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A review by zoya7
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
** spoiler alert ** I have re-read the book two times now.
I'm so bewildered because the first time I read it I gave it 4.5 stars. When I re-read it, however, I gave it 1.25 stars, rounded down to one.
Sophie, the main character, is the one who irritated me the most. She is aggravating, exasperating, infuriating and maddening.
In the beginning, she has one power, which is telepathy.
I would have been fine with that but no. Throughout the series, she gets about 5 more powers? Because of her dozens of powers, everything is easy for her. She gets away with anything and everything.
On top of that, everyone tells her that she's special. She knows that she's special more than anything. She is supposed to be sweet, shy and humble but she is actually just smug, selfish and arrogant.
I can't count the number of times she has "tugged out an eyelash" from nerves. What I am wondering is how she has any eyelashes left.
Another thought that came to my mind was that it goes just like this - Sophie is nervous, Sophie tugs out an eyelash - and just like that it's over and the author never really shows us why it happens so much. It's all just so shallow and surface-level.
The amount of blushing should be made illegal. Most of the main characters are, what, 12 or 13-year-olds and Sophie was so drooly over almost every boy she knew.
It felt a little weird because it was supposed to be a middle-grade but it felt a little like a YA sometimes because of the bits of romance here and there.
Sophie has a crush on almost all the boys she meets, all of them like her back and half the boys in the school drool over her. Because she has brown eyes?!
A lot of the characters were creepy and weird. Especially Keefe.
In my first read, he was the favourite character but this time the way I saw him changed a lot.
He was just too interested in Sophie and the way he acted when he was with her.
It was a little weird, like a 16-year-old flirting with a 12-year-old.
Alden was also one of the most creepy characters and the whole time (the whole series, probably) I was just waiting for someone to appear out of nowhere and say that he was a traitor.
Elwin was the one character I liked but I was really frustrated because the author didn't describe his banshee at all so I was left wondering if it was like a dog or a huge squirrel.
The "adults" in this world are supposed to be really old.
If the adults were old and had lived in the lost cities their whole lives, they probably would have communicated a lot better and think about what makes sense and what doesn't before jumping to conclusions.
In the book, they communicate and make decisions like 9-year-olds.
A good point one of my friends brought up was that the world is too perfect to be realistic, and I agree.
The descriptions were really unbalanced. Some bits go by in a blur and sometimes there's so much description for any one scene.
I can understand why anyone would love it though because I gave it 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 on my first read and this time it's around 2.5 rounded down to 2.
On the cover it says "perfect for fans of Harry Potter" and I really don't understand that. It's more Harry Potter than Keeper of the Lost Cities and not very original.
Stina is Draco
Foxfire is Hogwarts.
There's one subject which Sophie immensely dislikes (and I forgot what it's called), so that would be Potions.
The teacher who taught it (I also forgot her name) would naturally be Snape.
A particular candy is very popular and that candy comes with collectable pins, which would be chocolate frogs and the cards that they contain.
Keefe is the funny one, and he's exactly like Ron.
Fitz is the crush and he would be Cho. (Or later, Ginny).
Sophie is, of course, Harry. (The Chosen One)
And Sophie ends up in the hospital area more than a few times, so Elwin is probably Madame Pomfrey.
I could list more.
Many, many more...
Overall, this book had many, many flaws or I had many problems with it.
I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone at all.
The only thing that prevented me from giving it one star was Elwin. Or maybe just his banshee.
Original rating - 2 stars
CAWPILE rating - 4.14
- Rating System -
5 stars - Unputdownable
4 stars - Brilliant, but a little something was missing
3 stars - Decent
2 stars - Mediocre at best
1 star - Terrible
I'm so bewildered because the first time I read it I gave it 4.5 stars. When I re-read it, however, I gave it 1.25 stars, rounded down to one.
Sophie, the main character, is the one who irritated me the most. She is aggravating, exasperating, infuriating and maddening.
In the beginning, she has one power, which is telepathy.
I would have been fine with that but no. Throughout the series, she gets about 5 more powers? Because of her dozens of powers, everything is easy for her. She gets away with anything and everything.
On top of that, everyone tells her that she's special. She knows that she's special more than anything. She is supposed to be sweet, shy and humble but she is actually just smug, selfish and arrogant.
I can't count the number of times she has "tugged out an eyelash" from nerves. What I am wondering is how she has any eyelashes left.
Another thought that came to my mind was that it goes just like this - Sophie is nervous, Sophie tugs out an eyelash - and just like that it's over and the author never really shows us why it happens so much. It's all just so shallow and surface-level.
The amount of blushing should be made illegal. Most of the main characters are, what, 12 or 13-year-olds and Sophie was so drooly over almost every boy she knew.
It felt a little weird because it was supposed to be a middle-grade but it felt a little like a YA sometimes because of the bits of romance here and there.
Sophie has a crush on almost all the boys she meets, all of them like her back and half the boys in the school drool over her. Because she has brown eyes?!
A lot of the characters were creepy and weird. Especially Keefe.
In my first read, he was the favourite character but this time the way I saw him changed a lot.
He was just too interested in Sophie and the way he acted when he was with her.
It was a little weird, like a 16-year-old flirting with a 12-year-old.
Alden was also one of the most creepy characters and the whole time (the whole series, probably) I was just waiting for someone to appear out of nowhere and say that he was a traitor.
Elwin was the one character I liked but I was really frustrated because the author didn't describe his banshee at all so I was left wondering if it was like a dog or a huge squirrel.
The "adults" in this world are supposed to be really old.
If the adults were old and had lived in the lost cities their whole lives, they probably would have communicated a lot better and think about what makes sense and what doesn't before jumping to conclusions.
In the book, they communicate and make decisions like 9-year-olds.
A good point one of my friends brought up was that the world is too perfect to be realistic, and I agree.
The descriptions were really unbalanced. Some bits go by in a blur and sometimes there's so much description for any one scene.
I can understand why anyone would love it though because I gave it 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 on my first read and this time it's around 2.5 rounded down to 2.
On the cover it says "perfect for fans of Harry Potter" and I really don't understand that. It's more Harry Potter than Keeper of the Lost Cities and not very original.
Stina is Draco
Foxfire is Hogwarts.
There's one subject which Sophie immensely dislikes (and I forgot what it's called), so that would be Potions.
The teacher who taught it (I also forgot her name) would naturally be Snape.
A particular candy is very popular and that candy comes with collectable pins, which would be chocolate frogs and the cards that they contain.
Keefe is the funny one, and he's exactly like Ron.
Fitz is the crush and he would be Cho. (Or later, Ginny).
Sophie is, of course, Harry. (The Chosen One)
And Sophie ends up in the hospital area more than a few times, so Elwin is probably Madame Pomfrey.
I could list more.
Many, many more...
Overall, this book had many, many flaws or I had many problems with it.
I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone at all.
The only thing that prevented me from giving it one star was Elwin. Or maybe just his banshee.
Original rating - 2 stars
CAWPILE rating - 4.14
- Rating System -
5 stars - Unputdownable
4 stars - Brilliant, but a little something was missing
3 stars - Decent
2 stars - Mediocre at best
1 star - Terrible