Cleopatra's Moon

I've been on a bit of an ancient Egypt kick lately~

Summary (From Goodreads): Selene grew up in a palace on the Nile under parents Cleopatra and Mark Antony - the most brilliant, powerful rulers on earth. But Roman Emperor takes the country and princess to Rome. She finds herself torn between two young men and two possible destinies - until she reaches out to claim her own.

Bust of Cleopatra Selene

Review: When I started this book I braced myself for some sort of teeny bopper simplified version of Cleopatra Selene's story. Yes, I'm afraid I judged the book by it's cover. Luckily, although this is from the YA section, this is not a dumbed down version but a lush tale of coming of age and learning to love.

I listened to the audio version of this book and enjoyed the narration. The book starts when Cleopatra Selene is quite young and her mother and father have yet to sail to Actium. There is one scene in particular that I loved, where Cleopatra Selene walks in on her parents in their private chambers, they are seemingly tipsy with wine, and enjoying one another's company in conversation. For probably the first time ever, I saw Cleopatra and Marc Antony as real people instead of just the icons of history that they have become. And that's what they were, real people who just happened to live extraordinary lives.

There were some scenes that I could've done without, and there were some actions that Cleopatra Selene took that I think were probably a little far fetched, but overall I would say that the author didn't make her do anything that would've been entirely out of character.

I have to admit that I have enjoyed other versions of this story better, but I still liked this one too. Even though I knew who she was supposed to end up with, the love triangle was an interesting twist and kept me rooting for the 'right' guy to win Cleopatra Selene's heart.

If you're not ready for a mammoth novel set in historical Egypt (like Colleen McCullough's), this is a very easy read and a nice introduction to era.

Cleopatra Selene's parents...
(Kidding!)

So this is the second book in a row that I accidentally picked up from the Young Adult section.  I maybe need to talk to my library about how they label their audio books if I want to avoid this section of the online library~

Have you ever accidentally picked up a YA novel?  Or maybe that's your preferred genre?  Leave a comment below~