Der Aufbruch

Keeper of the Lost Cities #1

by Shannon Messenger

Ein episches Abenteuer beginnt …
Die 12-jährige Sophie scheint nicht in ihr eigenes Leben zu passen. Sie ist hochintelligent und hat mehrere Klassen übersprungen. Und sie hütet ein großes Geheimnis: Sophie kann die Gedanken ihrer Mitmenschen lesen. Ihr ganzes Leben lang fühlte sie sich als Außenseiterin. Bis sie Fitz trifft, einen geheimnisvollen Jungen. Er teilt ihr das Unglaubliche mit: Sie ist mit ihren Fähigkeiten nicht allein. Und sie gehört dem Volk der Elfen an. Für Sophie beginnt ein neues Leben. Ab sofort besucht sie im Elfenreich eine Zauberschule. Doch ihre Vergangenheit holt Sophie immer wieder ein: Wer ist sie wirklich? Warum wurde sie in der Menschenwelt versteckt – und vor wem? Die Antworten auf diese Fragen könnten über Leben und Tod entscheiden …

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure, Childrens, Magic

507 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2012

About the author

Hi! I'm the NYT and USA today bestselling author of the KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES series and the SKY FALL series! And yes, I DO accept friend requests here--BUT! Please note: I *never* check my private messages here, so if you send me one, you won't get a reply. My real contact information is on my website: shannonmessenger.com

Reviews

[Shannon Messenger]

Okay, I may be biased here. But I think it's pretty darn awesome. :D *is an incredibly nerdy author*

[TheBookSmugglers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Original review posted on The Book Smugglers

Thea’s Take:

There are two ends of the CG animated movie spectrum. On the one side, there are gems like Wall-E and Up and Toy Story. On the other, there are the lamentable films like Fly Me to the Moon, or Robots, or Shark Tale. Granted, many kids like all of these films and there is some entertainment value to find in each of them – but there’s a huge difference in storytelling skill and in quality.

Unfortunately, Keeper of the Lost Cities falls deep on the Shark Tale end of the MG/YA spectrum. A poor man’s Harry Potter, featuring a super special snowflake of a heroine, Keeper of the Lost Cities is a sadly disappointing – and frequently laughable – dud.

But let’s start at the beginning, shall we? From the synopsis, this novel seems like it would be about a telepathic twelve year old girl that discovers secrets about her family, her true birthright, and her abilities. Right? What Keeper of the Lost Cities delivers instead is a story about ultra-beautiful, ultra-intelligent, ultra-magical elves (yes, elves), whose existence is secret from disgusting humans. It then morphs into Harry Potter knock-off land, complete with a prestigious, secret and ultra selective academy for young prodigious elves, with classes in specialized areas like alchemy and telepathy. Oh yeah, and it turns out that Sophie Foster, our protagonist, is not only superduper desirable (a humble twelve year old, but already commanding the attentions of fifteen year olds) but possesses unparalleled power and is The One who can Save them All.

I could go on and on, so let me just focus on the three areas that bothered me the most regarding Keeper of the Lost Cities: the blase treatment/combo of science and magic, Sophie’s super specialness (and unconvincing nature as a character), and the unabashed Harry Potter ripoffs.

Let’s start with Science and Magic. When it’s done well, I love a speculative fiction book that blends fantasy elements with sci fi, magic with hard science. This is, I suspect, what Shannon Messenger attempted to accomplish in this novel. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work. From very early on in the book, we learn that even “the slowest elf can still trump a human” – and that elves, apparently, know ALL the things about genetics and DNA and relative physics, but say this isn’t science OR magic. As heartthrob elf Fitz tells our heroine Sophie:

“This is…magic?”

Fitz laughed – a full body laugh, like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard [...] “No,” he said when he’d regained control. “Magic is a stupid idea humans came up with to try to explain things they couldn’t understand.”

But in the next breath, when Fitz starts to describe the impossible apparating speed-of-light travel, he tells Sophie that elves “light leap”:

He held the pathfinder up to the sun, casting a ray of light onto his hand. “Light leaping. We hitched a ride on a beam of light that was headed straight here.”

“That’s impossible [...] You need infinite energy for light travel. Haven’t you heard of the theory of relativity?”

She thought she had him stumped with that one, but he just laughed again. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

No further explanation, until a few pages later, when Fitz tells Sophie:

This is how the world really works. It’s not magic. It’s just how it is.

Well THAT explains everything, then. In this type of setting, magic would be completely acceptable as an explanation for feathered dinosaur pets, catching lightning in a bottle, using elderberries to transmutate iron, and so on. But instead, Keeper of the Lost Cities insists on not-science science, not-magic magic, and the end result is, well, ridiculous.

Which brings me to my next gripe: Sophie, the Special Snowflake. When we first meet Sophie, we learn that she is twelve years old, telepathic, possessing a photographic memory, and a high school senior that has been accepted at Yale University. We also learn that she is ‘the prettiest girl in school’, that she is an unprecedentedly powerful telepath, sickeningly sweet and good, and everyone rushes to her aid at slightest provocation. And I just want to include this quote, because Ana and I both had a good laugh when we read it:

Her family couldn’t be her family.

She took a deep breath and let the reality settle in.

The strange thing was, in some ways it made sense. It explained why she always felt so out of place around them – the slender blonde among her chubby brunette family.

Oh WOE! WOE! The life of a slender blonde in a chubby brunette family.

And then, finally, there’s the big whopping Harry Potter Ripoff problem. I’ll make this easy: as soon as Sophie gets to Elfland, she hears that she has been invited to attend a prestigious academy for aspiring young witches and wizards elves called Hogwarts Foxfire. The school is presided over by a benevolent headmaster Dumbledore Dame Alina, who also gets to pick the constantly changing sweet treat password sweet treat tasting flavor that unlocks every student’s locker (on day one, the flavor is Fizzing Whizbees Mallowmelt). Harry Sophie quickly makes friends with Hermione and Ron Marella and Dex, and Dex happens to be a mudblood bad match byproduct, meaning that his parents were muggles non-noble elves. While at school, Sophie excels and is a natural at almost all of her subjects, except for potions alchemy (Professor Snape Lady Galvin seems to really have it out for Sophie for some reason).

And on and on the list goes. I’ll stop here, though. While I’m certain there are many people out there that will enjoy Keeper of the Lost Cities, this book failed to work for me on any level.

Ana’s Take:

Yes, to all that. Thea covered basically everything I wanted to say and I don’t have a lot more to add but here is my two cents. Keeper of the Lost Cities is a ridiculous book and I wish I could just make fun of it, disregard it simply as a bad book experience and think no more of it. But this is such a blatant, poor imitation of Harry Potter with the addition of extremely uncomfortable Racefail that I must look at it from a serious perspective.

I do not have anything to add to Thea’s assessment of Sophie but I have a couple of things to add to her other areas of concern – the Magic x Science conundrum and the Harry Potter Ripoffs.

With regards to the former, my main problem with the ridiculous not-science science and not-magic magic is that it results in a complete lack of internal logic and that is a way too big a flaw in the very construction of the story. The idea that the elves don’t know a lot about the human world is reinforced throughout the story – elves often wonder what a “dollar” is or what is “France”. They also insist that what they do is not science. And yet the very human scientific concept of “DNA” and genetics research is at the very centre of this story.

Regarding the clear Harry Potter Ripoff, I can add a lot more to Thea’s breakdown:

All wizards elves perform spells have gifts and Harry Sophie soon learns that there are three Unforgivable Curses gifts that are frowned upon: the deadly Killing Curse, the Cruciatus Curse and the Imperius Curse the deadly Pyrokineticsm, Infliction and Mermerizing. She also learns to play the wizard’s elven game of Quidditch Catch and that there are other people who don’t really like her like the snobby Lucius Cassius.

I wish I was kidding.

And that brings me to my last point – the brown-skinned Gnomes who work for the Elves as their gardeners.

This is a world in which the vast majority of elves are described as impossibly beautiful with fair skin (there is the odd “olive” skinned elf) and shiny blue/teal eyes. And where, even though everybody works, they do so because they want to because elves are rich and don’t really need money. But basically the elves have important jobs but the Gnomes tend their gardens. And those are the only creatures within the novel described as “brown-skinned”. Then Sophia asks those Gnomes are servants and is promptly told off because of course the elves do not keep servants. The gnomes CHOOSE to live with the elves for their own protection and help them with their gardens because they enjoy it.

The obliviousness to the real-life, historical and racial implication of this point is completely mind-blowing and what made me enraged rather than potentially amused by the book.

In fairness, it is very possible that this might be addressed at some point in the series (after all, didn’t Hermione Granger address the problem of the House-Elves in the Harry Potter series?) and some readers will probably not care about the similarities to HP or even appreciate it as homage of sorts – I am not one of them. Finding the similarities between this and the Harry Potter books might actually have been fun if it wasn’t so awkward – plus the characterisation here is nowhere near as good as Rowling’s endearing creations and this means that characters here are flat, thin, poorly constructed imitations.

Ultimately this is what it boils down to: Keeper of the Lost Cities is not one of the worst books I have ever read but it is certainly one of the most laughable ones. And it made me despair that books like these even get to see the light of day.

