It is fast-paced, well-written and exciting, and it was interesting to see this author's take on Cleopatra's younger years. However, I felt like this was a strong attempt to incorporate history into Young Adult, by adding the flair of romance and the desperateness of teenagers.