Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 2: Exile by Shannon Messenger

Reviewed by Mara

Not many people grow up among humans, discover that they are an elf, journey to the Lost Cities, and get kidnapped by an evil organization. However, Sophie Foster of Shannon Messenger’s Keeper of the Lost Cities manages it all. Book Two of Messenger’s series is entitled Exile, and in it, Sophie is forced to make a decision that will save everyone, but in the process, she might lose her life. 

The Lost Cities are cities where mythical beings, mainly the elves and gnomes, live, hidden away from humans. Sophie is an elf who grows up around humans for twelve years, thinking she is one of them, only to be whisked away from the place she knew as home, and introduced into a whole new world. Book Two begins when Sophie Foster and her best friend Dexter Dizznee (Dex for short) are hunting around the woods for a runaway sasquatch, despite the protests of her overprotective goblin bodyguard, Sandor. The only reason Sandor had allowed her to go was because she is a telepath, an elf with the ability to read minds. She can use her ability to track animal thoughts, so she was helping them. As the book progresses later into the story, Sophie takes a visit to the terrifying elf prison called Exile with her friend Fitz’s father Alden, and Alden is injured. Sophie will have to use her telepathy for something much more serious, before her friend turns on her forever. But she can’t. Her telepathy is broken, and she’ll have to fly far away and face new horrors to fix the mess. 

One reason I liked this book is because it was really emotional. In one scene, Sophie meets an alicorn, a creature who the elves know of only one other, and I felt just as much awe. In another, black cloaked figures are hurting Sophie’s friend while she lays helpless on the ground, and I felt equal outrage and fear as Sophie. Shannon Messenger does an amazing job describing the characters' reactions.

Another reason I liked this book is that it really sucked me in. I couldn’t put it down! From the tense scenes, where the characters are silently waiting for their enemies to attack, to the happy scenes, when everyone knows they are safe, I couldn’t stop reading.

I would probably rate this book a 10/10 because it is the perfect mix of heart-thumping conflict, but also the ups and downs of Sophie’s social life. The book is officially fiction, but I recommend it for all types of readers as it has too good of a plot to miss out on just because you prefer nonfiction. Exile is Book Two in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, so make sure to read the first book, Keeper of the Lost Cities, first. Happy reading!

Simon & Schuster, 568 pages