[Regan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alright, I will start this off by saying that this book was written by my little sister....and for you to fully understand what this means I must explain a few things to you. Shannon has always been the over achiever in the family, she's younger than me, yet managed to graduate a couple days before me, 4.0 and valedictorian no less! She graduated college, which I never even went to, and she always manages to do things like change the lightbulbs, wear accessories and eyeliner, and bring a jacket (whereas I am hopeless in all these departments!=)) So when Shannon FINALLY let me read her book, I knew it would be good.....There was a tiny part of me though that didn't want to like it.....because...COME ON, she can't really be good at everything can she?? Well any hope I had of not liking it was gone by around page 50.....I was hooked, so hooked in fact that my noisy animals distracting me from my reading proved to be too much! So I got in my car and drove to the beach and spent all day sitting on the sand until I finished all 400 plus pages of it. It was good, really good. I won't go into the story, because it's hard to explain it, but it is really genuinely beautiful. It's witty and sharp and obviously extremely engrossing. The world that my sister has created here is pretty much, for lack of a better word (see I told you she is the smart one!) awesome. I can see why there is so much buzz building up for the release of this one! So all I have to say to everyone else is that you should pick up a copy just as soon as you can.....and to Shannon I can only tip my imaginary hat (I'm not nearly good enough with accessories to have a real hat!) and say good job little sister, you are clearly going to be a big success!
PS....remember the little people when you do become a success.....Like when you are doing casting for the male actors in the movie that will undoubtably be made from this.....remember me....and my excellent spectating skills!=)

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

🌟Ridiculously good! I love it. And I imagine I would have been even more head-over-the-heels, had I gotten this one to read as a kid. Still, even for an adult, this is an immensely entertaining read. Complete with a new world, tidy loose endings wrapped up, likable protagonists, Harry-Potteresque schools... And Telepaths, Mesmers, Inflicters, Washers, Descryers, Atlantis, Exilium, Eternalia, Foxfire, prodigies, talent-based nobility, Dames and Sirs, society that had no death (almost!), Slurps and Burps (!), Moonlarks or suldreen), meganeuras, dwarves and knomes, and, of course, elves... Gosh!

There are some influences and analogues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_P... and I love it. Duh! I loved HP books and a lot of the other analogues that could be traced and I'm positively enamoured with the KLC series.

Q:
“You’re saying I’m . . . an alien?” 
… Fitz erupted into laugher. … 
“I’m saying you’re an elf.” (c)
Q: 
They weren’t exactly fans of their resident child prodigy. They called her Curvebuster. (c)
Q:
Garwin was still bitter Yale had offered her a full scholarship. His rejection letter had arrived a few weeks before. 
Not that Sophie was allowed to go. (c)
Q:
“Is that your magic wand?” she couldn’t resist asking.
He rolled his eyes. “Actually, it’s a pathfinder.” (c)
Q:
Places this beautiful weren’t supposed to exist, much less appear out of thin air. (c)
Q:
It was so quiet there, just the gentle breeze brushing her face and the soft murmur of the river. No traffic, no chatter, no hammering, unspoken thoughts. She could get very used to the silence. But it felt strange, too. Like something was missing. (c)
Q:
“Laws are rarely broken.”
Well, that was different. Humans broke the law all the time. (c)
Q:
… Haven’t you heard of the theory of relativity?” … 
“That’s the dumbest thing I��ve ever heard. Who came up with that?” (c)
Q:
“Humans do the best they can—but their minds can’t begin to comprehend the complexities of reality.” (c)
Q:
Other babies learned to walk. You learned to pace. (c)
Q:
“How long do elves live?” ...
“We don’t know,”… “No one’s died of old age yet.” (c)
Q:
“You seriously expect me to jump?” 
“I can push you if you’d prefer.” (c)
Q:
Humans are always doing crazy, dangerous things. If they’re not lighting something on fire, they’re spilling oil in the ocean or blowing something up. (c)
Q:
“You can see my cells?”
“Of course. Did you think I was wearing these glasses because they make me look dashing?” (c)
Q:
Grady and Edaline train the animals to be vegetarians by feeding them gnomish produce; that way they won’t hunt one another once they’re moved to the Sanctuary.”
Another roar interrupted their conversation. Whatever it was sounded like it wasn’t happy about its new diet plan. (c)
Q:
Sophie cringed, hoping she wasn’t about to watch her new guardian become lizard food. (c)
Q:
“A gnome ran in during breakfast and yelled something about a manticore stinging a stegosaurus, and they both ran off.” 
“And people say my parents are weird.” (c)
Q:
If she was good for them, maybe they’d want to keep her. (c)
Q:
“If you weren’t so obviously alive, I would assume I was probing a dead mind.” (c)
Q:
“Don’t mind Bullhorn,” Elwin said as Sophie backed against the door. “He’s harmless.”
Bullhorn looked like a demented ferret with beady purple eyes. “What is he?”
“A banshee. Adorable, isn’t he?” (c)
Q:
Lady Anwen told her in multispeciesial studies that she hadn’t laughed so hard in 324 years. (c)
Q:
“Your concentration controls how you use the energy—where you send it, how much you send. But the actual energy and strength comes from your core. Don’t you feel the pull in your gut when you draw on it?” (с)
Q:
Potential is nothing if it’s never lived up to, now is it? (c)
Q:
Dex had been nagging her for months to try an elixir he invented called Nogginease, which contained limbium, a rare mineral that could supposedly clear her mind. She’d resisted, since she couldn’t use it during the exams, but maybe it was like learning to ride a bike. She needed training wheels to start. (c)
Q:
It was hard to resist the urge to crawl under a rock and disappear for a decade or two. (c)

[tappkalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

March 12, 2024

Sophie & Edaline's relationship has my whole heart and Dex is my truest and strongest soldier for not being able to loosen his dislike towards Fitz. Never change, my boy. I'll always back you up.



February 16, 2020

This is the beautiful beginning of a new obsession. 💖
I just wanted to read a fun middle grade book, but I got something that totally blew my mind. I already orderd the next one when I was only halfway through, but I won't be able to calm down until it arrives!
The characters are everything, although I don't trust anyone except my baby Dex.
And when I say this book has the best found family (with parents), I don't lie. That is my favourite part of the whole story.



Buddy read with Rue.

[Gillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: Though I nearly DNFed in the beginning (they're ELVES?! She's HARRY FREAKING POTTER?! THEY'RE ELVES?!?!), ultimately I was charmed by this middle grade fantasy.

The cover: 99% of the reason I wanted this. LOOOOK at it! And at Sophie's oh-so-glorious middle grade hair. Let's pretend I looked like that at age 12.

The story: I came so close to giving up on this one. I thought the beginning was a MESS. Normal-but-not-normal preteen girl suddenly discovers she is part of a magical world she never knew existed. Yeah, we've all read it before, but it's possible to pull this conceit off in a pretty original matter. Instead, for most of the beginning, I was rolling my eyes and saying, "Harry Potter. Ooh, that was Twilight-esque. OH MY GOD, THEY ARE *NOT* GOING TO A MAGICAL SHOPPING STREET AND INTO A MAGICAL POTIONS STORE CALLED SLURPS AND BURPS."

Sophie is your average twelve-year-old high school senior who can read minds (bwahahahahaha). One day, on a school field trip, a hot fourteen-year-old boy comes up and tells her she doesn't belong in the human world. Sophie begs and begs to know why, and eventually Fitz, hottie extraordinaire despite the fact that he is named Fitz, tells her: she is an elf.



Nope...




Not quite...




YEP THAT'S THE ONE


I don't know why I snickered every time the world "elf" was on the page, but I did. It was so silly. Anyway, the world-building from this point on isn't bad, though it is, again, a little silly. The elves sequestered themselves away from the doomed, dirty humans a couple thousand years ago, retreating into the "lost" cities of Atlantis, Shangri-La, etcetera. Elves kind of suck for this. Anyway, Fitz shows up to find Sophie in the human world, and he's all:



Because it turns out Sophie is the specialest little snowflake that you ever did see. Anything an elf can do, Sophie can do better. No, best. Sophie can do it backwards and upside down and with her eyes closed and when she was a fetus. It was quite exahausting to spend the whole beginning of the book discovering all ninety-thousand of Sophie's mystical gifts. "No elf in a thousand years has had THAT ability! No elf has ever had BROWN eyes! No elf has EVER made me want to commit suicide before!"



Oops, I angered the pretty.


Aw, I kid, Legolas, really. It wasn't that bad. I was just feeling grumpy, and the book wasn't working for me. We spend a LOT of time establishing the world and Sophie's awesomeness. Messenger actually broke my heart when Sophie had to say goodbye to her human family forever... but then she skips right past it, and Sophie, while thinking of her family every now and then, never feels that pain again.

But then, things get better. Things pick up once Sophie finds a tentative, surrogate family, makes it past the Wizengamot elf council (which features one council memeber whose entire life mission is, inexplicably, to get Sophie exiled) and goes off to elfing school.



"Elfing school? REALLY?"


Yeah. Really, Legolas. But still, this is the point where the book gains a really delightful sense of humor. Sophie becomes less of an assortment of cool abilities and more of a sweet, earnest person, desperate to fit in somewhere and desperate to have a family. The friends she makes are what really sold the book for me. Dex the best friend is absolutely wonderful, even if he is one of 654323 male characters in love with Sophie. Keefe, who could be a Weasley triplet, is hilarious, and Fitz is pretty swoony for a pre-pubescent elf.



"DAMN STRAIGHT. WE ELVES BE FINE"


Never doubted it for a second, Legolas. And even though some Harry Potter parallels remain (oh, so you're known for getting sent to the hospital wing a lot, are you, Sophie?), the book becomes its own by the time big things are going down. All lot of the magical world-building feels dense  and original and plausible. You learn WHY Sophie is the best elf in the history of elves, and it actually makes sense. There was a twist I didn't see coming at all. And the mystery is pretty engrossing.

