Middle Grade Madness! discussion

Here we go, book 5! We've passed the halfway point of the series now and if you're still reading along, honestly, well done. I know how difficult it can be to stick with a series for this extended amount of time so I'm proud of you for reading along with us if you are.

And if you're just here to discuss the book with us then great! For all my opinions on the flaws of this series there's really no doubting that it's super fun to discuss!

Rules on spoilers:
*All spoilers for book 5 DO need to be hidden in spoiler tags.*
All spoilers for book 1, 2, 3 & 4 DO NOT need to be hidden.
It's a given that if you're on this discussion page then you've read book 1, 2, 3 & 4, so all spoilers for book 1, 2, 3 & 4 don't need to be hidden. If you haven't read book 1, 2, 3 & 4 and you're here, read comments at your own discretion!

Ok so after that BOMBSHELL ending of book 4 WHERE I SCREAMED BECAUSE KEEFE SWITCHED SIDES LIKE AN IDIOT there was a preview of book 5 at the end of book 4.

So if you've seen my thoughts on the side switching in the book 4 discussion you know that I was pretty disappointed in Keefe and very ready to start hating on him but boom chapter 1 of book 5: (view spoiler)[ Keefe reappears with a "did you miss me?" (hide spoiler)] and I kid you not I was close so close to hyperventilating I actually squealed out loud. (view spoiler)[ All hope is not lost!! Keefe my boy can be redeemed. In fact, he can even be a double agent😍 and it would be nice to have a double agent that finally works in the Black Swan's favour rather than the other way around. (hide spoiler)]

OMG KADI I JUST FINISHED BOOK 4!! Did you start book 5 already?? I feel like I need to read something else first though so that I won't get burned out but ohmygosh I'm not sure how I feel about the ending of book 4 because KEEFE!!!! Anyway, I'm excited to read book 5 as soon as I get a decent breather lol

I’m taking a breather inbetween book 4 and 5 too because I find this series to be very draining. It also becomes extremely repetitive if you read them back to back. Plus I’ve got a lot of ARCs to read and review anyway so makes sense to take a break before reading this one.

BUT at the end of my edition of book 4 there was an extract of chapter 1 from book 5. Most of it is boring so I skim read it but the chapter ends with shock!! And I had to know what happened next so I got myself a copy of book 5 and read chapter 2 so now I’m technically 5% into book 5. Tbh the shocking thing actually didn’t end up being super great anyway. It’s actually managed to kill my excitement for book 5 quite a bit😬

I too don’t know how I feel about Keefe’s decision at the end of book 4. Actually no I do. I want to strangle him. WHAT A DUMMY SUCH A DUMB PLAN!! Mostly I’m worried now he’s switched sides we’ll see less of him and honestly he was the only thing keeping me reading in the last book😂 he had the best character development I swear.

Yeah the Alvar reveal was like "I SAW THAT A MILE AWAY" but UGH I too am very on the fence about how invested I really am in the series because on one hand, I want to know what happens, but on the other, I feel like this could have been written so much better and MUCH MUCH shorter if Shannon just had the right amount of time for outlining, revising, etc. Just my opinion. It is a very draining series, I agree.

@Spencer your opinion is really less of an opinion and more of an outright FACT😂 I feel exactly the same as you because on the one hand I do want to know the whole mystery behind Sophie's purpose and who her parents are or whatever other mysteries there are like actually what the hell the Black Swan wants and what the Neverseen want etc etc etc etc. But on the other hand I know for a fact that we haven't gotten any simple straightforward answers yet and we're sure as hell not going to get any any time soon. Maybe I should just wait for the series to end and then read the wiki page😂 With an attitude like this sometimes I wonder how I managed to actually read 2000+ pages of this series.

Yeah so the Alvar reveal was obvious. Dude was ALWAYS acting sketchy but I'm indifferent to losing him for the Neverseen. Like I don't really care because we've never had enough time to know him. I do think that the Neverseen randomly outing him like that was dumb though. Like Shannon included that for shock value because up until now the Neverseen have been all about careful planning but here they are outing all their double agents. It's just not logical. Or maybe it shows that they're more open with their fighting now idk.

What did you think of the reveal of Mr Forkle actually being Master Leto? AND Sir Astin? I mean if you think about it it actually makes sense. Sir Astin was the reason Sophie went and found that hard to find star thing and Master Leto understood why the mirror she looked into hurt her in book 2. And this also explains how the Black Swan always know what's happening with Sophie AND how they manage to slip stuff into her locker. So I'm glad it makes sense, and when you look back at it you can see how Shannon Messenger hinted at it even in previous books whereas with the Alvar reveal I feel like she didn't hint at before, she only ever did so really forcefully at the end of book 4. At least she had the Forkle-Leto-Astin thing planned out. But it still feels like a very weird reveal because I viewed Master Leto and Mr Forkle as completely separate characters and now I have to keep reminding myself that they're the same person.

Yeah so the Master Leto-Mr Forkle thing feels weird to me even though it makes sense. Also I love that the Hekses aren't just cartoon villains anymore.

In terms of Alvar, there were some hints dropped in book 2 that I thought were pretty strong, but Shannon Messenger attempted to make us trust him more in book 3 so that we'd forget about it (but I didn't lol)

You know what, after much thought I think I'm gonna do the same. Just wait until this series is over then read it or wiki it honestly. I realized I'm not enjoying the series a whole lot anymore, or at the very least have a sour taste in my mouth for it at the moment that I think a nice long break from it would be good. Then maybe if I find myself missing the characters then I'll go back to it? I don't know. Right now I'm working on my TBR challenge so I'm not sure how much of a priority I'll give this one. Which is kind of a bummer since I hear that book 5 is a fan favorite but like, I don't know if I trust any overly positive reviews of this series anymore if that makes sense. It's just exhausting.

This almost feels like a Sarah J. Maas series in the sense that the die-hard fans love it so much while the outliers feel kinda eh about it lol.

BUT OH MY GOSH 2000+ pages?? I feel...cheated hahaha.

@Spencer wait book 5 is a fan favourite? That's the first I've heard of that. With the die hard fans every book is a fan favourite😂

It makes sense to take a break and then see how you feel later on. Previously I was planning to read this book at the end of the month so I can have these few weeks as a break but my exams are going to be at the end of this month. Idk what that means for me... Will I read it next week? Probably not. Maybe I'll read it in June then. I guess I'll see how I feel closer to the time...

You know one thing I've been wondering from the beginning is why is it called Keeper of the Lost Cities??? Sophie isn't even a keeper. I genuinely don't get it. Didn't she say at one point that she could be a keeper if she wanted to be and then Mr Forkle was like no that's not your purpose. So why the hell is that the name of the series? That's the only book title that imo makes zero sense. She's not a keeper!

It's actually closer to 2500 pages! I calculated it from the editions I've read and I got to 2337 pages which is shocking considering overall I give this series a 2.8 star rating. Like congrats to me for reading that much of it😂🎉 If you read paperback or hardcover editions you're more likely going to have read just over 2500 pages.

Hey guys so did anyone read this book? Should I continue the readathon next month? I'm thinking of reading book 5 next month after my exams are finished but I'm still not sure.

I didn't, probably won't read it for a while

@Spencer that's a shame! But it sounds like you might still pick it back up? All hope is not lost😂

Did you see we'll be reading Mister Monday next month? I feel like this is a series you'll like. And if people want we can make that the next series readathon!