Reviews

I love Isobelle Carmody's writing style, the details so intricate and well planned, as well as the depth of emotion and character placed within Elspeth

knitreadkate's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

For its great length, there is little action in this book compared to the previous two books, Farseekers and Ashling.

I understand that Carmody has gone into detail establishing the clues and the triggers for the ancient promise and Elspeth’s quest. Much went into developing outer characters within Obernewtyn for the upcoming rebellion.

I did find it a slow read and a slog to get through. Once there was action, it was short.

Don’t he me wrong, Malik is pure evil and at this stage I consider him worse than Ariel. The pain of that betrayal - the deaths.

I found the ending puzzling to be wrapped up so quickly in an epilogue.

In saying this - I absolutely enjoy the Obernewtyn world and going onwards with the next book.

g_elkii's review against another edition

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5.0

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. As a fan of the series thus far (while only lately introduced) I had rather high expectations upon commencing, and I must say I was by no means disappointed. While arguably a little slow, and perhaps burdened with unnecessary detail at the novel's beginning, such ultimately enables the crux of the plot to take on such a superior impact that they are beyond justifiable. Isobelle Carmody not only transports readers entirely into the realms which she portrays but also enables them to share the deep emotions of the characters whom she portrays, which is one of the central reasons I have fallen for the Obernewtyn Chronicals.
The only negative (though I cannot bring myself to fully justify the use of such a strong term) element associated with this book is the extensive interlaced web of characters to whom readers have been previously introduced and are called upon to recall. While such an issue may not restrict the reading pleasure of those who are previously acquainted with the series, it may do so to those who are previously unfamiliar with the the extended Obernewtyn family.
Despite this "short-coming", ultimately The Keeping Place is a heart-wrenching novel and, in my opinion at least, the best of the series so far.

joy13_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Nothing happened in the entire first half. Such a drag. Things only started happening a whole 350 pages in. It was essentially just 'daily life at obernewtyn' tainted with a sense of impending dread.
But the last 200 pages or so were GREAT. Reminded me why I love this series.

dessa's review against another edition

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3.0

Were getting a biiiiiit long winded here, and all my (albeit small) complaints about the first three novels stand doubly true for this one, but I’m still invested in finding out how this is all going to end. Do we need THREE more books to do that? Not really. But here we are.

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