Mostly, this book overcame it's rocky start by winning my heart (that sounds like a country song). Everything in the latter half of the book was completely adorable. Sophie gets a cute little animal sidekick, bonds with the bitchy mean girl, and has a couple really sad moments with her foster parents. Suddenly, I found myself caring. Also, jokes! This book makes funnies! I like funnies.

I really want to read the sequel so I can find out if all my inappropriate ships come to light. This book was such a bizarre journey for me, from open disgust to total adoration. HOW DID YOU DO THIS, BOOK? I DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS WITCHCRAFT ELFCRAFT. You win this one, adorable little elf-people. You win.



Stop looking so smug, you gorgeous creature.


ETA: I forgot about Sophie's habit of PULLING OUT HER EYELASHES when she's nervous! Who does that? That is horrifying. That better be significant later on, because as a personality quirk, it is DISTURBING.

[Nikola · Rating 4 out of 5]

2019: 5 gwiazdek
2022: 4 gwiazdki
Przez tę książkę leci się z prędkością światła!

[Riley Edgewood · Rating 5 out of 5]

ALL KINDS OF AWESOME. Seriously am in love with this book/series and its characters.

KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES is a fantasy mystery of epic proportions--and it's captivating from page one.

While it's perfectly fitted for middle grade readers (even reluctant readers will burn through this and beg for more!) I have to be honest and say that I don't read very much middle grade. But I'm 31, and this book is still one of my all-time favorites. The reach of KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES extends from those middle grade readers all the way to adults of any age. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

The characters are each fully developed and completely lovable--even (especially) the troublemakers. The pages are full of intrigue and twists and mystery--all while Sophie Foster (the main character) struggles to find her place in her new world. The setting is lush, the creatures are awesome--and just as lovable as the characters, and the bad guys are pretty freaking scary.

If you only read one book for the rest of the year, MAKE IT THIS ONE!!! You'll be thanking me after.

[Ashley Nuckles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute! It definitely had those common tropes that can get kind of boring and repetitive like the chosen one, or the whole “she‘s not like other girls” thing, but if you can get past that then it’s a cute middle grade story! There’s definitely a lot left unanswered and since there’s literally been like 9 other books published since this one released, I’m assuming I’ll get answers there lol

[LyraFirefly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly? I hated this book and I was expecting so much more. This is a pretty disgusting book, especially with someone like Sophie for the main character. I generally don't like Mary Sue characters and this is the perfect stereotype for it. She is so annoyingly ✨speshul✨. She so "smart," but in reality, she's literally an idiot. I've read several books in this series, and all Sophie does for at least 80% of the book is go "hMMMMMMMMMmmmmm i wOndEr wHy?" The "romance" in this is messed up. She meets a random guy elf, and you know, they all have to be good-looking and pErFecT because they're elves. So naturally, she has a crush on every single one around her age, and they all like her back. Wonderful, isn't it? The last thing is I'd say all of the characters would be better if they were more diverse. The dwarves, the people who do work for the elves, just to happen to have dark skin. But no, they're not sErVanTs, they willingly help them! I don't like that, and I wish there were some more major characters that are diverse. Occasionally there's a minor character that has a slightly darker skin tone, but not enough to make this book any less stereotypical than it already is. 1.5/5 stars, rounded down to 1.

[Dana Salman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my God... I bought the boxset of this series.... how could I have done this??
Ugh... I mean it's not like I haven't done this before. I bought the City Trilogy by Darren Shan all at once for around the same price and I ended up hating those books too. But at least with the first book of the City Trilogy I could see the promise in the series and could enjoy the unique vibes it gave.

With this though... I really can't see any promise for this series. At all. It just failed on every level. I just can't imagine it getting any better, because this was a relatively long book for a 9-12 age demographic and I gave it plenty of chances to improve, and it just kept on making me shake my head, scoff, laugh derisively, and rub my forehead in irritation from the headaches the sheer awfulness of this book was giving me (I would have facepalmed if I hadn't been wearing glasses). I wish I'd recorded down every thought I'd had while reading this book because I feel like it is my duty to point out every single flaw this book has, sentence by sentence, so that other readers like me - people who care about originality, character development, complex writing and well-paced plotting, rather than people who are happy with whatever they are given so long as they've got enough characters to ship - will spare themselves from even giving this series a thought. I obviously can't stop everyone from reading because, well, people can enjoy what they want and because they clearly already have: just look at all those five-star ratings. But I wish I'd trusted my instincts and believed the one-star reviews I'd read prior to buying this.
My only excuse was that I was desperate to like this series, because I have been without a new fantasy series to obsess over for far too long (heck it's been awhile since I've read any new book I immediately wanted to give a five-star rating). Also the fact that there was only one bookstore I knew that even had this series (and only as a boxset) made me a bit more confident in it, since books I absolutely refuse to read like The Mortal Instruments or anything by John Green are everywhere while books I think are masterpieces are pushed out of sight. In other words, I was expecting a hidden gem.

I don't know whether my pickyness has to do with me getting too old and tastes changing - I'll have to wait for my 13-year-old sister's opinion on this book once she gets around to reading it - but I honestly feel like fantasy/adventure novels of this generation in general are a completely lost cause. Because I still enjoy books I read eight years ago, and I kept bringing up these books in my mind to compare with while I was reading, and seeing exactly why they were better.

For instance - Sophie having to leave her family. She's given the choice to either erase her family's memory of her ever existing and thereby sparing them the pain of her disappearing forever, or of having them believe her dead. Sophie, of course being the selfless paradigm, chooses the former option, and we're treated to a very rushed scene of her tearfully saying goodbye to them before charging out of the house, in order to start her new life as a magical elf. This entire setup put me in mind of the Cirque du Freak series, also by Darren Shan, where Darren (the protagonist, not the author), after accepting his doomed life as a half-vampire is forced to stage his own death in order to run away from his own family. But the difference between Darren and Sophie's cases are 1) Darren had been blackmailed into becoming a half-vampire in the first place and had no desire to give up his old life, 2) he had actually tried his best to stay with his family prior to agreeing to fake his death, until coming to the realization that that would be impossible without putting them in danger, 3) there was a good long while before this development in which we actually got to see what Darren's life was like as a normal kid, getting to know a bit about his friends and his sister and parents, making the separation much more impactful, and 4) we were treated to an entire heart-wrenching chapter where Darren got to make sure his last day with his family was a good one, as well as his funeral.

Putting aside the fact for a minute that, unlike Harry Potter - whose life with the Dursley's was one anyone would have wanted to escape as soon as given the chance - Sophie didn't really have much of a reason to leave her family behind after only two days of discovering she was an elf (aside from feeling out of place at her school, where she's a genius, which you know, of course makes everyone treat her like a freak because smart people are weird), Sophie's situation is not nearly as relatable as Darren's because from the first chapter the plot was already falling into a familiar pattern: "Hey you, you're not a normal human, you're magical! And in fact you're special even among the other magical people! Here's proof of magic and here's the place you're going to to train once you've left your family behind! Hurry it up, the real juicy stuff happens at the magic school, can't waste time establishing how painful leaving your dull uninteresting life behind must be for you!"

Now to be fair, Darren had an entire single 270+ page book dedicated to his life-style change, but that was precisely what made it good - it took the time to let you care about the MC and sympathize with his predicament. With Sophie it's just a sort of mark at the top of a long checklist - not to mention that the author's establishment of Sophie's oh-so-specialness right from the first chapter before we know anything else about her contrarily backfired and immediately made me dislike her: "Garwin was still bitter Yale had offered her a full scholarship". Oh please.

Now the story of her settling in with her new adoptive family might have been a strong subplot, if it weren't for the fact that not once throughout the book did it feel like the new parents, Grady and Edaline, were even making an attempt to connect with their foster (pun intended) daughter. I don't know what made Alden think a reclusive, depressed couple that has obviously not gotten over the death of their real daughter would make good parents to a girl with Sophie's special background. We don't really see any bonding scenes between them, just this constantly somber and awkward atmosphere. By the end of the book I was really rooting for Sophie to stay with the Vackers instead because at least they were more cheerful and we got to know them to some extent and, more importantly, they would have done a better job at keeping Sophie under wraps (my God but does this girl get into trouble... more on that in a bit.)

Next we have the magical world that Sophie is whisked away to, the world of elves! And... dinosaurs. Ughhh.

Okay so I'm not one of those people who read Harry Potter in their young adult life and zeroed in on the whimsical silliness that predominated the first book, which I guess most of us missed the first time we read it back when we were beginners to the fantasy genre. But you know, at least when Rowling was introducing her fantasy world, it actually had a certain amount of consistency and made sense: when you've got a world of witches and wizards, it's not strange that they use flying broomsticks in a sports game, owls to deliver messages, cauldrens to brew potions, and wands to cast magic. These are all things we already associate with witches and wizards. After she had these set into the foundation of the world we took it in stride when Rowling started introducing more unique and sometimes even ridiculous scenarios such as travelling via fireplace (Santa Claus was a wizard...?) or even entering a building through a toilet bowl, possibly the pinnacle of weird, random, and somewhat stupid that was reached in the Harry Potter series.

