The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles #1) – Rick Riordan

    Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.
One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.
Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.  

I was actually a little nervous going into THE RED PYRAMID as my first book for Classics Retold, not because of the size or the content, but because it’s really more of a middle grade book than young adult and I haven’t read anything that could be classified as middle grade since Harry Potter. THE RED PYRAMID kind of dances along the line of middle grade and young adult with our main characters Carter and Sadie Kane at 14 and 12-years-old (respectively). The only major difference I would say for the age range is that there’s only a touch of romance and it’s definitely not a main focus of the book, although Carter’s crush does end up playing a significant role.

Okay! Now that we have that all cleared up… Let’s talk about the content. So for Classics Retold, I’m hosting the Mythology portion and I chose Egyptian mythology specifically to read for the challenge/project. THE RED PYRAMID seemed like the natural choice as my first read because it was the only title I could come up with off the top of my head full of Egyptian mythology and not just a retelling of Cleopatra or Nefertiti (although I would love to read those as well)! Rick Riordan is no slouch when it comes to backing up his imagined situations with real Egyptian myths, gods, and legends. Besides the ones I already knew, I actually learned about quite a few more gods as well as how they came into being, according to their legends. I also trusted Riordan quite a bit in accepting their histories as true since it seemed that most of the backstories were the actual Egyptian legends and then the story that was happening in present time was the actual book’s plot involving those “characters”.

THE RED PYRAMID is actually quite a hefty book (the hardcover is listed at 516 pages and the audio was almost 15 hours… I usually listen to books that about 7, to give you an idea of my usual attention span) but it really didn’t feel terribly long! I did feel the length, but I was actually enjoying all of the content. I really, really enjoyed all of the connections to Egypt: the myths, the actual locations, the language… It all really fascinates me! I’ve always been incredibly interested in Egypt (maybe that’s why I watch The Mummy every time I pass it on TV…) and I think it would be amazing to see history as ancient as that still standing!

Rick Riordan, aside from great content, also created some really lovable characters. The banter between Carter and Sadie is hilarious. Carter is a bit more reserved, but Sadie (even at 12) is a bit rebellious and out-spoken so her comments to Carter as a typical, bratty younger sister really cracked me up! I really enjoyed watching their brother-sister relationship grow and change as they face some serious obstacles together.

I think the ending could have wrapped up juuuust a bit quicker but I really enjoyed the book overall! Will I be continuing the series? I’m not quite sure. While I really enjoyed THE RED PYRAMID, I’m already finding out that I get burned out on mythology really quickly if I read them back-to-back. Maybe I’ll try to revisit it in a few months!

Carter Kane // Character Obsessions: Looking presentable, saving his dad, Zia.
I really liked Carter! He was a bit more conservative than Sadie because his father raised him to be just that — He obeyed orders and was ready for anything at a moment’s notice. I really admired his courage when things got tough and I don’t know why, but I’m always a sucker for an older brother/younger sister relationship in a book!
Sadie Kane // Character Obsessions: Mischief, her cat Muffin, making fun of Carter, her mother, Anubis.
I LOVED Sadie’s sass in this book. She had so many clever lines and really brought a strong sense of humor to the story. I also really enjoyed seeing her stubbornness give way to Carter’s organization and planning when it needed to. I think Sadie was my favorite character of the book! 

Kept Me Hooked On: Egyptian Mythology. The mythology/legends in the book were great. It was well researched and a HUGE part of the book — Well, it WAS the book! Haha. I loved how the characters and the gods interacted. The book was sort of similar to how many mythology books/retellings go, but I didn’t mind in the least!
Left Me Wanting More: Is it stupid to say romance? I’ve just been reading YA so long and there’s always a main romance plot. That’s my only minor reservation with MG! I just love falling in love with characters via a romance!

Addiction Rating
Library read

While I really enjoyed this book, I’m not sure if it’s one I would need to own for my bookshelves! It was a top notch book including all kinds of Egyptian history and mythology but I’d probably just borrow this series from the library.

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