Allow me to introduce you to my book saga obsession: the Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger. I had high hopes for these books after many of my close friends and family fell in love with the series and recommended it to me. And as you can already tell, I too fell head over heels in love with this nine book series (and I’m already dying to read the next book, which is out in November!)

Keeper of the Lost Cities (and in this case, I’m referring specifically to the first book in the series) is about Sophie Foster, an extraordinary girl who discovers that she’s an elf and that there is an entire world that she didn’t know existed. Sophie has to leave behind the life she’s known in the human world and get situated within the elven world with a new foster family, new school and all sorts of new things that have her mind spinning as she tries to get them all straight. But things aren’t going to stay simple, as Sophie soon discovers that she’s at the center of an elven conspiracy and that the worlds she loves (elven and human) are not at all safe.

  It’s been so long since I found a series that is compulsively readable, so much so that I found it unbelievably difficult to set down the book once I’ve started it. I blitzed through the first book, 500 pages, in one sitting, and then blitzed through the second through the fifth books, more than 700 pages,  in under a week. And that, in a nutshell, should tell you a lot about how much I like the Keeper of the Lost Cities series! It deserves the praise and attention of young readers because Messenger has written something very special.

 While I have a lot of feelings about a lot of specific things that occur through the series, I figured it would be simplest to give you the three reasons that I would recommend the series to readers, young and old alike. 

1. World building- The last time I felt so strongly about a story that combined the human world (and human knowledge/lore) with the fantastical was back in the days of Percy Jackson. Messenger weaves together her setting, cultures and magic system in clever ways that make the reader feel like they are actually experiencing it. I’m so impressed every time something is easily integrated into the world she’s been exploring through Sophie’s story since the very first book, and I love that it continues to grow with every new book in the series.

1. Storytelling- I’d give Messenger an A+ for this category. She takes the world, characters and plot and just mixes it all together perfectly. I love that the series has come so far from the starting point of the first book, particularly the way that events continue to occur that lead to the stakes getting higher and the obstacles more difficult (and thus, the story becomes more emotionally riveting). The way that Sophie’s circumstances (and those of her friends and family) continue to intensify feels organic and transitions quite seamlessly from book to book, and I love it.

1. Themes- I am a sucker for series that not only entertain, but also manage to integrate important themes into the story. It’s important for readers to be able to understand things like grief and anger, friendships and familial difficulties, just to name a few. While I can’t speak to what Messenger’s intentions might have been, readers can walk away from reading these books with additional knowledge that they could potentially feel comforted, seen or strengthened by.

 I love this series so much. It’s got adventure and heart, in equal amounts, and set against a fantastical backdrop that has really come alive and grown with every novel that’s been released. I’m clearly a big Keeper of the Lost Cities fan, and I definitely will be anxiously awaiting the next book in the series. I’d highly recommend checking out this middle grade series if you’re looking for something new to try, and will say with full confidence that it’s worth the hype.