When I think of elves, however, there's not much that comes to mind outside of Tolkien's immortal beauties other than pointy hats and shoes and a mystical forest. So Messenger made her elves all impossibly gorgeous vegetarians (except they've got plants that taste like hamburgers and pizza.... I'm freaking serious), and have long life-spans. But they also travel by light beams, and have extra-sensory perception like telekinesis and telepathy and truth detecting and... talking to machines even though it seems like technology is a human thing that amuses them... And apparently they take care of dinosaurs, like the T-Rex, even though it looks nothing like the human image of a T-Rex and therefore can't even really be said to be a T-Rex since humans were the ones who studied dinosaurs and gave them their names (unless they somehow assembled the bones all wrong... I don't know it wasn't made very clear). Elves, unlike humans, are all morally perfect beings with higher IQ's who do not discriminate based on wealth, since they all have the same amount of money (a lot), but, for some reason, still have social statuses. They know nothing of murder, kidnapping, arson, slavery, or any of the other evil activities humans like to partake in. Oh yeah, and students who attend Foxfire (the Hogwarts of the story) have to lick a panel next to their locker for it to open. Apparently it's for DNA matching... I guess fingerprint scanning was beyond the brilliant minds of the elf scientists (or, magicians, or... I don't know, they don't believe in science, but they don't call it magic either, so I'm lost).

So there's two major things that bugged me about Messenger's take on elves slash the way she set up her fantasy world, one being that there was absolutely no reason to call them elves in the first place. They're ESPers that live a long time. Nothing about them is particularly elvish (except, get this, that instead of becoming white-haired and wrinkly their ears turn pointy when they get older... *snorts down laughter*), so all it looked like to me was that Messenger was trying to find a new gimmick no one else had used yet, without actually caring about the lore behind it or at least attempting to make it sound plausible. Basically she did with elves what Stephenie Meyer did with vampires - whatever the hell she wanted.

The second thing that irked me was the humans-are-inferior factor that usually predominates fantasy fiction like this; where the race of magical being our protagonist discovers they're a part of either look down on humans as weak and pathetic, see them as evil irredeemable creatures that destroy the planet, or laughably know little to next to nothing about humans despite living in a world populated by them. Keeper of the Lost Cities sits comfortably between the second and third camps, and it is just as irritating here whenever you run across a sentence along the lines of "because humans polluted the planet" or "that's a human idea" as it was in Meyer's The Host. However, given that the elves hid their cities and forbade citizens from crossing over to the 'Forbidden Cities', as the human world is called, I'm more forgiving towards elf characters reacting toward human devices and customs as though they belonged to an alien race from another planet, and it never went as extreme as in Harry Potter, where it made even less sense given that wizards interacting with muggles seemed much more common.
It's just, I much rather prefer a fantasy series that either makes the world entirely fictional, like Septimus Heap, or is set in the real world where the magical beings live like ordinary people, using mobile phones and driving cars, but use their magic in secret like in Skulduggery Pleasant. It makes things so much less complicated and contrived.

Now let's turn to the cast of characters, and I'm going to stop the Harry Potter comparisons right here because other people have already called this an HP ripoff, even though, try as I did not to nitpick, I couldn't escape some of the scene-for-scene copy-pasting (like meeting the resident Draco Malfoy character in a shop while getting school supplies). I will however continue bringing up Stephenie Meyer's Twilight as a prime example of a terrible book, because it dawned on me half-way through reading that this was actually the book Keeper of the Lost Cities resembled, whether intentionally or not, and I felt very pleased with myself. Introducing the vampires of ForksFire high school: Dex, the guy who immediately sticks to our female lead as her first guy friend who crushes on her, i.e. Mike Newton; Marella, the girl who immediately sticks to our female lead as her first girl friend, who's gossipy and doesn't seem to actually care about the new girl other than trying to get in on the attention, i.e. Jessica; Stina, the girl who takes an immediate dislike towards the MC for no real reason other than that she's getting all the attention, a bully complete with two nameless goons (who appear for one page and have no lines), i.e. that one girl who I think was supposed to be the bully in Twilight except all she did was glare from a distance and I couldn't care less what her name was; Keefe, the jokester best friend of the resident hot guy who keeps poking fun at the new girl, i.e. Emmet Cullen; and Fitz, who to his credit is nowhere near as creepy or disgustingly 'perfect' as Edward but who doesn't really have much else going for him other than that he's hot and talented and generally a nice guy and our MC's got a crush on him (which she of course denies). Throw in a whole host of teachers (not nearly enough for one-on-one classes for an entire student body in my opinion), of which the only stand-outs are Sir Tiergan and Lady Galvin, whom it is not fair to call the 'Severus Snape' of the series just because she teaches the subject our MC is worst at, because Snape was a legitimate scumbag teacher and Lady Galvin is actually within her rights of being a little annoyed with Sophie given that the girl blows up her office almost every lesson and tried to cheat on her exam, and is completely justified in failing Sophie when no one else would because she's the exception. You've got Fitz's sister whose name I've forgotten for the moment (I really hate made-up names...), another character who outright hates Sophie at the beginning for no reason because with a protag like this, every other character has to either love or hate her, (although it turns out this character does have a reason, somewhat, and eventually comes around to the MC's side after extended interaction). What looks like was going to be an animal companion character, an imp, is also introduced, but the first time we see it it's unconscious and we're not told exactly when it wakes up or if it does anything special and the next time we see it it's kind of just hanging out in the bedroom, not doing anything a dog wouldn't do. You've got a council of elders, or whatever, one of whom, Bronte, after just one scene with Sophie is made out to have this irrational prejudice against her, so that every time a sentence along the lines of "she hoped Bronte wouldn't use this as an excuse to get her exiled" popped up I'd just sit there thinking "I know he gave you a bad impression but exactly why do you think this guy's got it in for you this much?", until the end where we see him again and apparently yes, he does just have this irrational prejudice against Sophie because, again, she's that kind of protagonist.

And finally we have Sophie. Again, to her credit, not as awful as Bella, but still serving essentially the same purpose - just to be the protagonist that everyone is obsessed with and to whom things happen to. I really can't stand these types of MC's anymore; the kind with the most basic of personalities, that aside from filling the role of MC might as well not be in the story, because she does little to forward the plot under her own volition aside from simply existing. Most of the time I'm pretty neutral when it comes to passive characters like this, but my patience with Sophie grew thinner and thinner with each action she did take. For example, (and this is going to tie in to my complaint on the inconsistency of the world), it is made clear to Sophie fairly early on that reading another person's mind without their permission is a serious crime punishable by exile. But Sophie seems to deem it fit to go and peek into her teacher's mind in order to see what will be on an upcoming test - yes, she breaks what was established as a very firm law to cheat on a test. Because she's a good girl though, she goes and turns herself in (which doesn't redeem her in my eyes, because if she was going to feel guilty enough to confess she wouldn't have done it in the first place), and after needless deliberation she's punished with detention. Detention. For breaking a major law. And in one of these detentions she forced to ballroom dance... what?

I mean it's incredible how fast Messenger managed to break my trust in her ability to uphold her own rules. When Sophie breaks the law again (this time without realizing it) I wasn't under any doubt that she'd walk away unpunished again. Ditto the third time she breaks the law (this time doing expressly what she was told not to do, albeit this time to protect people). At that point I could have laughed out loud, if I weren't so annoyed. I was actually hoping, during this second tribunal, that the book would end with her being exiled (as the title of the second book suggested), but instead I was treated to this honestly nauseating scene where all her teachers aside from Lady Galvin pass her with 100% marks on the spot (the actual punishment for her crime was treated as already served due to prior events *facepalm*).

The plot, for the most part, was practically the only thing that kept me reading. The mysteries behind Sophie's specialness are somewhat answered, and they make sense (still doesn't excuse her having no personality and having to be rescued from situations where she can't use her plot armor), but all the hints and clues are scattered in between what essentially comes to a normal high school story of a girl making friends and trying to pass exams. Foxfire isn't even at all interesting, and we hardly see enough of Sophie's classes to feel invested in her wanting to stay - we learn about channeling on one page, an ability that lets you concentrate your strength in an area of your body, and this isn't mentioned or used again until the (underwhelming) climax, by which time I'd almost forgotten what the hell channeling was supposed to be; there's a class for bottling weather formations and I have no idea why; physical education is telekinesis, something apparently all elves can do and is the exact opposite of physical activity; and splotching is a sport that is pretty much just a game of toss you play with said telekinetic powers. I mean for God's sake, if you're going to write yourself into literary suicide by having your character go to magic school, at least make it a school that is unique and worth wanting to stay in! Literally the only ideas I thought were even a little bit creative were the candy that changed taste according to your mood and the banshee (that doesn't look like a banshee...) that slept close to people who were dying. Aside from that, it felt like the author was filling in a paint-by-numbers on how to write a popular fantasy series without actually caring about common sense or creativity.

If I have any reason at all for reading the next two books (aside from that I spent money on them, unfortunately), it’s to further educate myself on what not to do when writing a fantasy series – or any book really – and also to remind me why I love all those other series I mentioned above so much. Goodbye first one-star book of 2016, it’s been hilarious.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

[hillary · Rating 2 out of 5]

So um,,,I have no idea why this series is well-loved. This book is a basic mix of HP and every YA that was popular at the time this was released, and it’s not good. At ALL.
There’s a circle in my personal hell for middle grade books that think their readers stupid, and I’m shoving Keeper of the Lost Cities right in. No regrets.

This book did a 180 for me one third in. The beginning isn’t all bad, it introduces the main character, the light-leaping magic and the elven cities made of crystals. That world building kind of charmed me. Sure, the writing felt rushed and chunky from the very first page, as if descriptions and part of the narration were missing, but I was able to push that in the back of my mind and enjoy what I had. Until more things started to show up.

First of all, as soon as Sophie sees a cute boy she immediately thinks he’s handsome, she develops an instant crush and tries to impress him. It happens with Fitz before they have even exchanged a couple of words, it happens with Keefe, it happens with others. But she denies it. On the other side, every boy at school is also in love with her and only her. She’s not like other girls. The school teenagey drama was already as cliche as it could be without these stupid crushes and I would have loved it if the author had focused her energies on making a better plot and world for the book instead of putting the drama in the foreground.

