Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Keeper of the Lost Cities is one of these books that immediately pulls you in, and doesn‘t let you go until it ends! It‘s been years since I‘ve last picked up a Middle Grade book, so my expectations were neither high nor low. I simply wanted to have fun with the story, and was rewarded with some huge worldbuilding, cool magical abilities, fun characters - and dinosaurs.

It doesn‘t surprise me the in the slightest that this series is so popular and loved among its readers as it seems to be the perfect place to escape to. Both the worldbuilding and the magical abilities that are presented in the book suprised me because of the attention to detail Shannon Messenger put into all the aspects. I must admit I‘m a huge fan of the idea of having telepathic abilities, but while reading, it was hard to just pick one cool ability as there are so many! (I mean being a Polyglot is definitely something that would be rather amazing!) But what kept the story going was the loveable cast of characters we meet. I just loved seeing the protagonist engage with different people, finding friends in this new world while trying to navigate through it.

Now, I‘m definitely not the target audience for this series, and therefore, can‘t properly comment on a few aspects that I wasn‘t able to relate to. (Which is also the reason why it didn’t end up a five-star-read for me, while I can clearly see how it might be for many others!) For me, this was just a fun adventure into the Middle Grade world. Yet I was able to enjoy the story, and admire the worldbuilding - which says a lot about the book itself. So if you‘re looking for something to buddy read with your younger sibling, niece, nephew or your child, and you’re a fan of the Fantasy genre yourself, or you just want to have a little fun adventure, then Keeper of the Lost Cities is something that should end up on your shelf!