Divyam Speaks - Book Reviews, Stories and Musings

Keeper of the lost cities: Legacy

I recently completed reading the eight book in the 'Keeper of the lost cities' series. It is called 'Legacy', yet another long book with nearly 800 pages. Its genre is fantasy, and it is written by Shannon Messenger. The book was first published in the year 2019 by Simon & Schuster.

The main characters in this story are Sophie, the protagonist, Dex, Keefe, Fitz, Tam, Linh, Biana, Wylie, Stina, Marella and Maruca, her friends, the Black Swan, Grady and Edaline, Sophie’s adoptive parents, the Council, some of Sophie's bodyguards, Ro, Keefe's bodyguard, King Enki, the king of the dwarves. The antagonist group is the Neverseen, and Lady Gisela is its leader.

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Quidditch through the ages

Quidditch is a fictional game I read about in the Harry Potter series. This is a game played by wizards and witches. The game is played in the air with the players riding their brooms.There are seven players in a team; three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper and a Seeker. Four balls are there; one Quaffle, two Bludgers and the Golden snitch. The Chasers try to put the Quaffle in one of the three hoops on either side of the field, which are protected by the teams’ Keepers. The Bludgers are two balls which are bewitched to fly and knock people off their brooms(like I said, the game is played on brooms) and the Beaters have bats to hit them. The Seeker has to catch the Snitch, which is very fast, before the other teams to earn 150 points and end the game. The team with the most points wins.

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Mr. Lemencello’s Library Olympics

Escape from Mr. Lemencello's library is a book that is definitely in my top 10. I was in a bookshop near my grandma's house, where I usually go when I get a break from meeting relatives and doing other social things. The book store-keeper knows me well by now. He knew that I had read ‘Escape from Mr. Lemencello's library’ so he suggested that I read the next part, which I didn't know about. It is called ‘Mr. Lemencello's Library Olympics’. The book is almost 300 pages long, just like it’s prequel. Its genre is adventure mystery and is written by Chris Grabenstein. The book was first published in the year 2013.

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Mr Lemencello's Great Library Race

I loved the first two books in the Lemencello series, and as soon as I got to know there was a third part, I got my hands on it. It's called 'Mr Lemencello's great library race', and its genre is adventure. The book is written by Chris Grabenstein and was first published in 2017, almost five years after its prequel. The book is nearly 300 pages long.

Let me give you a glimpse into the plot – Mr. Lemencello is hosting a new game for his board of trustees, and whoever wins gets to go on a tour to the libraries in America, and also get his latest game before it is released! The children have to find facts related to famous people all over America.

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Dog Man

For a change, I decided to read a comic so, I picked up a comic called 'Dog man'. It is written and illustrated by George Beard, and Harold Hutchins (Dav Pilkey,) and its genre is adventure. It was first published in the year 2016 by Scholastic, and it's a little longer than 200 pages.

The main characters in this book are (there are very few characters) Dog man-the protagonist, his police chief, Petey the cat-the antagonist, some other police officers and some other villains that Petey created.

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Keeper of the lost cities: Neverseen

I am currently reading a series called ‘Keeper of the lost cities’ and I have finished reading till the fourth book. It is called ‘Neverseen’ and is about 670 pages long. It is written by Shannon Messenger and was first published by Simon and Schuster in the year 2015.

The main characters in this book are Sophie, the protagonist, Fitz, Dex, Biana and Keefe, her best friends, Fitz’s brother Alvar,Black Swan, the group who made Sophie, Mr. Forkle and some members of the Black Swan, Calla, a gnome, the Neverseen, who are the antagonists, Grady and Edaline, Sophie’s adoptive parents, Alden and Della, Fitz and Biana’s parents and Brant and Fintan, who are a part of the Neverseen.

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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.

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Some years ago, when I was much younger, I used to hate Harry Potter for no reason at all. I just had a mental block about reading a Harry Potter book. However, one day when I went to my grandmother's house, my uncle showed me some books and urged me to read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I told him frankly that I didn't like Harry Potter, but he said that I should try it, and if I didn't like it, I could always return it. And then lo and behold it has become my favourite series and possibly my favourite book from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

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Geronimo Stilton: The race against time

I was going through my books to find one which I could finish in a short period, as this time around I did not have the luxury of time. I soon spotted a corner in my bookshelf which I thought had been set aside for the books already read and which I had not reached out to for a long time. This corner had Geronimo Stilton books, and as they are short reads (some are 300 pages long but half the pages are packed with images), I picked up 'The race against time'. It is a good idea to read some books again. It is written by Elisabetta Dami but her name is not written anywhere in the book. Its genre is adventure, and it is nearly 300 pages long, but as I told you, several pages are filled with pictures. It was first published in the year 2006.