The plot is laughable, like many of the details of the world building after that first shiny impact. It’s all over the place and it kind of starts only near the end when you don’t care about it anymore. Plus, it was sooo convenient. Meet Sophie, the most special of the special snowflakes! All the unusual powers are hers, and she wants you to think she’s worried that the other elves will think her a freak because of them. Oh, cut the crap. She loves the attention and you can see that miles away.
She knows the right stuff at the right moment just because, she can teleport with amazing concentration no one has, she has the best telepathy talent and no one can read her mind, she has super psychokinetic powers and she’s better than elves who have studied at the school for years. She’s also modest and kind and can’t cheat at school without her self-sabotaging and telling the teacher. Oh, what a special elf she is.

I can’t believe I didn’t even get to experience the classes at school. What’s the point of a book about a kid going to a magic school if it doesn’t show what she’s studying? Honestly, this was the proof I needed to confirm that the world building sits on top of a shaking ladder. The author took part of the HP world and made it quirkier, but didn’t think of making rules for it to make it believable. Quirkier is key word: if you want an example of what I’m talking about, the kids at school have to lick a panel next to their locker to open it because it needs their DNA. What the actual... LOL.

The author didn’t even try to hide the fact that she was taking stuff from Harry Potter. Cases in which it’s very noticeable include:
- the alchemy teacher (Snape), who’s the one every kid hates and the one teacher who hates Sophie because she can’t do alchemy
- Stina (Draco Malfoy), a girl with two goons who hates Sophie and wants her to fail at everything
- the different collectible pins kids get from a specific type of candy (chocolate frogs).

I can’t deny I thought I hit jackpot with this book at the beginning. My plan was to binge a good middle grade series, but I’m going to have to look somewhere else.

[Tina➹ lives in Fandoms · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Silver Stars
with Golden Sparks

I actually was very afraid to start this book, thinking of it same as the Mortal Engines (I guess same cover vibes, it looks like a locomotive from distance), but NOTHING, absolutely Nothing similar. this one was so much more intriguing, since the first page!
I wonder maybe this kind of story was the thing I expected from Artemis Fowl. same fairy vibes I guess.

It was one of my most anticipated series & I'm glad, even in near 30, this middle grade didn't disappoint me. such a good feeling!

Sophie meets Fitz (strange name, right!? you'll see) & her world changes completely.
she even had the chance to see real dinosaurs, or some other strange & cute creatures in this new world, where she actually felt she belonged, new rules, new stuff, she should forget what she learned with humans so she could learn the actual rules of the nature.
Light leaping!
glittering away!
Telepathy & other cool talents!
Alchemy!
New creatures!
a whole new world.
with Elves & goblins & gnomes!

Quick, Cute & Fun read.
not so childish.
exciting! Intriguing! all the plots in history!
all her unintentional troublemakings! (oh, my favourite, the Splotch!)
it dragged me in & I kept reading & didn't notice the pass of time (or like I read 7 chapters at one setting!) every chapter had something to say.

the ending was exciting (though I was kind of disappointed at one tiny point) but I wondered, second POV character would've been nice too in all describing the darkness! someone like my sweet boy Fitz!
I liked Keefe & his teasing mode! also when he understood it was not the time for teasing, I liked him even more.
I liked Sophie. though she was a bit too nervous, but a good girl & realistic character. & in the end, she had such a character development, I cheered for her.
Dex was cute.
I liked Alden, Tiergan, Grady, Della & many more. & Iggy!
& of course there were some annoying characters too. (*cough* Stina! *cough*) I hated her!

writing style was fun & cute.
& the world building was beautiful & magnificent.
I want to go to Foxfire & Everglen & Eternalia!
-
Plot: ★★★(★)/5
(Excitements: ★★★★/5, Pace: ★★★★/5)
Characters: ★★★★/5
Written style: ★★★★/5
World building: ★★★★/5
Idea: ★★★(★)/5

[Nilguen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was absolutely delightful to dive into the world of Sophie Foster, a twelve-year-old girl, who discovers that she is an elf with extraordinary skills such as reading minds! Portrayed as a strong character, Sophie was immediately close to my heart.

Growing up in the world of humans and transported to the "lost cities" to live with fellow elves, Sophie proves that she has a distinctive ability to show love and empathy as opposed to her new surrounding. Attending the Firefox elvin academy to hone her skills, she will come across well-developed, funny characters - some of them with rough edges, some of them with divine commitment towards her.

Sophie is also exposed to the dangers set by the main antagonist Black Swan, who planted her in the human world in the first place. However, she masters the challenges to the reader´s utmost satisfaction, whilst she confronts the existing rules and ethics turning the elves´ business-as-usual world upside down.

„Keeper of the Lost Cities“ is Shannon Messenger´s debut novel. The series comprises ten books altogether.

If you feel like waking up to an incredible sunrise painted in pink, violet and orange merging the glowing stripes with the ocean into a fantastic reflection and go on a fantasy-adventure ride with Sophie Foster, this book is for you!

#Netgalley 🙏
#HonestReview 📚

[Issabelle Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all of y'all wondering if you should read this book, I give you one word: Keefe

Ahem, I rest my case. ;)

Alright, I shall give y'all a much better review, even though it was VERY tempting just to leave it with that. ;) As always, I'm going to break this down into sections of what I found to be the most important parts of the books.

CHARACTERS:
Oooo *rubs hands together eagerly* This, my friends, is my favorite part of any review! Sooo I've got mixed thoughts here. Well, not for the side characters, they were wonderfully done. *chef's kiss* Which is great cuz, well, man, side characters are HARD to develop well, but Messenger gives each one an individual, unique personality. At first, some of the characters felt like they were kinda cliche, but what I loved was how, Messenger took a character type that has been done over and over again and gave a new side to them, making the characters feel 3D. Now, as for Sophie, the main character, she was well developed with quirks, flaws, desires, etc., (bonus points for having a favorite stuff animal! That was unique!!!) however, I dunno, I just didn't quite connect with her like I thought I would. I don't really know why. But that is ENTIRELY a personal feeling and was NOT due to lack of development.

PLOT/PACING:
Okay, so let's just go ahead and get the facts straight. Messenger ROCKS at awesome pacing and plot developing. The first 100 or so pages were a bit hard to get into, but it just picked right up after that. I read the last 350 pages in TWO DAYS. TWO DAYS, y'all. Do you know the last time I did that? It's been a while. ;) The questions, the more questions piled onto that, the fact that Sophie was having to go to the elf doctor dude about every ten pages, the questions that I STILL have, Messenger's proneness to give me questions but never answers... well, anyways, y'all all in all I just couldn't put the book down! I guess my only qualm here would be that, sometimes it felt a bit unrealistic that Sophie had a near-death experience like three times in this book and then be totally okay the next day... but hey, it's fantasy, y'all. #WeAuthorsCanDoWhatWeWant

ROMANCE:
Welllll, from what I hear, there's going to be a lot of it in the later parts of the series, so I figured it was best to go ahead and put this section in there. There wasn't really any romance in this book, but I included it to give one of the reasons I cut off a star. To tell you the God's honest truth, I just found Sophie blushing what felt like every five pages in this book, unrealistic and kinda annoying I mean, y'all, she is ONLY twelve in this book, and well, let's just say I haven't even blushed that much IN MY LIFE, much less when I was twelve.

THE MAGIC/FANTASY PART:
Ooooo, okay, so THIS would be my favorite part of the book. The creativity and uniqueness Messenger put into this story was AMAZING!!! I was mind-blown about every part in this page where it showed the extensive worldbuilding Messenger created and in all honesty, you gotta love it when all you wanna do is go live in that world. Seriously, y'all I wish I could ATTEND Foxfire. Who's with me? And just how she did all the magic systems and took common things like our thoughts on elves and just made something magical, that drew me into the story and world with every page it was all FANTABULOUS!!!! Seriously, Messenger gets ALL the brownie points for that one. ;)

WRITING PROSE:
I just have mixed feelings, y'all. I kinda liked the simplistic prose, but at the same time, thought it could've used a little more. (???) Maybe it was the constant "telling" me how Sophie felt than "showing" it to the readers, which really prevented me from connecting with Sophie as I had wanted. Idk, but, on the other hand, it most definitely didn't detract from how awesome the story unfolded!!!!

Will I Read the Sequel?
Uh... y'all, it's agony NOT to be reading the sequel right now, so you better believe I will!!!!

CONCLUSION:
If y'all made it through that, I commend thee. *gives y'all lotsa chocolate* XD So to wrap it up, I do HIGHLY recommend this novel to all of those out there who enjoy a creative, MG fantasy that will have you begging to read the next page and will stay in your thoughts many (and I do mean MANY) days after you make it to the end. (Just have the sequel handy... y'all are gonna want it. XD)

[Troy_Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the 6th of 7th time I've read this book, and I still love it so much!!!

[Amy Imogene Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

5

This was so good??? I have not had a middle grade suck me in this intensely since my first time reading Harry Potter—as an actual middle grade-aged reader—so I am shook.

World: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★
Series potential: ★★★★★

Keeper of the Lost Cities is not your average middle grade read. This is an immersive, well-built, and well-told tale that caters to a middle grade audience mostly due to its 12-year-old protagonist, Sophie Foster. It's not overly simplified. In fact, at times it was more emotionally poignant than some YA fantasies. How has it taken me so long to read this?

