Audrey Guan

Okay, so first, before I start, I need to say this: SPOILER ALERT! BACK OFF IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE OTHER BOOKS UP TO THIS ONE! IF YOU HAVEN'T, READ THE REST OF KEEPER IN THIS ORDER: Keeper of the Lost Cities, Exile, Everblaze, Neverseen, Lodestar, Nightfall, Flashback, and Legacy. Now go read them and come back to this later! Okay everyone done? Good. Let's start. I would just like to say, I LOVE how Shannon made the book look so nice *squeals*. I know it has nothing to do with the plot or anything, but it's awesome. Okay, now moving on. The list has what I like and what I dislike. Before I continue, one more SPOILER ALERT (channeling my inner Shannon). What I Like About Unlocked: 1. The plot is developing pretty well, and it rises up to the end. It makes me very very very very VERY tense to see what happens next. 2. The pictures were really well done (jazz hands to Laura Hollingsworth, you go girl!) I loved how Keefe's pictures also have his commentary, since anything with Keefe is just in my league. 3. The romance builds!!! I am a hardcore Sokeefe shipper (SUPER HARDCORE) and I love how in this book, Shannon makes it seem like it might become a thing!!! (Which I'm pretty sure it might...but just in case...) 4. I also like how you provided us with the fun pages and coloring and recipes (I made some mallowmelt with my mom and our kitchen combusted.... poor mallowmelt) and it was so fun to see how many bodyguards and what pet I needed! 5. Nice Keefe point of view, and it really made me think in a different perspective. What I Dislike About Unlocked: 1. Keefe runs away again.... like seriously? It already happened once! Though I understand why he did it both times.... 2. Sorry, but the thing is, even though the information at the beginning was helpful, we Keeper fans already know all of that, Shannon. Please please please write a LONGER novella for book 9! 3. Okay, WHAT IS UP WITH THE CLIFFHANGER!!!!! I mean, her other cliffhangers are evil, but this one? It's pure pure pure pure pure pure pure pure villainy. When I saw the cliffhanger, this is my reaction: First shocked, then annoyed, and last reaction to my family....... "HOW DARE YOU SHANNON MESSENGER STOP WITH THE CLIFFHANGERS I CAN'T HANDLE ANY MORE ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (to all you keeper fans you understand my annoyance) The reason I rated it four stars was MOSTLY because of the cliffhanger... though the other things I dislike also counted. I really ship Sokeefe, and I think it will probably happen! Let's hope so :) This is my review and I hope you find it helpful. EDIT: I think Phillip Cooper's review really told a lot about Unlocked.

First, I need to start with a humongous SPOILER ALERT. If you have not read Shannon's books up to Flashback, I suggest you back off because this is a lot of info in one review. Okay, ready? Good. I love Shannon Messenger's books- especially Legacy- but this one? I mean, the plot was great. Story and characters are good. The problem? Fitz and Sophie. Don't get me wrong, I like how Sophie and Fitz are Cognates and all... but I definitely DO NOT ship Fitzphie. Sorry, but not sorry. There are too many Fitzphie moments in this book, and I had to grab a trash can each time there were "moments" to contain my stomach. Secondly, Fitz's anger issues really bother me. I mean, in the beginning, when they first found out Alvar was part of the Neverseen, Fitz handled it fine. He didn't want to throw something every single time someone mentioned Alvar's name. And now? Oh boy, it's changed a lot. Whenever Fitz talks about Alvar, mentions Alvar, or even THINKS about Alvar- there is chaos. Let's leave it at that. Next, I feel as if Shannon didn't really put as much effort in this book than others. Yes, this book is really well written- but did you notice that she made it seem like Fitz wanted to kill Alvar? Okay, so maybe Alvar IS evil, I can't deny that. But come on- they're brothers!! Even if your sibling was evil, would you kill them? Lastly, I disagree with how Sophie keeps thinking Fitz is ALLOWED to be angry at her. Like, what in the world? Okay, so maybe Fitz might be allowed to get angry, but that doesn't mean he has to go all hardcore and be rude like he always is. That's another reason why I ship Sokeefe. Fitzphie is so complicated in so many ways, if it happens I'll be so surprised, I'm pretty sure I would accidentally rip all the pages out if Sokeefe got dumped in the trash and Fitzphie emerged. Then again, if Shannon makes Sophie a Councillor without us knowing, I'd throw away the book. Besides from those issues, I really enjoyed the book. I would only recommend it to people who ship Fitzphie though, because I almost couldn't handle all of the moments. This is also great for hardcore fantasy fans. Last but not least, if you are a really big (and I'm saying REALLY BIG) fan of Keeper, then maybe you can try reading it. Hope you found this helpful.