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The brilliant world of Tom Gates

Comedy, comedy, comedy the word seemed to be stuck in my mind. And, the day came when, I was in a bookshop near my home searching for a short comedy book to take a rest from my usual favourite reads – longish novels. The helpfu bookstore keeper recommended that I read Tom Gates and handed me the book. I sampled a few pages, and I found it to be nice so I purchased it. It is written by Liz Pichon and was first published the year 2011. Its genre is a comedy, as I told you, and the book is about 250 pages long, with some pages filled with images and some containing text with different sizes.

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Story Thieves: Secret Origins

By now everyone in my family knows that I am hooked to the ‘Story Thieves’ series because I have read the first two in quick succession and waiting eagerly to read the third book. My parents know that the best way to reward me if I do well in my exams is to get me a book. So, when I got good marks in my half yearly exams they got me ‘Story Thieves: Secret Origins’ and I was utterly delighted. The series is written by James Riley and published by Aladdin books in September 2017. Its cover was designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena and it has a little less than 400 pages. Its genre is fiction.

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Story Thieves: The Stolen Chapters

As usual when I like a book I must read all the others in the series as soon as possible because I don’t want the excitement to wane away. Since I liked reading ‘Story Thieves’ I was eager to read the second book in the series, which is ‘Story Thieves: The Stolen Chapters’. It is a book of just over 350 pages and its genre is also fiction, the same as the last book. It is written by James Riley and published by Aladdin in December 2016.

In The Stolen Chapters, James Riley continues with the tweens jumping in and out of fictional book worlds and getting into all kinds of trouble. In this case, it's the world of mystery novels.

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Story Thieves

I had gone to my friend’s house and found that he was busy with his tutions. Since I like reading books, his mother suggested that I read a book while waiting for my friend to finish studying. So I took a book called ‘Story Thieves’ from the bookshelf and began reading it. It was published in December 2015 by Aladdin. It is a few pages short of 400 pages and the genre is adventure. It is written by James Riley, a fictional name, it is not his real name and the man in the photos is actually an actor.

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Story Thieves: Pick the Plot

Much to my delight and amusement, I soon discovered after finishing book three that my parents had also bought the fourth part ‘Story Thieves: Pick the Plot’ and gave it to me as a surprise. The book has around 370 pages and like all the other books, its genre is adventure. It is also published by Aladdin in the year 2017 and the first paperback edition was published in 2018. It is written by James Riley.

After reading this book, I felt as if I too was fictional. There were so many twists and turns that it was not easy to remember where and when a detour was taken and because sinister narrator Nobody is typically inconsistent on the guidance. This can be loads of fun entertainment for some but for others who would like to get on with the story may find it exasperating.

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Story Thieves: Worlds Apart

‘Worlds Apart’ is the last book in the Story Thieves series, and I loved it! I didn't want the series to end, but it sadly did. I was really looking forward to seeing this book-themed world where the fictional and non-fictional worlds were torn apart. It is the longest book in the series with almost 500 pages and is written by James Riley. It was published in the year 2018 by Aladdin. The genre of this book is adventure, even though it says it is a genre- bending book on the back cover.

This book is about bringing the fictional and non-fictional Bethany-ies back together and forming the old Bethany. Two Bethanyies and one confused Owen will obviously mean a whole lot of adventure.

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Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

What better way to spend summer holidays than to sit with a cold glass of water melon juice, a plate of mangoes and a nice book? My summer vacations of 2019 gave me all these luxuries and the book I read was called “Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library”. Not a very thick book – just about 300 pages, it is written by ‘Chris Grabenstein’. The book was published in 2013 by ‘Penguin Random House LLC’.

No review is complete without telling you a little about the plot. So here is a small peek into the plot.

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Ghosts of Greenglass House

I loved Kate Milford’s ‘Greenglass House’, so I read the next book in the series, the sequel, which is ‘Ghosts of Greenglass House’. This 452 age long thriller was published in 2017 by Clarion Books.

Milo, the hero is stuck in an inn during winter holidays. The inn is full of strange guests. Some of his old friends are there too (plot thickens!). Milo along with his friends, all of them, old and new, join in the search for a valuable derrotero (Spanish word for a path that has to be followed to get something at its end) belonging to Violet Cross who is a legendary smuggler. But someone at the inn steals it from them the same night. Now, Milo works with his friends to solve the mystery to recover the derrotero.

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Greenglass House

I used to love going to my uncle’s house for summer vacations because he used to relate great mystery stories to me. My love for mystery and suspense grew more in his company. Since I enjoy suspense, I thought I should read a mystery book. Keeping that in mind I went to the bookstore and got ‘Greenglass House’ as its genre is also mystery. Written by Kate Milford, it is a 376-page long book and was published in 2014 by Clarion Books.

I soon realized that when Kate Milford is doing the writing one must just sit back and enjoy the thrill and excitement. She is a storyteller’s delight and you are left guessing right through the story wondering what will happen next.