Sophie Foster is a 12-year-old girl living in California. She's branded a prodigy as her photographic memory and keen intelligence keep her at the top of every testing bracket, but that's not the main reason she's special--Sophie can hear the thoughts of everyone around her.

One day during a classroom field trip, Sophie meets a boy who also can read minds. He says his name is Fitz, and he's been looking for her for a long time. Sophie is told that her feelings of separation, of "other" amidst her family aren't her fault--Sophie is an elf, and it's time to come home.

Playing on the now popular story line where a Chosen One is discovered in the wrong life and brought back to the fold--just think Harry Potter, I did--Sophie discovers that she is a rare kind of elf, and that the elven society she finds herself in does not know what to do with her. So, they send her to their magical academy to learn more about how to be an elf and how to harness her abilities.

Full disclaimer, I'm a sucker for a well-done Chosen One/magical school trope. Harry Potter reeled me in and I've never really come back. Because of this, I was primed to enjoy Keeper of the Lost Cities. What I didn't expect was to fall head over heels for it.

Things that were amazing: The nuanced discussion of foster case and found families and the issues that spring up as a result of those complex topics, Sophie's sense of fair play, Sophie's dynamics with her schoolmates (painfully real and yet readable), the unique magic system, the GOOD dialogue (middle grade tends to grate on me due to its reading level - it's occasionally dumbed-down beyond what is necessary).

Things that weren't amazing: Absolutely nothing. If I had to pick a negative, I found the beginning a bit slower than the rest as we were stuck in an introduction loop for the elf world and lifestyle. However, that's often the case with this trope so there wasn't really a way around it.

If you enjoyed Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or any novel filled with magical academies and Chosen Ones--or, honestly, even if you're just a fan of fantasy novels--do yourself a favor and pick up Keeper of the Lost Cities. It's a hidden gem and can definitely handle an adult audience.

[Mrinmayi]

Ok...quick question...
How long is this series???!!

I am currently planning my 2021 "reading goals" AND this series is on top of it
BUT I don't usually start series that are incomplete😅


Look...I ONCE did try and "wait" for the next book to come out BUT if I am being honest ..it was pure torture

Soo...I either *wait* for the series to get complete OR start a series that will publish books faster

Please do tell if you have ANY idea when the last book will come out

[Hiroto · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 65%. I simply grew bored, so bored of the special snowflake MC. I grew angry with the narration telling me she was the prettiest girl, so pretty even 15yo boys look at her (this is so not credible). I grew bored of all the Déjà-vu feelings *coughharrypottercough*. I grew bored of the overall lack of imagination, how the plot was full of clichés, the freakin love triangle (really??? In a middleschool book? Gdi), how the dialogues felt stiff and once again, not credible.

I am not impressed. At all.

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, personally.

This was a really interesting concept! I've been hearing about these books for a while and thought I would try at least the first book out once the last book releases as I was expecting cliffhangers galore, but you see how well that worked out. 😉

I really liked Sophie and how the Choice One trope played into this plot. I'm honestly shocked to say that because I had low hopes, but I really did like her. (I also wanted to give her a hug many times, the poor thing. A couple parts even bought tears to my emotionally-drained eyes.) She handled everything that was thrown at her very well and I honestly think the Council was too much of a stick-in-the-mud because I understood her reasoning every time.

I really wanted answers about Sophie's past/beginnings, but the book ended with much more information than I was expecting. Not a lot, but more than I was hoping. I do think this series is going to drag out answers, which makes me less than excited to continue on, but I do plan to continue it, regardless.

I know there's a big debate in this fandom about Fitz and Keefe. I don't have an opinion yet, personally. I'll keep y'all updated when I do. 😉

I would consider this to be upper Middle-Grade as there is a lot about crushes and boys and such.

Overall? You know, it wasn't bad. I see why so many love it, though I'm concerned about this series being ten books as I'm not sure how much can happen (I feel like those who have read all the books out are laughing at me saying that) but I'll try out a couple more to see.


Main Content

Children (including our main character) are drugged, kidnapped, threatened with harm and death, tased, held hostage, & nearly suffocated (by adults, up to semi-detailed); An Allergic reaction, Pain, Injuries, Passing out, & Throwing up (up to semi-detailed); Almost being hit by a car (up to semi-detailed).

No cussing, minor Middle-Grade language such as 'stupid', 'wimp', 'dumb', 'idiots', 'pain-in-the-butt'/'kick butt', are used somewhat frequently; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; A few mentions of curses (that are just said and not actually written out); Sophie lies & breaks a promise; Sophie is called a freak by her school mates and calls herself a freak as well; Dealing with a mean girl at school & her comments (and other snide/prejudice comments); Accidentally stealing from an ATM.

When Sophie finds out that the parents that raised her aren't her biological parents, she is crushed but thinks that it doesn't change anything even though she's never belong with them (*Spoiler* When she has to live permanently in the elf world, the elves in charge of her plan to make it look like she died (to them), but she can't put them through that so she asks for their memories of her to be erased, which involves her doing sleeping gas in the room they are in and she's distraught doing that as she loves them ); She has a few other moments of hurt based on what happened with her parents; Sophie listens to a playlist titled "angry" with screaming when upset.

Death isn't common in the elf world, but there have been freak accidents that caused deaths (some who have not experienced the loss of a loved one across as flippant and Sophie doesn't like their attitude); Mentions of grief & the families missing their loved one greatly (including for parents & a couple for their daughter); Mentions of fires, deaths, people being displaced because of them, and a possible arsonist; Mentions of wars & humans betraying the elves; A few mentions of a couple being called a "bad match" (which is an insult and means that the couple was ruled to be genetically incompatible and that usually means their kids will be inferior); Mentions of cheating ( Sophie reads a teacher's mind to get the answers to a test, but feels very guilty and confesses ); Mentions of nightmares (including of a family being trapped in a fire, barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of some elves' minds being shattered for the elf council to be able to get secrets out of them; A couple mentions of suicides (one in regards to someone's social life and another in a plan to kidnap a kid); A couple mentions of wine (drank by adults).

Mentions of terrible smells & dead animals (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of animal dung and pee being used for wounds; A couple mentions of farts; A couple mentions of burps; A mention of an alien.

Noticing cute guys (Sophie gets flustered, blushes, & her heart flutters); Some nerdy/weird guys drool over Sophie (mainly because girls don't interact with them); Keefe kind of jokes about a teacher having a crush on him (Sophie is 90 percent sure he's joking); A young man shares that he has three girlfriends (his mother is horrified and Keefe says it's awesome and that he's his hero; Many mentions of boys, boyfriends, crushes, who likes who, etc.

Someone tells Sophie that he's not sure if she has biological parents in the conventional sense, he says "Your human parents had trouble getting pregnant, so they saw a fertility doctor. I believe that doctor was a member of [a group]--posing as a human--and that he implanted your mother with your embryo to keep us from knowing about [you]".

Magic wise, it's said that what elves can do is not magic, Fits explains that "magic is a stupid idea humans came up with to try to explain things they couldn't understand"; There are special abilities like Telepath, Telekinesis, Inflicting (make someone feel certain things), & Mesmer (who can put someone in a trance) to name a few; By a certain age, the children elves are expected to "manifest" their special ability; There are Goblins, orges, imps, banshees, dinosaurs/tyrannosaurus, saber-tooth tigers, mammoths, and other hybrid odd animals (but no mentions of evolution) (all of the animals are trained to be vegetarian); A mention of someone being like a Titan god.



(See my reviews with content details of the rest of this series: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, Book #4, Book #5, Book #6, Book #7, Book #8, Book #8.5, Book #9, Book #9.5, Book #10, Graphic Novel)

[Charlie ~ Happy Pride Month! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non Spoilers:
This was an average book. I get why so many people love it, but it honestly doesn't live up to the hype. A few things I continually noticed was:

Why is everyone white, straight, and perfect? There is literally no flaws on anyone. They look perfect, and all fit the hypothetically perfect world of Shitler (my nickname for Hitler). It also made me uncomfortable that the gnomes had dark skin and were always working. I felt like it was uneeded, and could bring up some drama about the author. Now, looking to white, cis, straight people for representation isn't ideal, but they should include it. How hard would it be to make Keefe black, or Dex gay(which he totally is)? This is a major problem in this book.
Why does she pull out an eyelash? That's weird.
I hate the word cooed, and it popped up multiple times.
Sophie is "not like other girls." She like, the poster child for them. Tris Prior has her tattoo. America singer has her shirt.
The writing style, especially at first, was so weird!
The beginning, like the entire first half, was so bad and rocky. I hated it at first. The insults were so lame and juvenile. I cringed so much.

Now, don't be disappointed my little KOTLC cult. You haven't read the entire review yet.
I liked Keefe. LOVED Keefe. I'll just be ranting about how awesome he is in his character analysis.
Edeline and Grady ❤❤❤❤❤ I love them so much!
I liked this enough to continue with the series. I'm on the second book.
I couldn't tell who Sofie would end up with. I really hope it's not Fitz. Really, really hope. I don't ship them at all.
If you like:

-Solid side characters
-Good world buliding
-Found Family

Then read this book!

Spoilers:

Sophie Character Analysis:
I have mixed feelings. First the things I didn't like about her.
Again she not like other girls. It's talked about outright so much, it hurts. Stop it. We get it. Your very speshul. There was a slight amount of girl hate vibes, but it was really just the classic girl-you-dont-like-in-middle-school-that-you-hate-until-you're-forty so I guess I can excuse that.
Sophie follows the popular trope of "I was a "normal" person, until I found this out." But it wasn't executed very well. Whenever I read a middle grade series, I get so exited, because the MCs are usually so good! I was sorely mistaken. She's not bad. But not very good either.
I liked her near the end because of her character development. She was a wimpy girl, and the only thing she could bring to the table was her weird powers. Now she kicks but. So, I respect her.
But stop with the eyelash pulling.


