Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 1 by Shannon Messenger

Reviewed by Kanav

Have you ever imagined being able to read minds? Or to speak any language you want, even ogre? Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger is a book where all these unusual things happen- in an interesting and suspenseful way! 

A 12-year-old human prodigy named Sophie Foster is living a regular life- kind of. When Sophie hits her head at age 5, she starts to have “superpowers.” Along the way, she realizes that she isn't just a regular human, so  she is separated from her family and brought to the elvin “world.” As time goes on, Sophie finds new interests, new crushes, new powers, and learns new facts about her fuzzy past and shocking secrets. She faces many foes and challenges, and she faces a new problem everyday. Will Sophie avert these problems, or will her life be cut short?

One reason I liked this book was the suspense. Sophie is always looking for more clues on how she can find something she needs, and usually while she is researching, she finds another shocking fact about something different. As soon as she finds something good, Shannon Messenger closes the chapter and waits for the next few chapters for her to figure out what the clue means. An example of this is when Sophie gets kidnapped. She is drugged and muffled and her eyes are covered with a cloth. When she wakes up from her sedatives, who will she see? That is the mysterious suspense of Shannon Messenger that leaves you scared and speechless, and you just have to read on to see what happens.

The second reason I enjoyed this book is because of the description the author uses: “The light was a force, battering her-pulling and pushing in so many different directions she couldn’t tell if she was being ripped apart or crushed.” This sentence describes Sophie's first experience with light traveling, and you can almost envision her being “ripped to pieces.” 

On a scale of 1-10, for me it would be a 9 because it is a bit scary sometimes, but the rest is very very good. Readers who are interested in adventure, suspense, mystery, and more will really enjoy this book, but be prepared for some lovey dovey moments. This book is part of a eight book series with the ninth book coming soon, and Shannon Messenger hasn't shown any signs of stopping this amazing series. If you have enjoyed this book review, go to your nearest library, and start reading! Hope you enjoy it!

Simon & Schuster, 488 pages