Keeper of the Lost Cities description

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

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

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.

Buddy read with Rue.

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.

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.

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!"

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 📚

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

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.

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.

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.

"I would rather be punished for making the right decision than live with the guilt of making the wrong one for the rest of my life."

This was a fun and nice read! I expected some more but at least it did not disappoint me.

Sophie is an extremely special human - she can hear other people's thoughts and she has a photographic memory and stuff - then she stumbled upon a boy named, Fitz, who is totally similar to her. Then *poof!* everything started to change in her life. 😲

It was slow-paced. At first, nothing was happening, just some info dumping here and there. However, when i reached the middle part of the book, things got somewhat exciting.

The world building was delicate, nice and vibrant. I loved their magic system and stuff. Though there were times i got confused, but eventually i got the hang of it lol.

Characters.
Sophie Foster, the "special one". She has powers greater than the others. She's okay, just sometimes whiny and dumb.

Fitz. I don't like him. He seems spoiled and irritating. I get why Sophie had a crush on him, but meh.

Dex. Well, he is a really good and supportive friend.

Keefe. I like and love his character (kinda reminds me of Leo from HoO). Honestly, he's the one who motivated me to turn the page and continue reading.

And the side characters are all so far okay.

Across the river, a row of crystal castles glittered in the sunlight in a way that would make Walt Disney want to throw rocks at his "Magic Kingdom."

(ps: i wasn't really planning on writing a review since i read this last Dec but someone insisted so yea, managed to write a quick review)

I got hooked on it and i loved the magical stuff. I was on a dilemma for what to rate it, (five or four stars?) but in the end i decided to give it a four.
This book was great but still has flaws. Recommend to others!

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.

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!

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.”

This. Was. So. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!

From the first sentence, I knew this book was going to be captivating, fast-paced, marvelous, a whimsical magical adventure!!! We immediately get catapulted into action, and we barely have taken our first breath that we get thrown so many different kinds of magic, creatures, fantastical landscapes - practically all fantasy tropes, themes and characters in one - and oh my goodness gracious A MAGIC SCHOOL!

Like this book was almost too much. Like think about all the things in literally all the fantasy books ever and you get this book. There is telepathy, vanishing, mythical creatures, underwater cities, freaking dinosaurs, goblins and, of course, elves. What more can you ask for? Oh yeah, I forgot A FREAKING MAGIC SCHOOL!

So yeah, if you want to read a middle grade book that makes you ask yourself: isn't this a little bit too much goodness? Look no further, because man this was INTENSE! Can't wait to read number too.

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.

Who was your favorite character and why?
Keefe was my favorite character🥰. i loved how he was the funny one in every situation. He sort of reminded me of Adrian (from Vampire Academy not Renegades lol) and any character like him is automatically my fav😌

Who was your least favorite character and why?
I don’t really have a least favorite character, but if i’m taking about characters that annoyed me, i would have to say Dex and Fitz. Dex was just idk man he just needed to chill. I really liked Fitz in the very beginning, but in the middle it seemed like he was really not a good friend.

What was the most exciting/boring part of the book? The beginning-middle part of the book was kind of boring. I mean it just felt slow and overall I don’t think the book needed to be that long. My favorite part was probably the middle-end part. I liked seeing her classes but also when she got kidnapped that was super fun too😳👀

Were the descriptions in the book good?
Yes. When Sophie was originally taken the other world (can’t remember what it’s called lol) it was really cool to read about what it all looked like. I would love to visit sometime ;)

Describe the book in one sentence
Sophie getting confused by everything (then knowing something she shouldn’t) for 488 pages.

also I buddy read this with Adela ✨

“Everyone congratulated her – except Keefe, who leaned in and whispered, “Told you so,” when his dad wasn’t looking.”
i need more keefe that all i have to say. is he a big character or is he just on the side please tell me.

ok it’s 4am i’m gonna go to sleep😋

Where to start...

Romance- Sophie did have crushes of boys; mentions of hugging, hand holding... nothing bad at all.

Violence/content- Two of the main characters get kidnapped; lots of magic, feeling severely alone; mentions of being drugged (while kidnapped), etc.

First off- Shannon Messenger is an INCREDIBLE author. I cannot wait to read more of her work.

The world-building in this book is mesmerizing. The details and choice of words were so beautifully precise that I could SEE the images that the author created.

The plot was amazing. It had so many plot twists and cliff-hangers. Some books that I read consist only of constant action, and therefore, the characters are lacking realness and creativity. The characters were so real, frustrating, loving, heart-wrenching... ❤️ With every word I read, the characters became more special to me.

This book left me in a daze until I finished it, and I LOVE the characters.

Oh! And btw- I am totally team Sophitz... 😏😏😏

JUST AS GOOD!!

First read:
I've never stayed up to finish a book before. And now it's almost 2 a.m. and I guess you know what that means.
I'M OBSESSED.

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)

I loved reading this, and can't wait to read the next book.

Is there anything better than revisiting a book or book series that you loved as a child? Of course my taste in books and writing has changed much since I have last read this, but I still very much enjoyed it as my love is deeply rooted in my nostalgia.

This book follows Sophie. A 12 year old that has lived her whole life amongst humans, but one day she finds out that she is an elf and that there are a lot of secrets and conspiracies revolving around her existence.

I love so many of these characters. The plot is so fun to keep up with. There is so many things to make theories about, and I was definitely hooked, even when I knew what was going to happen.

Most of my critiques are mostly revolving around the writing and the fact that I wasn't as blown away as I was the first time, which is understandable as I have grown out of it over time. My problem with the writing has to do greatly with the repetition, and a certain immaturity. I have been noticing that lately, as I have reread quite a few books, that sometimes I just cringe. It's not terrible, but I feel , if I have to pause every couple of pages because something made me want to crawl under the pillow because of second hand embarrassment, that's not good. Also there was so much blushing, smirking, winking etc.

I'm so happy that I decided to reread this book. I have book 8.5 on hold from the library, and I want to read all the previous books before I read it because in the past I would just read the new release without any refreshment of what conspired previously and find myself lost.

It starts a bit frantically but then finds its pace once we get to the school. Then it starts to shine. Great things to study here for aspiring upper middle grade writers (like me), like how to introduce a big cast of characters. There were some rough edges that didn't land with me, but the whole book was compelling. I'm glad it's a long series! Excited to see what happens next.

I am not impressed. At all.