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andriakennedy's review against another edition
3.0
I have to applaud Ms. Messenger for one thing: she accomplished plenty of plot advancement, character development, and the introduction of new mysteries and questions - without having the protagonist leave a "hospital bed." That's no small feat! You don't even notice how far you've delved into the book, either, before Sophie manages to escape the Health Center.
However, that playing with time (and the fact you start to question things like muscle atrophy, bedsores, and the lack of school work) raises the question of the story's official timeline. We've been with Sophie and her friends for YEARS? That doesn't add up when I look back over things. I get it, the books weigh a ton and SHOULD capture that much time, but the official count of months, weeks, and days doesn't add up. I understand the need to advance Sophie's age for the "romantic" side of things (and don't get me started on that - I needed to have twelve cavities filled after reading through it), but some long-range planning when you start to write a series can clear up this kind of thing. Even if you're not sure whether a publisher will pick up your idea and run with it (and, yes, I know, you only publish tomes like this once a year), you need to run headlong into things with high expectations. Some readers (who shall remain nameless) pick up series late in the game and notice these idiosyncrasies.
Still, all told, the overall questioning of emotional tolls and family expectations? Ms. Messenger handles it with the grace of a virtuoso. And that leads to the disappointment of the final confrontation. You want a twist, a revelation, a surprise to occur - not everything everyone's told you from the first page. It made things disappointing. (And, no, the "cliffhanger" didn't make up for it) It comes out as a balanced read - enough to keep me balancing those hefty books over my head night after night.
However, that playing with time (and the fact you start to question things like muscle atrophy, bedsores, and the lack of school work) raises the question of the story's official timeline. We've been with Sophie and her friends for YEARS? That doesn't add up when I look back over things. I get it, the books weigh a ton and SHOULD capture that much time, but the official count of months, weeks, and days doesn't add up. I understand the need to advance Sophie's age for the "romantic" side of things (and don't get me started on that - I needed to have twelve cavities filled after reading through it), but some long-range planning when you start to write a series can clear up this kind of thing. Even if you're not sure whether a publisher will pick up your idea and run with it (and, yes, I know, you only publish tomes like this once a year), you need to run headlong into things with high expectations. Some readers (who shall remain nameless) pick up series late in the game and notice these idiosyncrasies.
Still, all told, the overall questioning of emotional tolls and family expectations? Ms. Messenger handles it with the grace of a virtuoso. And that leads to the disappointment of the final confrontation. You want a twist, a revelation, a surprise to occur - not everything everyone's told you from the first page. It made things disappointing. (And, no, the "cliffhanger" didn't make up for it) It comes out as a balanced read - enough to keep me balancing those hefty books over my head night after night.
marybaker33's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
Pretty good book!!! Warning *there is a crazy cliffhanger at the end*
realf0x's review against another edition
3.0
3 out of 5
This book begins amazingly with The attack on sophie and Fitz but from there it went downhill to about the last third of the book.
What didn’t work for me in this book was Mostly the lack of anything happening except the beginning and the ending,the other thing whould be Sophie and Fitz relationships.as the books and the story progressed i am seeing fitz in a new light i think he is like a spoiled child and he is constantly angry at everyone.Keefe on the other hand...
Well enough about that hopefully Sophie will break up with him soon.
This book begins amazingly with The attack on sophie and Fitz but from there it went downhill to about the last third of the book.
What didn’t work for me in this book was Mostly the lack of anything happening except the beginning and the ending,the other thing whould be Sophie and Fitz relationships.as the books and the story progressed i am seeing fitz in a new light i think he is like a spoiled child and he is constantly angry at everyone.Keefe on the other hand...
Well enough about that hopefully Sophie will break up with him soon.
sophiamckinleyy's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mgydesen02's review against another edition
4.0
The drama continues. It makes me wonder if maybe the Neverseen plan may be the better way to go, without all the violence and control pieces anyway.
percy_jackson's review against another edition
4.0
Actual Rating: 4.25/5 (Rounded down)
This was pretty good. It was a little slow in the beginning but it got a lot better. Since this book was a little slower and uneventful in the middle it was a little disappointing but soothing to take a break from all the action. I felt like Fitz kind of became a better character in this book for various reasons which mad me enjoy his page time more. I don’t know if that’s a good thing though… (P.S - Also would have enjoyed if the was more Biana and Dex in this book.)
This was pretty good. It was a little slow in the beginning but it got a lot better. Since this book was a little slower and uneventful in the middle it was a little disappointing but soothing to take a break from all the action. I felt like Fitz kind of became a better character in this book for various reasons which mad me enjoy his page time more. I don’t know if that’s a good thing though… (P.S - Also would have enjoyed if the was more Biana and Dex in this book.)
nanila's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hoffnungswolke's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
german and english review
netgalley ebook
actual rating: 3.5 stars
Es tut mir echt weh ein Buch in der Reihe so niedrig zu bewerten, aber das war echt der schwächste Band für mich.
