Hello again, everyone! Today I decided to do something a little different and write a review for the series Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger. It is an eight book series, and book 8.5 is coming out in November (I think).
So if you haven’t already read it, I would recommend reading it before you read this review, as there will be many spoilers.
I would also like to warn you that I will be critiquing the series quite a bit since many of the good things are easy to find and explain, so if you can’t handle negative things being said about it, you might not want to read this.
Okay, so I would like to start off with some good things about the series. I like that she does accurately portray a lot of the rebellious feelings that teenagers get, and though it isn’t a great influence, I do believe it is relatable for teens, as in those years, teens start to want more independence. I also like the message to challenge things you know are wrong. For example, in the first book, Sophie was told that the fires were just some stupid human arsonist, until she looked closer and discovered it was actually Everblaze. After she discovered this, she went against the Council’s orders to do the right thing, which shows that not all rules are in the people’s best interests, and sometimes you do have to break them to get what you want.
The message is sometimes overly emphasized and repetitive, but on the whole it is a relatable situation for tweens and teens and adds a certain level of realism to the story.
The story overall is also very mesmerizing (no pun intended) and really pulls you in to care for the characters and the plot line.
Something I love is Shannon’s use of cliffhangers, which really hooks the reader and makes them want to keep going, which is something I look for in books that I end up liking.
Another thing I like is how the characters do have distinct personalities, with the exception of Sophie, who is pretty average. Biana is the diva, Linh is sweet, Tam is emo, Keefe is the funny prankster, Fitz is the nice older brother, and so on. However, though they have clear traits, they don’t have many interests. Dex likes alchemy and technology, Biana likes fashion, Keefe likes pranks and jokes, and Linh likes animals, but beyond that we don’t know much of their likes and dislikes.
I also like the use of teamwork, and how they don’t give up when it seems like all is lost, and they use critical thinking to determine secrets they wouldn’t have otherwise figured out.
Another thing I like is how Shannon builds relationships between the characters that are more complicated than friend or foe, like how Stina is Sophie’s rival, but they also do end up working together for the greater good in the end.
One thing I love about Keeper on the romance side of things is that Sophie’s first kiss was not successful. She didn’t end up with Dex, and the kiss didn’t feel right at all, which I think is great because I see so many books where the character falls in love once, kisses, the kiss is perfect, and then the two live happily ever after.
Building off of that, it is nice how Sophie likes Fitz and Fitz likes her, and they do end up dating for awhile, but it doesn’t work out perfectly, and throughout the series they have to work for a relationship. And though we don’t know who Sophie will end up with yet, there will be a struggle. If it’s Keefe, he has broken her trust and she has gotten mad at him, as well as the fact that Keefe believes he doesn’t deserve her because his mom is with the Neverseen. With Fitz it is hard because he is from an esteemed family, and if they end up together they will have to struggle with the match, because if they don’t match, it will be scandalous, but if they do, then there will be controversy about Sophie’s mom. So I like that the relationships don’t work out perfectly and everyone was “meant to be.”
If you are a Keeper fan, you can also probably imagine other great things about the series, so I’m not going to get into those, and I didn’t go into great detail because they are pretty easy to see on the surface, but I do want to focus on some of the more negative and questionable things I noticed when I looked below the surface, because those are things that I think not a lot of people would notice, and some that you might have but never though much of. These are actually some of the reasons I have begun to fall out of the fandom and not love it as much as I did.
The first thing isn’t crazy important or anything, but I would like to point out how they said at the beginning of the series that Telepathy is a rare ability, and yet there are so many people in the series that are Telepaths, probably more than any other ability.
I also saw that when I looked at the basic structure of the book, it is kind of cliche and a bit of an overused trope. The character is mostly normal, but there has always been something off about them, and then they discover that they are not human, but something else. Then they go to school for that something else and learn about what they are and their special powers. But as it turns out, they are special even for that special group of people, and there is an evil group trying to kill them (as they are the only thing standing in their way) and take over the world. There is also often a love triangle. Sound familiar? I have read this plot so many times, and I do like how each time it is twisted so you don’t notice the trope as much, but it is still there and I have begun to get tired of it. In other words, Keeper is a bit of a basic middle grade fantasy.
And I also noticed the problem with animals. You know how they always try to turn the animals vegetarian? I don’t love this, because many animals were built by nature to eat other animals. Think of a wolf, a carnivore. The wolf needs meat to survive because the meat has the nutrients that the wolf needs. Also, the fact that animals eating animals also helps keep the population in control is extremely important. Think of how many mosquitoes there would be if we didn’t have animals to eat them. Another thing about this is that it is unethical to make animals eat only plants because if the animal wants to eat meat, it should eat meat. We shouldn’t force anyone to do as we do because we don’t like it. For example, it wouldn’t be right to have a child who has had meat and likes it, and then force the child to be a vegetarian, as the child can decide for themselves what they believe. (At this point I’m not talking about religion or anything, just that being vegetarian is a choice and if your child made the choice not to be, then they shouldn’t be forced to be, and I don’t mean to offend anyone. I respect vegetarians for their willpower, I’m just saying we shouldn’t force our beliefs on animals, some of whom were built by nature to eat meat. You know what I mean?)
Another thing, going back to the topic of relationships, that I do not like is how unrealistic Fitz’s anger issues are, and how unrealistic Sophie’s crush on him is. Also, I ship Fitzphie, so this is a major problem. Basically, Fitz has lashed out at Sophie in a big way twice over the series. Once in Exile, and once in Legacy. I feel that is very out of character as Fitz is normally kind and gentle to Sophie, and his angry phases come on super suddenly and very much the opposite of his normal self in just a few seconds. I think it could be plausible, but it would have to be written better. Another thing is that he has done this twice now, and while I do ship Fitzphie, I realize that it isn’t normal for someone to keep liking someone after that. It is a bit unhealthy, since Sophie keeps pining for Fitz even when he supposedly hates her. If someone were to do the same to me, I would stop liking them because I wouldn’t want to deal with their anger if it ever happened again, and I feel like I would be too hurt to see them the same way as I did before.
And it’s the same with Keefe, because Sophie so quickly trusts him after he betrays her, even if it is for the right reason. Like when he ran off to the Neverseen, it didn’t take long at all for Sophie to forgive him. Most people would be angry for awhile, however good the other person’s intention were, and that is a natural part of being a person.
The last prominent problem I have with the series is the sort of god complex that elves have. They don’t really state anything good about humans and their civilization, and almost act like they aren’t intelligent creatures, pointing out only the negatives. But the thing about tragedies and flaws is that we come back stronger from them, whereas the elven world hasn’t gone through much change and therefore would be much weaker than human civilization. I really don’t like how Sophie very quickly accepts it and doesn’t point out the beautiful things about our civilization, which isn’t very realistic. Also, the elves tend to interfere with nature, but nature works as it should naturally, and doesn’t need any help. I do understand the Sanctuary, but they seem to feel like it is their responsibility to keep the world working as it should and interfere with other species, like I stated before about vegetarianism for the animals. Every society has its flaws, and it’s the flaws that make that society what it is, and helps people come together.
To conclude, I really do want to say that I do respect vegetarians/vegans/any other special dietary restrictions, and I don’t think being vegetarian is wrong, and I am not trying to offend anyone, so please don’t think I hate vegetarians or anything. (Honestly, I’ve considered becoming vegetarian but haven’t because my family eats meat frequently) Also I want to stress that KOTLC is a great series for middle graders and even teens, although I feel like as a teen, the flaws start to come out a bit more. Thank you all for reading, bye!