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katlikespie 's review for:
Keeper of the Lost Cities
by Shannon Messenger
Sophie Foster is a genius with a photographic memory, in high school at age 12, with the unique (and rather annoying, to her) ability to read minds. She's also, as it turns out, an elf - one of the magical races that hide themselves in other realms from humans. She finds this out rather suddenly one day, when she encounters a boy whose family has been looking for her since they discovered her existence 12 years before. Suddenly plunged into the elf world, Sophie abandons literature and chemistry and instead embraces elementalism (where she learns the very best way to bottle a tornado), telepathy, and other Elfin subjects, while navigating a new school and trying to fit in with her foster parents, a couple who had lost a daughter not too long before. Oh, and she also has memories planted in her brain that she can't quite access, and someone is trying to kill her. Plus, middle school.
I picked this one up on the recommendation of a library patron who desperately wanted book 3 in the series - and no libraries in our area had it. Well, we have the whole series now!
I only have a few complaints, which is why I didn't give this five stars: Sophie is a total Mary Sue- good at just about everything, instantly, and even the stuff she doesn't excel at (alchemy) is seen as endearingly adorable. Also, she finds out she's an elf and is instantly okay with leaving her family, friends, and entire life behind, to the point of erasing their memories of her. Easy come, easy go? Also... I hate to say it, but this book seems to be trying really hard to be the next Harry Potter. All that said - still, very well written, and I've already checked out book 2.
I picked this one up on the recommendation of a library patron who desperately wanted book 3 in the series - and no libraries in our area had it. Well, we have the whole series now!
I only have a few complaints, which is why I didn't give this five stars: Sophie is a total Mary Sue- good at just about everything, instantly, and even the stuff she doesn't excel at (alchemy) is seen as endearingly adorable. Also, she finds out she's an elf and is instantly okay with leaving her family, friends, and entire life behind, to the point of erasing their memories of her. Easy come, easy go? Also... I hate to say it, but this book seems to be trying really hard to be the next Harry Potter. All that said - still, very well written, and I've already checked out book 2.