Dex Character Analysis:
Dex is a rantish, sweet, loyal bean who must be protected. I love him! He's so sweet, and amazing. Dex is a goofball, but can and will kick your ass if you mess with Sofie. He's the classic smart and goofy friend who tries to keep the MC out of trouble. I loved him from the start, and if he gets screwed over I will rage.
We all need a Dex in our life.


Keefe Character Analysis:
So much hype around Keefe. So much.
AND HE DESERVES IT!!
I was in love from the moment we met him. He's sarcastic, funny, and loyal, always there to crack a joke. I would probably be tounge-tied if I met him. Can you blame me? No, no you can't.
Keefe deserves all the love he has, and more.
KEEFE STANS, I SEE YOU!! I AM YOU!!!


Thoughts on Plot:
The worldbuilding was strong, though, again, the beginning was AWFUL. If you push through, you probably won't hate it as much 🙃

Final Thoughts:
Okay, fine. I might join your cult. Don't get you hopes up. Keefe and Sophie forever. In my minds, Dex is gay, convince me otherwise.

[Franzi Bücherseelen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich.... Also... Sprachlos....
Was mache ich jetzt mit meinem Leben? 😭

[steph reads (hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

yall didn’t lie
this eats

[carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

▴spoiler free review▴

☆ credits to elly ♡ for the inspiration for the layout of this review! i love her reviews sm ☆

"dex smiled٫ flashing deep dimples. 'i like strange.'"

➳ there are no words to describe how much i love this series! i made this review after rereading this book٫ and i think i still love it the same amount as i did back then. (which is saying a lot)

゜✧*̣̩☽⋆゜plot

➳ keeper of the lost cities begins with the main character, a girl named sophie foster.
while at a school trip to a museum, she meets a mysterious boy, named fitz. fitz whisks her to a beautiful and seemingly magical place, and tells sophie the truth about herself. sophie is forced to leave her home and her family to go live in the lost cities, a glittering place with elves, trolls goblins, ogres, and other strange creatures she never even knew existed. as she struggles to fit in, she discovers passing midterms at foxfire (a prestigious school in the lost cities) and keeping her hidden talent of telepathy a secret is the least of her worries as she finds about more about her mysterious past and her daunting enemies that threaten her future…

゜✧*̣̩☽⋆゜characters

⤞❃ sophie: honestly, i never really liked sophie that much throughout pretty much the whole series. i don’t really know why, but she just bugs me sometimes for no apparent reason. i feel like shannon made her seem super perfect and selfless, to make us root for her more, but it mostly makes me annoyed. also, i hate how much she blushes throughout the whole book. she must have blushed, like, at least thirty times. even though i say all that, i dont hate her. she definitely is a good character, just sometimes she makes me really annoyed.

⤞❃ dex: i actually like dex a lot. he’s been with sophie since the very beginning of this series and is loyal, really nice and funny, and while he isn’t my favorite character, he definitely is up there.

⤞❃ fitz: i’ve pretty much hated fitz every since the beginning. he was always made so perfect, and that annoyed a lot for some reason. also, later in the series, he does end up having some fatal flaws. (spoiler alert)

⤞❃ keefe: keefe is the absolute best character in the series, and although he wasn’t involved as much in this book, he will be in the other books, and if you read the next books, you’ll see why i like him so much. he’s just so funny and nice. (not to mention cute 🤭)

⤞❃ biana: at the start biana was a total pain, but as the book continued she started to get better

⤞❃ grady and edaline: both grady and edaline are so sweet and loyal and i love them sm

⤞❃ alden and della: alden and della were nice, but i don’t really have much to say abt them

⤞❃ marrella: i think marrella is nice but i wish she was more involved in this books and the other books

゜✧*̣̩☽⋆゜my thoughts

➳ i really liked this book, (and the whole series) but at some points i wish it was more interesting. pretty much she first half of these book is sophie getting accustomed to the lost cities, and for me it was kinda boring, since i already knew most of the stuff from the lost cities by reading the other books before, but that’s just my opinion. other than that, i enjoyed this book a lot and i definitely recommend it!

゜✧*̣̩☽⋆゜quotes

“all sound vanished and her whole body shook with a frenzy she didn’t understand”
- sophie unlocking her —— (no spoilers)

“the warmth painted across her mind and she sank into it, a world of blinding rainbow sparkle. no cares or worries. just rushing air and freedom.”
- sophie, when she almost ———

“edaline covered her trembling lips and raced to sophie, crawling into the bed to hold her so tight it was almost hard to breathe. grady dropped to his knees on the floor beside them, squeezing sophie’s arm.”
- when sophie ——— from almost ———

➳ thank you for reading this review! this was the first one i’ve ever written so i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed this book!

♡ TEAM FOSTER-KEEFE FOREVER ♡

[:) · Rating 1 out of 5]

i know so many people who love this book, and while they’re definitely entitled to their opinion, i don’t know why anyone would enjoy this. the magic system is ridiculous, the main character is a complete mary sue, the writing is average at best and its overall really boring. the only character i liked was keefe but i didn’t like him enough to want to continue reading this NINE BOOK LONG SERIES- that is too many books. i don’t care how “good” the series is, nine is too many.

[Jade Ratley · Rating 2 out of 5]

4.29 on CAWPILE.

[Sana⁷ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up Keeper of the Lost Cities with a full intention to enjoy it, if not love it. I expected it to be my 'next big thing', considering how beloved this series is in the readers' community. But my excited smile quickly faded away when I realized that the fmc suffers from the special snowflake disease. What's the point of following and rooting for a character that is OP from the start? Where is the growth then? Where is the journey? Usually following a special snowflake simply doesn't make sense and, after finishing reading the book eventually, makes me feel like I wasted my time.

I worried about this A LOT. I didn't want to force myself to read and feel like I'm wasting my time. But I wasn't ready to let go of the book either. I still had hope. A faint one, but still there.

And guess what, I was rewarded. Kind of.

PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE SPOILERS, DEAR READER. THEY ARE BEING THROWN HERE AND THERE JUST SO I COULD EXPLAIN WHY I FELT THE WAY I FELT ABOUT THE BOOK.

The plot.

Who of you think that you're a weirdo? Who of you have trouble with realizing who you are and what is the place that you belong to? Who of you want to suddenly find out that you're special and happen to arrive in a world where basically everything is possible? It's something that happened to a twelve year old Sophie Foster who one day meets a mysterious boy named Fitz that becomes her guide into the magical kingdom. After that Sophie leaves her human family and joins a magic academy for geniuses like her where she meets friends for life and gets through hard trials to not be kicked out. Through her journey she's also slowly finds out who she really is and what her purpose is in this new magical and strange world.

The special snowflake case: the MC - Sophie Foster.

I was ready to throw hands when I realized how incredibly special the girl is. She was considered a genius in both the human world and Everglen (the magical kingdom), but, tried to keep her magical abilities hidden as much as possible and considered herself a freak (despite having cool powers), because of course she did. She can read minds (both a human and an animal one), can speak multiple languages (she even can read through encrypted runes!), has the power of telekinesis and photographic memory and on top of it she has to have a super intelligence considering the fact that she got an invitation to Yale in the age of twelve. A some sort of redeeming point arrived in the form of her failing some of the classes and not being instantly liked by everybody in the school, but it wasn't enough for me to say that everything's okay now. What was the turning point for me then?

It was the moment when it was established that Sophie had been controlled and manipulated through her whole life. It strongly reminded me of all the characters that were also controlled and manipulated, and I felt like if I kept on disliking Sophie Foster, what it would say about me, a person who cried over the tragedy of the other characters, but didn't show any sympathy for this twelve year old, who, yes, is a special snowflake, no doubt about it, but who's also being just a child who has no idea why she can do what she does and why she knows stuff she has no right to know. I don't feel any bond with her, not yet I guess, but I think I can genuinely say that I'm warming up to her. She might be a special snowflake, but I like how she cares about her friends (she nearly killed herself while trying to protect Dex) and about the animals (like Iggy and other animal residents of the Grady and Edaline home). So we're okay. For now :)

The Sophie Foster and her two families case.

I could warm up to Sophie as a character, but I couldn't bring myself to feel anything when she had to leave her human family to join her new magical family in Everglen. The moment of Sophie deciding to make her family members forget about her and her tearfully saying her goodbyes to them was supposed to be a powerful one, I guess, but it felt totally flat to me, maybe because I haven't felt her bond with her family at all. I felt that her parents loved her and cared about her considering how both of them freaked out after she came back home (they were worried out of their minds), but all Sophie did was acting like an impatient and annoyed child, with a mind full of Fitz and the images of the magical kingdom Fitz had shown her. I understand that her former life could look uninteresting in the comparison of the other world, and I understand that the kids are often ungrateful and don't get how loved they actually are (choosing to see only the fact that they were being "controlled" instead of being taken care of), but c'mon.

Now when it comes to the case of Sophie's magical family, I have to say that I love both Grady and Edaline, but don't feel the bond between them and Sophie. Not yet, I guess. Grady and Edaline are a couple with a tragic past. Their only child died in a fire and they immersed themselves in taking care of all sorts of animals (that are mostly dead in the world, like the dinosaurs). I'm surprised that they decided to take another girl under their roof. They had to know that this experience will be incredibly painful for them (and it was). I guess, they felt the need to help a child in need? They are kind-hearted people so it makes sense. Anyways, the scenes between Grady, Edaline and Sophie seemed to be mostly limited to them taking care of the animals together. It's cute and fascinating (considering all of the animals), but not enough for me to care. I hope that it will change in the next books.

