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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
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.
That was March 2020. They've sat on my bookshelf unread since then. Until today.
Today I read the entire first book in under six hours.
I'll be the first to admit that I almost DNF'ed at about 25%. It seemed like the author was trying to hit on every Middle Grade/Young Adult trope that I was over with. I also got way too many Harry Potter vibes. But I pushed on, because I'd made a promise.
I was pleasantly surprised that by the midpoint, I paused, locked my door, put my phone on silent, and blasted through the entire back half of the book. I was hooked on Sophie's world.
There are a lot of characters in this book. At one point I had to stop and remind myself who three different characters were, because I got confused. But they can (mostly) stand on their own, which helps. The plot, which started very generic, left many clues and cliffhangers as we went into the climax, most of which went unsolved. I'm assuming that we will touch upon them in the next books.
The worldbuilding and "magic" system are pretty good, though there were a few times that I had to roll my eyes, because of course that would be different. But some of it was kinda cool. The abilities are oddly distributed, but again, I'm assuming this is further addressed in sequels.
All in all, what a wonderful way to spend my afternoon and evening. I'll be reading the second book soon.
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P.S. Dex is definitely my favorite character! Team Sophie-Dex for life!
Edit: I just re read this and I really didn’t let the development of Grady and Edaline soak in enough the first time. Team Sokeefe now and still a 5 star
I also am done with the entire series and it kinda made me feel super smart knowing everything lol
Since it was published, I have had one or two students become enamored with the Keeper of Lost Cities series each year. Despite the length of the books, the students read through them in record speed and reach immediately for the next book. I decided I needed to see what all the fuss was about. After reading the first book in the series, I can see what the kids love it: It is a story of a girl who learns she is not human, but actually elf, and is whisked away to join the other elves and fantastical species who inhabit the Lost Cities. She learns about her special talents and attends school to hone her abilities; she also becomes friends with a number of other students and then learns that there is something mysterious from her past that links her to some terrible events that are occurring in the human world.
Does it sound a bit Harry Potter-ish? Yes. I will say, however, that there are enough unique elements and twists and turns that after the first book, I am anxious to read the second. One other main difference between this series and HP is that Shannon Messenger plunges readers into the heart of the story very quickly: Sophie learns about her elf-ish heritage and the Lost Cities before the end of the first chapter. This is one reason that the kids are quick to fall in love with the book and become hooked.