| Date Read: June 16th, 2021  Final Score: 8 / 10 ! | This was yet another LOVELY installment in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series! This was a dramatic improvement on the 5th book, mainly for how the installment actually matters on its own rather than simply as a stepping stone towards the Endgame. The increasing complexity of how the adults in this series relate to each other is really becoming an amazing display of awareness that is a GREAT means of helping young readers learn to understand grown-ups as people rather than as magical-all-knowing entities who have achieved a state of 'completion'. Grown-ups make mistakes, and they have emotions that cloud their judgement, and they act in ways that seem irrational because you don't fully understand where they're coming from... It's something that takes kids a long time to understand and something that is explicitly commented on in this novel, discussed in great detail at varied intervals that allow for kids to legitimately begin absorbing the lesson alongside their middle-grade protagonists. The plot twists developed in this novel are fantastic. It takes on several necessary new-turn developments without becoming predictable and still works in a good few deeply unexpected twists! I LOVE the new characters we get introduced to, and I ADORE the new characterizations of familiar faces we'd thought we knew. |
The story has developed complexity to the point of requiring multiple threads of storyline ongoing all at once, and it times out perfectly with the plot-device of teaching the protagonists the nuanced lesson of needing to delegate tasks to keep their heads above water. We're just at the edge of how complicated a book can before it gets too confusing, but perfectly well managed to help young audiences keep all the details straight. It's becoming a REALLY good transition into Young Adult and I absolutely love it!
I will DEFINITELY be picking up the next installment ASAP!
I will DEFINITELY be picking up the next installment ASAP!
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