The Sophie Foster and the Wonderboy case.

Am I the only one who was reminded of Jace Wayland while reading about Fitz? Because that boy is the freaking Jace Wayland, I'm not kidding. He's the special kind of boy around special kind of people (sorry, elves, they are elves, you know?) who's the most handsome boy Sophie had ever laid her eyes on and he's the most strongest and most impressive student in the Foxfire academy. I will not even get into Fitz's "we're better than them" attitude when it comes to the elves and humans case. I know that he (mostly likely) didn't slander humanity while being full of himself, that he just stated facts, but I didn't like that. And while I love Jace, I'm not a fan of wonderboys.

The Sophie Foster and her magical friends (and enemies) case.

Sophie Foster wasn't like our lovely Bella Swan so she wasn't beloved by everybody from the get-go, but only one (considered funny) incident was enough for the teachers and students of the magical academy to change their minds and decide that she's the most fascinating thing in the world. And Sophie didn't really do anything to befriend anyone, it was people like Keefe, Dex and Marella who introduced themselves first and it was them who decided that from now on they are best friends forever with Sophie. I didn't like that. But I liked the individual characters of Dex and Keefe. I'm looking forward to see more of them.

Now let's get to the "enemies" part. It kind of looked like whenever a character got introduced he had to be either a friend/fan of Sophie or her enemy. Biana and Stina and even professor Bronte were those stereotypical characters that need to hate Sophie, because the story needs both friends and foes for the MC. Biana's turn around was quite expected, but I didn't expect of her to jump into tears when she thought that her friendship with Sophie will be over. They didn't have any scenes with each other besides playing some games with the other characters so there was no time for them to create any big of a bond. Whatever, let's move on.

The Sophie Foster, the evil organization and the everblaze + the typical incompetence of the adults case.

I'll be honest, some mysterious organization being behind Sophie's existence and behind the everblaze is actually a pretty interesting thing that is one of the reasons of my decision to keep on reading this series. Since it's only the first book, we have no idea who these evil people are, except for the name of their organization - the Black Swan. I'm excited to find out why they created Sophie and what's their actual goal is. Now, when it comes to the case of the tragedy of the everblaze. I think that this plot point was heavily wasted. All we did was hear about the fire here and there through the story, but we had no idea how many casualties of it were and how did the people fight it in the human world. The magical people stupidly decided that the fire is the humanity's problem and didn't do anything to help, completely overlooking the fact that it wasn't a normal fire. It had been going on through the whole book and still hasn't been harnessed, c'mon! I understand that they didn't give an f about humans considering the fact that humans didn't want any peace with them, but if they could help, they should help, especially after Sophie was found. What if some other elves like her were living in the human world? Huh? (I know that's unlikely but what if?!?!)

Anyways, I just wanted to say that the adults in this book heavily reminded me of all the stories where the kids had been forced to action because the adults were passive and incompetent. I understand that the main characters are kids and we're following the kids, but please make a change and create adults who are actual adults for once, please.

P.S. I'm still laughing on the fact that the bad guys had Sophie and Dex in their clutches for 10 days and through those 10 days they didn't kill them nor they didn't found out any important information so the whole thing seemed completely pointless. All this time Sophie had spend being drugged over and over again until she got away. Bravo! 😂

But hey, hey, I like the magical world of this book. It has everything a magical world should have, or so I think. I haven't seen anything truly magical yet, but hey, we still have time to explore the world, right? Something interesting has to happen!

[BrooKe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.2/5 | It's like The School for Good and Evil, but better.

Actually, it's The School for Good and Evil with some Harry Potter thrown in along with a bit of Narnia and sprinkled with elements of Percy Jackson. And you have it. But, for real, it reminded me so much of TSfGaE; it was everything good about that series and more.

It's also worth mentioning how drop dead gorgeous every single cover in this series is. It's actually shocking.

P L O T

I was afraid at the beginning because the pacing was shit. It was absolutely rubbish. This quote pretty much sums it up:
"You look confused," he observed.
"Well, it's like you're saying, 'Hey, Sophie, take everything you've ever learned about anything and throw it away.'"
"Actually, that is what I'm saying."

Literally that. We plunged headfirst into a high fantasy magic land. Sophie was a human and we got basically nothing about the first eleven years of her existence, her human life. Barely anything was pre-established, it was so much in such a short span of time and everything was so in your face. It was very info-dumpy, too. I didn't like the beginning at all. The only thing I cared for was the The Lightning Thief nostalgia because it was similar in that it was a middle-grade series that all started one faithful day during a museum field trip.

It was way too much. But on a brighter note, it was so rushed it seemed almost immature and, while that was annoying, it was also kind of charming in a weird way? Things seemed a lot less formal than what I'm used to reading in fantasy which was refreshing, I guess. Also, I doubt this was intentional but it definitely helped me to relate to how overwhelming Sophie found everything at the start. Information and life-changing developments were dropped like BANG BANG BANG!

The world building was also rushed. It also grew tiresome how constantly I was reminded of how inferior earth was to the elf world. Just about every description in the fantasy realm alluded to being superior to earth in absolutely every respect. I suppose it was meant to represent an ideal world but with magic and a way to poke fun at issues such as climate change and crime and stuff. That's nice and all but can't you describe elf land (I can't remember if it was given a general name?) without mercilessly dragging earth through the mud? (I'm sorry; I'm an earth lover and I've been triggered)

Enough of my whining. The pacing significantly improved from around 70 pages onward. As soon as the school setting was introduced and things were, let's say, settled, the story flowed seamlessly in a way that was both natural and gripping. The classes were super fun, the character antics and events as well, and all the while there was this air of mystery lingering that kept me interested and had me coming up with many theories. It felt like a genuine school experience with an investigating lead and a kind of distant larger threat that said lead is too young to know that much about. In that, it reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The magic system was so cool! Telepaths, Empaths, Vanishers, Conjurers, Impacters, etc. I'm certainly excited to learn more about these abilities and what they can branch out to. I'm particularly curious about Empaths.


C H A R A C T E R S

Okay, at first I thought our protagonist Sophie Foster would be a Mary Sue. She was a senior in high school at the age of twelve, she had photographic memory, she was extraordinarily intelligent, magical and special. Everything seemed to come so easily for her, her successes being ridiculously convenient, but things changed once she hit Foxfire. I like that she was set up to be this insanely powerful, talented and seemingly perfect girl overflowing with potential only to have her actually struggle with several classes at school. It sounds horrible but I really enjoyed seeing her mess up! Learning how she worked through her failures was what really made her endearing to me. She was so determined and conscientious in school despite everything else that went on in her whirlwind life. Sophie just could not catch a bloody break which makes me worry on her behalf in the next, what, five books? I don't even know how many installments this series has. Point is, she really grew on me by the end regardless of the fact that I'm still grimacing at her name thanks to a certain bitch from The School for Good and Evil series.

Dex was great. He was probably the first character to show a personality in the entire book. He was always so excited about everything, he was super blunt and he was just too cute. Dex was a great friend to Sophie, too, and, while he was irrational at times, I sympathise with his loathing of 'Wonderboys'. It's a totally realistic reaction and I appreciate him for being so real.

Keefe stole the show even if he was pretty brief. His appearances were like candy because I just ate him up. He was hilarious and never - and I mean NEVER - failed to make me smile - and that's not just because his name is so weird it's funny.

Fitz was... fine. I can't say much about a character that was often present but had no presence. The stereotypical nice guy heartthrob that's just kind of there for people - characters and readers alike - to crush on. Biana, while ever so slightly more interesting than her bro Fitz, was also very brief. I think she has more potential, though.

Whatever; it's only the first book. I'm guessing this will be a gradual thing. I got a decent understanding of most characters but never got too much. That's good because I know them but I don't know too much for them to become dry later on. (Yes, I said later on. I'm definitely continuing this series.)

Especially considering this is a middle-grade series, I could really appreciate there being so many parental figures that were involved in the younger mains' lives. Alden, Elwin, Grady, Edaline, Tiergen - they were all really present and made to be unique and interesting. It's a common issue I have when authors neglect adults in their cast, depicting them as stale, worrisome and or authoritative people who think they know what's up but really don't, instead focusing all their efforts into the younger characters in order to achieve optimal quirkiness with them alone. Edaline and Grady, specifically, hooked me.


R E L A T I O N S H I P S

Sophie's relationship with Grady and Edaline was so sad and precious. She's helped them attempt to move on and live their lives normally and happily. In return, they act as such good parents to her even if they do face obvious indecision. They're so healthy for each other.

Lil' twelve-year-old Sophie was in awe of how handsome fifteen-year-old Fitz was and it was kind of adorable. I should have counted how many times she got lost in his teal eyes. I kind of wish there was more to their relationship established early on. It's a childish crush on Sophie's part whilst Fitz just extends seemingly superficial kindness to her as he does with everyone else except that one mean girl at school that isn't his sister.

To end on a great note: The Sophie-Keefe friendship is where it's at! It worked SO well! He'd always be teasing her and is so straightforward with her, encouraging her in his own super endearingly snarky way:

"Look, I'm not good at the serious, supportive thing-but trust me, you're going to be fine."
"How do you know?"
He grinned. "I have a feeling you can do pretty much anything you put your mind to. So stop doubting yourself and go prove me right. You know, so I can brag about it."
She couldn't help smiling."

... ...

A solid start. I want to know what happens next and I hear the books only get better from here!