Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

 Keeper of the Lost Cities - Shannon Messenger, books 1 and 2

*Spoiler Warnings*

Sophie

I was recommended this series by one of my friends. Apparently, it’s really good…after the first few books. Before reading this, I had never wanted to slap the main character's face so hard. Sophie Foster has the worst case of chosen one syndrome. She just happens to be a gifted talented 12-year-old high school senior with a photographic memory who can read minds and also turns out to be an elf who has already manifested a power when most elves her age haven’t, who just also happens to develop another ability which is already rare but the ability she develops only has one other registered user, and she happens to meet an alicorn of which there are only 2 in the world and she can read the alicorns mind. And oh yeah, she has some alicorn DNA in her which leads to another unheard-of ability among elves, teleporting. She has an impenetrable mind which is also unheard of. Her telepathy powers are so strong that she can give herself a brain push which suddenly gives her great strength which is also unheard of. She is the only person capable of bringing someone with a broken mind back. As you can see, she is insufferable and quirky. I absolutely hate her, and according to my friend, she only gets worse. 

Fitz

This book is the definition of so bad it’s addicting. The plot is so basic that I don’t even remember what happened, and I literally just read it a week ago. She was trying to follow clues that were being sent by the Black Swan to bottle up everblaze. That was supposed to be the main plot, but what really happens is that the first book is setting up character dynamics and giving Sophie an ungodly amount of power while still trying to keep her humble. The second book is even less memorable with her trying to rehabilitate an alicorn and getting her damaged body fixed. Like “oh no, I’m slightly weaker than before which is still stronger than like literally every other elf but I must go get fixed so I can be my most powerful self again.” Like girl, you need to shut your greasy little trap because no one relates to your stupid rambling about not being the most powerful thing in the world anymore and needing to take such a big risk to become perfect again. And also, getting sent to the medical center every 3 chapters doesn’t make you more relatable. “Sigh. I’m just so sad that I have to end up here every few chapters. “Oh, isn't it so relatable? Don't you just love reading about how imperfect I am even though I have literally been given a god complex hidden underneath all of this fake humility that is sOOooooooOOo believable.” No. Everyone sees through you. Being not good at some stuff doesn’t mean you are more relatable. Like “oh oops, I just happen to be the worst at alchemy.” Nope shut up. She deserves to create a failed potion and be melted as the alchemy teacher pours it all over her. I will personally start a Sophie Foster hate club if one doesn’t exist already. 

Sophie also just happens to be in a love tripod with her at the center and 3 different guys vying for her.

Love Tripod

Fitz, who also happens to almost be as stuck up with Sophie, is the perfect match because I absolutely hate them both, and I would burn their perfect little elven bodies in the everblaze and laugh as they screamed in agony because their nonexistent personalities were so painful to read that I would physically cringe every time they were mentioned, which is basically every page since Sophie is the main character. Honestly, Keefe and Dex, the 2 other guys in the love tripod, should get together. Dex needs someone who actually thinks he is cool and fun to be around. The whole book series would be better if Keefe or Dex were the main characters. They are both so much better than Sophie. They are actually funny, relatable, and entertaining to read about. Dex needs to stop being jealous of Sophie whenever she talks to other boys because literally, he can do so much better. Also, they are like 13-15 years old…so yeah. It’s kind of weird thinking about them having dating drama at that age.

 Keefe                                          Dex

            The one good thing I liked was the world-building and how they showed the differences between elven and human customs. The ideas such as mind breaking to get information, traveling by light, and keeping at least one male and one female of every species to preserve them were amazing concepts. I also really liked how they delved a little into the medical part of elven culture such as the banshee screaming when someone was dying or how it would sleep next to those who are on the verge of death. They of course had to because Sophie gets sent to the infirmary literally every 3 chapters. The author mentions how human models of dinosaurs are completely inaccurate, but they never actually describe what they look like in the book, or I just forgot about that. Too bad that Sophie also happened to be in those scenes when we were learning about them.

Will I continue reading this series? Absolutely. 

-10/10 stars. It’s so bad that it gets negative stars. I also just realized that it’s Keeper of the Lost Cities and not Keepers of the Lost City. This just adds to Sophie’s vain. 

-Jonathan Chen

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger (bloggymcbookface1.blogspot.com)