Shannon Messenger

Representation: Black characters
Trigger warnings: Physical injury, hospitalisation of a child and death of another person in a fire in the past, car crash, drugging, bullying
Score: Six out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

I loved the original version of Keeper of the Lost Cities so I when I saw an illustrated adaptation of it in a library I expected it to be as enjoyable as the first edition. I glanced at the blurb, making it seem similar to the prose edition of Keeper of the Lost Cities, but when I closed the final page, it was not the reading experience I thought I would get.

It starts with Sophie Foster living her typical life or so it seems in the opening pages until I saw Sophie having telepathic and telekinetic abilities but she's not sure why she has that and it's a secret she kept to herself. That is until she stumbles across a character named Fitz who also has magic abilities and takes her to the Lost Cities, a realm full of elves with all sorts of powers. This adaptation shines since it remains faithful to the source material, but I've seen every scene before so it feels more like a recap of what happened, and I didn't feel too engaged to it.

At least the characters are likable, but they're not that relatable, and by itself the adaptation's worldbuilding is lacking (but I can understand why as it's only the beginning and I can read other KOTLC books to answer worldbuilding questions.) Like the original, the pacing is fast for a book over 300 pages and the plot is decent but it ends abruptly, so I have to wait for the second part to release. The illustrations are a new perspective on the same narrative but I think prose does the better job since I can picture everything more clearly when it's in that writing style. Sophie has to leave her human world behind as she more fully integrates into her new life by meeting her new parents and going to a new school, but it feels rushed like the author wanted to get it over with swiftly. If you liked Keeper of the Lost Cities but want to look at it in a different way, then get this one, but I'd prefer reading the original prose creations.… (meer)