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter books have always been a big hit with me. So, when I laid my hands on ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ I was thrilled. I can truly say that this is my favorite book. I love Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire so much that I read it in every second of spare time I had, even at school! Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series. The author of this book is J.K. Rowling. It was published in the year 2000 by Bloomsbury. The genre is fantasy. It is a very thick book and the second longest book I’ve ever read.

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Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer

A long weekend was approaching and I was browsing through my library to find an adventure book to read during the free days. I looked at ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’ which I had already read; I saw an advertisement of ‘Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer’ on the back cover. The summary caught my attention and I ordered it immediately from Amazon. The book is written by Rick Riordan, who also wrote the Percy Jackson series, one of his best works. He’s an American author famous for fantasy, detective fiction and mythological fiction. The book is about 10 pages short of 500 pages. It was published by Hyperion Books in the year 2015.

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The Boy at the Back of the Class

The library in my school is well-known for its vast collection of books and I often issue books that I enjoy reading. Most recently the book that I issued was ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’. It is an emotional drama of 297 pages. The book is written by Onjali Q. Rauf and it was her debut book. It was published in 2018 by Pippa Curnick.

At the onset of the story the readers are informed tht there was an unoccupied seat at the back of the class. A boy named Ahmet is seen sitting on that seat suddenly. He doesn't speak to anyone, seems very scared, and disappears at recess.

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The Haunted Museum:
The Pearl Earring

This is the book review of my least favourite book which is The Haunted Museum: The Pearl Earring. It is a horror story which is one of the reasons I didn’t like it. It is a 208 pages long book and was published in 2014 by Scholastic. The author of this book is Suzzane Weyn.

This is the 3rd book in the Haunted Museum series – the message being – ‘You truly should listen when they say that you should not touch anything in the museum’. This was a well written book that is a very quick read. Readers fond of horror stories will feel not stop reading the book to see where it would lead and the author will not disappoint them.

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The Imagination Box

Of late I have started issuing a lot of books from my school library. One day as I was browsing the shelves looking for a mystery book, the librarian suggested I take the book called ‘The imagination box’. So I took the book. It is a little over 250 pages and as you would have already gathered the genre is mystery. It was published Faber & Faber in the year 2015.

The author of this book is Martyn Ford. He is an author and journalist from the UK. His first book is ‘It happened to me’ and ‘The imagination box’ is one of his best works.

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The Land of Roar

If I do not read a fantasy book for more than two weeks I get restless. So, when my friend told me he had a book called ‘The Land of Roar’ I immediatley borrowed it from him for the weekend. This book was first published in the year 2019 by Egmont UK Ltd. It is almost a 300 page long book. The author of this book is Jenny McLachlan and it is illustrated by Bob Mantle.

Jenny McLachlan is a British author who has written around 15 books. She has been an English teacher, which encouraged her to write some books. Her first book is ‘Flirty Dancing’.

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Heroes of Olympus: The lost hero

I have really enjoyed reading the Percy Jackson series, and I think I have read them all. Just as I was wishing that I find something similar to read, a friend told me about the ‘Heroes of Olympus’ series which is a sequel to the Percy Jackson series. I was overjoyed and didn’t waste any time in getting my hands on ‘The Lost Hero’, book in this series. This is a book authored by Rick Riordan and was first published in October 2010 by Hyperion Books. The book is exactly 551 pages long and yes, the genre is fantasy-adventure. The great thing is, it also tells a lot about the Greek and Roman mythology. A good read for fans of this genre.

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The Find-Outers: The Mystery of Holly Lane

I have yet to meet a person, young or old, who has not read an Enid Blyton book. I have mentioned several times that my favourite genre is mystery, and my favourite mystery novels are the find-outers. So I picked up a find outer book from my school library, which was called 'The Mystery of Holly Lane'.

The book is the the eleventh title in Enid Blyton's fifteen-book Five Find-Outers and Dog series, in which a group of British schoolchildren play detective in their holidays. The book is an interesting read and is not too long with roughly about 200 pages. It was first published a long time back in 1943 by 'Hodder and Stoughton'.

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The Vanderbeekers of 141st street

The Christmas season was setting in and there was festivity in the air. I always love this time of the year when we have holidays and we exchange gifts, the colorful lights and decorations all usher in a feeling of rejoicing. And, ‘The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street’ was the perfect gift to get during these holidays as the story is around the time of Christmas. The book is around 300 pages long and its genre is realistic fiction. The author is Karina Yan Glaser.It was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company in 2017.

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Keeper of the lost cities:
Everblaze

When my aunt (Masi) got to know that I have finished the first two books in the ‘Keeper of the lost cities’ series, she presented me with the third book in the series called ‘Keeper of the lost cities: Everblaze’. It’s genre is fantasy and there are almost 600 pages in the book. The authour of this book is Shannon Messenger. It was first published by Simon and Schuster in the year 2014.

