Keeper of the lost cities: Flashback

Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of the Lost Cities” has nine books in all and I just finished reading the seventh book in the series. It is called 'Flashback' and is almost 850 pages long and has now become the longest novel I have ever read. The book was first published in the year 2018, and its genre is fantasy.

Shannon Messenger is an American author, known for writing the middle-grade series Keeper of the Lost Cities, which was a New York Times bestseller. She is also known for writing the Sky Fall series. Keeper of the Lost Cities won the 2017 Middle School/Junior High California Young Reader Medal.

Must warn you that Flashback is indeed a hefty book and yet the ending is a cliffhanger which is far from anything resembling a conclusion. As in previous volumes, the entire world is in peril. Kids suffer physical and mental violence, magical and otherwise, and are in a moral dilemma whether to responding similarly. There is also some romantic dilemma as Sophie is drawn to two boys. And then among the multi-species bodyguards is a princess whose father has forced her to marry one of his warriors. There are some cruelly unstable families along with the kind ones. And there is also gross bathroom humor, as the teens are always taking Elvin medicine made from things like yeti pee.

Here is the plot- The Vackers have gathered to hear the Council decide what to do with Alvar, who had lost his memory. Sophie, Keefe, the Councilors, and the bodyguards were the only non-Vackers present. The Council decided that they could not currently sentence Alvar due to his memory loss, and decided he was to spend six months at Everglen, carefully observed. Fallon Vacker shows up, and protests Alvar's future residence at Everglen because of the possibility of something secret hidden there. Luzia Vacker, the mother of the famous Orem Vacker and founder of Everglen, discards these claims, stating that she only chose Everglen to relax after a long day of bending sunlight. However, Sophie, Keefe, and Fitz all think she is hiding something.

Sophie must let the past and present blur together, because the deadliest secrets are always the ones that get erased. She does not know what or whom to believe. And in a game with this many players, the worst mistake can be focusing on the wrong threat. The Neverseen also show that they can track Sophie anytime, anywhere by attacking and injuring her badly. So, she and her friends have to be ready when they strike again and have to train for battle. Fintan also has asked for a meeting with her. But he gives some information that he doesn't know is wrong, and this might prove costly to the group.

The main characters in this story are Sophie, the protagonist, Dex, Keefe, Fitz, Tam, Linh, Biana, her best friends, the Black Swan, Grady and Edaline, Sophie’s adoptive parents. The antagonist group is the Neverseen, Vespera, Gethen, Umber and Gisela, members of the group, -Fintan, who is a part of the Neverseen but was captured, the Council and Orem, some of Sophie's new bodyguards and Luzia Vacker.

The book was interesting but it was a little (ok, very) long. The attack at the starting was much unexpected, which I liked, and I also liked the comedy in between. But I didn't approve that Sophie and Fitz spent a lot of time in the hospital wing of Foxfire and that Sophie sounded very stupid in some parts.

I recommend this book for readers of age 9-13.

The eighth book in this series is 'Legacy' and the ninth book was released recently on November 17 and is called 'Unlocked'.

I rate this book 4 out of 5.

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