#keeper of the lost cities series

[protagonistspub]

Keeper of the Lost Cities Exile by Shannon Messenger

Keeper of the Lost Cities Exile by Shannon Messenger is the second book in the Keeper of Lost Cities series and is middle grade fantasy. This was a library book, way back in February of this year. Once again we have a complex plot for a middle grade fantasy, which is refreshing to see. Our heroine, Sophie, is settling into her new life but that doesn’t mean things are any easier. Her powers seem…

[thatonesongyouretryingtoremember]

KOTLC but at the beginning of each book there's an author's note explaining why it took so long, Ao3-style

[swans-chirping-in-the-distance]

It's not "only Sophie can do this". That is so far from true. Her friends are:

Fitz, one of the most powerful telepaths of his time. Could've killed someone if his friends didn't stop him. Sort of did kill him. Btw, it was his traitorous older brother.

Biana, one of if not the ONLY vanisher who can completely vanish to every species. Has twice tackled murderers. Almost fell off Mount Everest and is covered in scars because of those times. She's super proud of it. Literally could kill you in a face full of a makeup

Keefe, also tested on. Has 3-4 abilities, two of which are new with him. Snarked the ogre king and won a sparring match with him because of it. Also ripped out THE ogre king's earring. Pretty good with weapons. Can make you listen by word of mouth.

Dex, such a powerful technopath that the council requested him to make special tech instead of an elf that's hundreds of years old and invented most of society's daily gadgets. Often underestimated.

Tam, one of the few shades that can control shadowflux. Joined a group of murderers and killed a friend to save his sister (yeah Keefe's alive, but Tam thought that Stellarlune would kill him and he still did it).

Linh, who held up a river surrounding a kingdom that was poisonous and harder to control when she didn't have full control over her abilities. Btw, she was 15.

She is friends with a variety of elves with crazy powers, ogres, trolls, dwarves, gnomes, and a human.

Only Sophie being able to go in these battles is dumb. It makes sense bcz she's the mc, but not in the actual series.

So I present multi-perspective kotlc.

Solves the "only Sophie can do this" issue. Better for character development. Makes side characters' relationships and lives matter more.

It would change the plot slightly but I think it would help.

[milo-igidk]

i dont think we talk enough about how fucking raw this line is

[chainlxnk]

Keefe in Neverseen for some reason😨

[sophitz]

[sakurabraches]

the thing about the timeline thing in unraveled confirming that keefe is in the forbidden cities in like 2022 because anti hero is released is that sophie is just, like, such an obama era kid. she's pure 2012-2015. i just do not believe that sophie lived through the trump presidency, or covid, or tiktok. her attitude and aura would be so different

[alwaysakookie]

Why are the elves so calm about entrusting their entire species to kids!?!?

Like, Fintan (A war criminal) asks for a meeting with two teenagers and they are ok with it?!

“Its your decision”

THE HECK ITS NOT

Why are you putting two kids in danger?????

I don’t care that they have bodyguards with them, HES A CONVICTED ARSONIST

Do they really have no other adults to deal with these kinds of issues?

And why are the Neverseen so bent on consulting with KIDS

Like, Sophie and Keefe is understandable knowing their history. But, they have no business with the other kids

[myfairkatiecat]

okay so shannon giving us a keefe pov seems actually lowkey important and what i would do in the story rn but I'm not convinced she's going to use it to do the things I feel like we need her to do.

let me explain.

Shannon set Sophie up as a character who behaves certain ways. A lot of those ways are very good, and she's certainly a hero, but she also has character flaws that get worked through. For example, she can be a little reckless (personally I would have made all the same choices) (I know we think of Keefe as the reckless one but he's a different type of reckless) she can prioritize the wrong things, she can be disorganized, etc (all things that are super valid and understandable and make her relatable btw. I am a sophie foster defender)

and BECAUSE sophie is the protagonist, we see all of this develop. She has certain qualities that are a little stagnant sometimes, at least if you look from the outside, but there's actually a ton of development going on. She hears others' opinions on her actions, good and bad, and the reader sees how this impacts her and how she grows and changes, even if that change is nonlinear or in many ways she stays the same and just grows more mature.

