A review by jojo_fiction_
The Keepers of Elendiel: A middle grade portal fantasy by Bailee Williams

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

 

The Keepers of Elendiel by Bailee Williams 

2.5/3 stars 

(ARC REVIEWER) 

________________

Emery has always had strange dreams. But of course they were nothing more than that, dreams. Until one day a stranger appears, proving to her that these dreams had more meaning to them than she realised. This stranger whisks her away to a strange land and Emery discovers her hidden powers, all while facing new dangers, leading her right to the middle of an ancient battle between darkness and light.

________________

I am so excited to be an ARC reader for this book, and so honoured to be able to help promote this author's hard work. 

I also want to say that any critique I have for this book is not meant to discourage the author. I think that they have a wonderful writing style and am so excited to read any future works they create.

_________________

The world that Williams has built is a really intriguing one. The plot was interesting, the magic system was a cool concept, and the writing style had some really beautiful moments.

Honestly, I just wish there was more. I think if there was one thing that I could say about this book that made it just not hit as strongly with me, it was the use of telling, not showing. We are told she is not “normal” which is all she wants to be, but we aren't shown it. In her friendship with the other characters, they are suddenly comfortable with each other very quickly and it's after being told explicitly to us. I really liked the bits of lore we did get and how that affected the current situations, but I really just wanted to see more of this world and more of the character’s personalities and I felt like I wasn't getting that. 

The pacing seemed rushed and underdeveloped, even for a middle grade novel. There are a few scenes in the book that I was really happy with (for one example, I really enjoyed the cliff climbing scene, and a few of the ending chapters), and the events in these scenes were developed in a way that was showing as opposed to telling and fleshed out the character dynamics in a more natural way. The very last chapter however was again quite rushed, it would have been nice to have an epilogue (maybe from her mom’s or the villain’s pov) as a way to tie things together as I felt it ended quite abruptly.

Looking at the characters, the same issues arise. With our MC Emery, the bulk of her personal character motivation is that she wants to be normal. Yet we don't see any personality traits or hobbies that lead to any instances or examples of her not being normal, aside from not having a father in her life. Otherwise she is a very typical MC; She wants her family back and doesn't want this power and new responsibilities.

Aaron was quite flat in my opinion. He was supposed to be the supportive adult in Emery’s life in this new world, but he tends to just go along with what Emery decides to do unless they need conflict within the plot.

I really liked Nathan! But I wish there was just more to him, and more instances where he can show his personality. So I hope in the sequel we get more of his character development.  

I won't talk too much about the other characters in order to avoid spoilers but there was a consistent lack of fleshing out the other characters and their emotional connections to the other characters, I really just wanted more from them.

This book is marketed as being inspired by Percy Jackson, Narnia, and Keeper Of the Lost Cities. Which is definitely true, but I think there might be a bit too much of an influence. There are a few scenes in particular that are almost direct copies of the events of the other books, which was quite jarring to read. 

_________________

In conclusion, I'm giving it a rating of 2.5/3 stars. I think that the foundation of this book is amazing, but in my opinion it needs to be more fleshed out. Despite my critiques, I did enjoy this book! I can see how much care was put into this story and I think that for a debut book, it really shows the potential that this author has. I have full faith that her writing is going to get better and better with each book she writes and I am so excited to read the rest of Emery’s story and see how her journey progresses.