Ich versuche mir ja nicht die Reihe durch einen Charakter verderben zu lassen, weil ich alle anderen einfach wirklich so unheimlich sehr ins Herz geschlossen habe. ABER es ist einfach unheimlich schwer sich ein Buch nicht von ihm kaputt machen zu lassen, wenn viel zu viel Fokus auf ihm gelegen hat. Nicht nur Szenen mit ihm, sondern wenn er der Hauptgedanke von Sophie durch das Buch hinweg war. Egal was los war, egal was sie gerade vor sich hatte, irgendwie kam alles immer wieder zurück zu Fitz. Er ist für mich einfach eine rote Flagge auf zwei Beinen.
Ich fand den Band auch unheimlich langsam, im Vergleich zu vorherigen Bänden. Ich hatte stellenweise das Gefühl wir sind garnicht vom Fleck gekommen. Ich hatte gehofft wir bekommen ein bisschen mehr von der Erinnerung an Amy, die Sophie so stark beinträchtigt hat, aber die irgendwann auch total in den Hintergrund gedrängt wurde. Ich denke, dass es dazu sicher noch eine Antwort gibt, hoffentlich, aber ja.
Das war zum ersten Mal ein Ende, das mich nicht gepackt hat und ich sofort wissen wollte wie es weiter geht. Es hat mich eher zum Augenrollen gebracht.
***
It hurts me so much to give a book in this series such a low rating, but this is really the weakest book for me personally.
I'm trying really hard to not have one characters destroy a whole series for me, especially because I love everyone else so damn much. BUT that's just really hard when there is so much focus on him for the whole book. Not just individual scenes but he was constantly on Sophie's mind. No matter what was going on, no matter what they had to do, everything always came back to Fitz. He's just a walking red flag for me.
I also think this book was really slow, compared to books before. I sometimes felt like we didn't more even a little bit. I kinda hoped we would have gotten something more from the memory of Amy that Sophie struggled so much with, but that totally got pushed aside at some point. I think that we get some answer about that soon, hopefully, but still.
This was also the first time I didn't care about the ending and wasn't on the edge of my seat wanting to know how this will turn out. It just made me roll my eyes.
netgalley ebook
actual rating: 3.5 stars
Es tut mir echt weh ein Buch in der Reihe so niedrig zu bewerten, aber das war echt der schwächste Band für mich.
Ich versuche mir ja nicht die Reihe durch einen Charakter verderben zu lassen, weil ich alle anderen einfach wirklich so unheimlich sehr ins Herz geschlossen habe. ABER es ist einfach unheimlich schwer sich ein Buch nicht von ihm kaputt machen zu lassen, wenn viel zu viel Fokus auf ihm gelegen hat. Nicht nur Szenen mit ihm, sondern wenn er der Hauptgedanke von Sophie durch das Buch hinweg war. Egal was los war, egal was sie gerade vor sich hatte, irgendwie kam alles immer wieder zurück zu Fitz. Er ist für mich einfach eine rote Flagge auf zwei Beinen.
Ich fand den Band auch unheimlich langsam, im Vergleich zu vorherigen Bänden. Ich hatte stellenweise das Gefühl wir sind garnicht vom Fleck gekommen. Ich hatte gehofft wir bekommen ein bisschen mehr von der Erinnerung an Amy, die Sophie so stark beinträchtigt hat, aber die irgendwann auch total in den Hintergrund gedrängt wurde. Ich denke, dass es dazu sicher noch eine Antwort gibt, hoffentlich, aber ja.
Das war zum ersten Mal ein Ende, das mich nicht gepackt hat und ich sofort wissen wollte wie es weiter geht. Es hat mich eher zum Augenrollen gebracht.
***
It hurts me so much to give a book in this series such a low rating, but this is really the weakest book for me personally.
I'm trying really hard to not have one characters destroy a whole series for me, especially because I love everyone else so damn much. BUT that's just really hard when there is so much focus on him for the whole book. Not just individual scenes but he was constantly on Sophie's mind. No matter what was going on, no matter what they had to do, everything always came back to Fitz. He's just a walking red flag for me.
I also think this book was really slow, compared to books before. I sometimes felt like we didn't more even a little bit. I kinda hoped we would have gotten something more from the memory of Amy that Sophie struggled so much with, but that totally got pushed aside at some point. I think that we get some answer about that soon, hopefully, but still.
This was also the first time I didn't care about the ending and wasn't on the edge of my seat wanting to know how this will turn out. It just made me roll my eyes.
the_loudlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Ughhhh I have a problem and it’s called Keeper of the Lost Cities. I even read on the job today so I could finish this (and no, that is not something librarians get to do). With the Neverseen still at large, Sophie and Fitz wind up getting in over their heads, which leads to a new, larger security detail. Meanwhile, the Vacker family’s plot thickens, Silveny gets a surprise, and THE ENDING is a bombshell. I can’t wait to start Legacy. One of these days I will read something other than this series, but today isn’t it.
maddyyy_'s review against another edition
reflective
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75