A review by stormywolf
Unlocked by Shannon Messenger

adventurous emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-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

4.0

 My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I saw the page-count of this book. I was fully intending to have a double-review-week, featuring the latest novellas of two series, but then this one showed up with a 750+ page-count! Luckily there's lots of extra non-story-based extras helping to fill out this "novella," so it shouldn't take nearly as long to finish as I feared. So with the premise clearly established by the devastating cliffhanger from the last book, I jumped in.

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

Overall, I think this was a smart move combining an essential, canonical story, bonus materials, art book, and reference guide to make a full-length book. The canonical story gives incentive to casual readers, who are rewarded with bonus goodies, while the collectors might be incentivized by the reference materials and artwork, but are rewarded with the canonical story. The story itself was a little hit and miss for me, with Sophie's half seeming simply cropped out of its book, and Keefe's being a welcome introspective dive into very complex and mature subjects. I guess I'm asking for more Keefe in the future, which I don't see being a problem—maybe another novella down the line? Regardless, fans of the series are sure to love this book and be clamoring for more. And I'll definitely be revisiting this as a handy reminder tool before jumping into the next book (whenever that may be). 
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