[ 718 ]

[katara]

Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi

Genre:
Netgalley, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Mythology, Retellings, Fiction, Adult, Egyptian Mythology

Publication Date:
February 24, 2026

Page Numbers:
352

Read/Finished Date:
February 7th, 2026

Rating:
5/5

Premise:

Queen, Legend, Cleopatra tells her own story in this evocative and sensuous historical epic Cleopatra, from the bestselling and award-winning author of Faebound and The Final Strife .

YOU KNOW MY NAME.
BUT YOU DO NOT KNOW ME.

Your historians call me seductress, but I was always in love's thrall.

Your playwrights speak of my witchcraft, but I was gifted my talents by the gods.

Your poets sing of my blood-lust, but I was protecting my children.

They cannot credit that a mere woman could be powerful, strategic, divinely blessed to rule.

Death will silence me no longer.

This is not the story of how I died. But how I lived.

Review:

The historical portrayal of Cleopatra VII, the last active pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, has always had a complex relationship with accounts of her life, with most of the accounts being written in a negative light. Everything from being called a witch to a wicked seductress, but there was much more to Cleopatra than what history and mythology have said about her.

In Cleopatra, Saara El-Arifi peels back the layers of history and gives Cleopatra, one of the most fascinating women of her time, a voice that crosses eons to tell. We hear her tell of growth, power, and resilience beyond the myths and misconceptions laid upon her name.

Cleopatra was always fascinating to me. I saw a woman with power, and in a world of men, that meant she was a threat to the patriarchy. I like how she is given a voice here and we can listen to her. See through the eyes of the world changing around her and new characters come and go in her life. The author was great at bringing her to life.


Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and the author, Saara El-Arifi, for the chance to review this book.