Here's the thing about Keefe. he wandered out of side character territory and into second main character territory starting at the end of everblaze and peaking in legacy. And Shannon has been INTENTIONALLY writing him with consistent character flaws since the beginning, explainable by his past circumstances in fascinating ways. But we aren't there to see a lot of the falling out for that stuff.

A lot of people complain that keefe never faced consequences for stealing the caches or never had the black swan or adults yelling at him or mistrusting him or his friends avoiding him. And like... we do not know that. It could simply be that that was just not Sophie's problem at the time. Sophie also may have simply not been one of the people giving him a difficult time about it. In fact, we know she wasn't, but boy oh boy Fitz certainly didn't bounce back in less than five seconds. And we don't know what the Council and/or black swan did with him that sophie just wasn't involved in--and bc it didn't become relevant to the plot from sophie's perspective, sophie being the actual MC, it just seems unimportant.

Another thing is that Keefe has a lot of the same character flaws throughout the series, but they do shift somewhat with his experiences, and that's without us even seeing in his head, you know? So here's the thing.

Shannon went and started developing Keefe like a second protagonist (who is interestingly also an anti hero in some ways) and even if you aren't a person who thinks he's the most developed character on the paper (disagree but see where you're coming from) he's DEFINITELY most developed in shannon's brain, and that bleeds through. But then we ONLY see Sophie's perspective BECAUSE THIS IS SOPHIE'S STORY, and everything revolves around what is relevant to the plot from her perspective, and then keefe is just in the background being extremely important and relevant and having all these extra issues that we ONLY ever see from sophie's perspective.

Unlocked was... well, it was half a book, and only half of it was keefe. I actually do think his perspective was enlightening in some ways, but a full keefe book at this point kind of seems necessary to me. Because... he's taken on the role of another main character in this story, but we don't see any of that development happening, and for a lot of people i can see that getting taxing. Now I get that those same people also wish keefe would just. step back from the plot. and i get that! but I think with the way he's involved in the plot NOW, seeing his perspective is important, because sophie's POV (especially with her unreliable narration) doesn't give us enough of a window into the complexity that is keefe's worldview right now, especially with all the ways he keeps impacting things. it's just a really important perspective to have at this point.

Shannon, if unraveled is just keefe trying different human foods and giggling like a kotlc react on wattpad, I will probably enjoy it bc i love your work always, but i will also be shaking you by the shoulders because we need this book and you better spend it doing the things we need

[lucyshypemaster]

I think this is one of the things I can appreciate about kotlc. there'd be some random unfamiliar word when you start reading a new book and then there's sophie explaining again what it is. or when sophie is recapping everything that happened in the previous book when a certain character or location was mentioned

[toxxtt-kotlc]

keefe book predictions .... congratulations on the book 9.5 little white boy

[protagonistspub]

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger is a middle grade fantasy read and was an e-book from the library. It is the first book in the series. Sophie is a gifted twelve-year-old who is in high school She is extremely sheltered by her parents and while on a field trip with her high school class to the local museum she is recognized from a story in the local newspaper. That seemingly…

[midasx9]

Keefe Sencen this Keefe Sencen that WHAT ABOUT TIERGAN TRANSGENDERISM ENDAL.

[honeii-puff]

I keep seeing people looking at the Unravelled leeks and saying how "cringe" they are.

I think we've forgotten that KOTLC is a kids series. It's supposed to have that type of humor. We technically aren't the target audience.

Personally, i find it all hillarious and great. I like immature humor every now and then. Maybe that's not for you, but hey, you know what you signed up for when you started reading a series aimed at 10 year old girls.

[findmewheretheseameetsthesky]

i give you- how every problem in kotlc is created and solved.

[chainlxnk]

when was the last time I drew Tiergan...