Shannon Messenger is an American authour, known more 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.

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Keeper of the lost cities:
Exile

After I had finished with ‘Keeper of the lost cities’ which I had found truly captivating I told my mother to get me the sequel as soon as possible. I just could not wait to get my hands on the next part ‘Keeper of the lost cities: Exile’. It was first published in 2013 and is just a little longer than 550 pages. The genre of this book is fantasy.

Exile is the second book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. The book is written by Shannon Messenger. She is an American author. The ‘Keeper of the lost cities’ series is one of her notable works and was a New York Times Bestseller. She has also written the young adult ‘Sky Fall’ series and ‘Flashback’ series.

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Keeper of the lost cities:
Lodestar

When I think of Shannon Messenger’s ‘Keeper of the Lost Cities’ series I secretly hope that this series never ends. I have been a fan of the series for nearly two years now and have read all the books and know what I expect from each passing book. After a year long wait for the next i.e. the fift book in the series I was overjoyed when ‘Lodestar’ was made available. It was first published in the year 2016 by Simon and Schuster. The genre of the book is fanstasy.

Shannon Messenger is an American authour, 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.

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Keeper of the lost cities:
Nightfall

I am reading a series called ‘Keeper of the lost cities’, which has nine books. I haved finished reading six books and the sixth one is called ‘Nightfall’. It is almost 800 pages long amd the genre of this bpok is fantsay. It was published by Simon and Schuster in the year 2017.
If you have already read all my “keeper of the lost cities’ reviews you would be familiar with the series and also the major plotline.

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Keeper of the lost cities

One lazy afternoon when I had nothing to do and was feeling like getting hold of a really exciting book I went to a bookshop and started looking around. I had just finished reading a book called ‘The unwanteds’ and was looking for something similar. I found a book called ‘Keeper of the lost cities’. It is written by Shannon Messenger, an American author who is famous for this series. She has also written a series called ‘Sky fall’. It was published in October 2012 by Simon and Schuster like all her other books.

The book is almost 500 pages long and its genre is fantasy. The main characters are Sophie, the protagnist, Dex, Fitz and Keefe, her friend, Alden, Fitz’s dad who helped Sophie to adjust in the new world, and Grady and Edaline, the people who adopted Sophie later on.

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The Land of stories:
A Grimm Warning

The Grimms fairtales have always been my alltime favourit and to now to be presented with an Chris Colfer’s The Land of stories: A Grimm Warning is sheer delight. This is his third book in the magical series The Land of Stories. After having read the first two parts, I was excited to buy the third part because I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books. It’s genre is fairy tale fantasy and the book is almost 500 pages long. It was first published in the year 2014 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

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The Land of Stories:
An Author's Odyssey

I was eagerly waiting for the next book in the Land of Stories series and I finally manage to lay my hands on it. It hasn't disappointed me at all.

The Land of Stories: An Author’s Odyssey is the highly anticipated 5th book in the bestselling series by Chris Colfer entitled The Land of Stories. The series contains 6 parts and I am more than halfway through reading them. As you can tell by the title the genre of the book is adventure and fantasy. It has almost 450 pages and was first published in the year 2016 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

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The Land of Stories:
Beyond the Kingdoms

Nothing like getting hold of a Chris Colfer book during the weekend because he never disappoints me. Whilst reading his books I reach fantasy land, the joy of which lasts much after the book has finished.

The Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms is the fourth part of a six- part book series called ‘The Land of Stories’. The genre of this book is fantasy adventure and the book is a few more pages than 400. It is a super coming together of fairy tales and classic stories where the twins travel beyond the kingdoms!

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The Land of Stories:
The Wishing Spell

During the summer vacations, I had gone to my grandmother’s house to spend some days with her. There was a bookshop nearby which I visit every time I go to grandmom’s. One day as I browsed through the books in the store, a book called The Land of Stories- The Wishing Spell caught my attention because I found the summary very interesting. The book is almost 450 pages long and its genre is adventure. It is written by Chris Colfer and it was his first novel. This book was first published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in the year 2012.

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The Land of Stories:
Worlds Collide

Only Chris Colfer fans will understand what I felt when the last in the series of ‘The Land of Stories’ was released for sale. I made sure to get my copy as soon as it was available because I had to read and experience the culmination of the epic drama. The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide was an amazing conclusion because it wrapped up The Land of Stories series very beautifully.

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The Land of Stories:
The Enchantress Returns

After reading the first book in the series when I was at my grandmother’s place and having enjoyed it thoroughly I was eager read the second book in the series. So, as soon as I got back home I requested my mother to order its next part, which is called ‘The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns’. It was first published in the year 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. The book is a little longer than 500 pages and its genre is adventure fantasy.

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