City of Lies by
Lian TannerOkay, let's see if I can pull this review off without making it another gush-fest on my love for Claudia Black. As usual, her narration is fantastic, but for this second book of The Keepers Trilogy, I want to focus on the story because that's what I think really shines.
After the events of The Museum of Thieves (my review here), Goldie Roth has been offered the chance to become a Keeper of the Museum of Dunt. But then her new friend Toadspit's little sister Bonnie is stolen away, and so the two older children take off after the kidnappers. After a journey upon the seas, Toadspit ends up being captured too, and they all end up at the city of Spoke where the much-anticipated Festival of Lies is about to begin. Now Goldie has to save her friends while trying to survive in the middle of this bizarre place, made even stranger by the nature of the festival, where every day is "Opposite Day" and no one can be trusted.
This series is targeted at the middle-grade audience, so younger readers would probably appreciate it more, but I found this book to be quite enjoyable all the same. The story is a lot of fun -- short, but very cute. I think children will like that characters have to speak and act in a way that is the opposite of what they mean during the Festival of Lies, but it isn't done in such a juvenile manner that adults can't find it all very entertaining as well.
There's also an aspect of make-believe, role-play and "playing pretend" in this book that kids would probably enjoy, which also involves a very abstract magical idea that I'm still trying to wrap my head around (though I'm sure children would probably take for granted and wouldn't question too much). There just seems to be a lot more going on in this sequel in terms of fantasy elements and ideas, some that are just more intriguing and appealing to all readers.
The focus is mostly on the adventures of Goldie and Toadspit this time around, with the other adult keepers back in the city of Jewel and given an obligatory side plot to keep them in the series. Quite honestly, I didn't mind the story's greater emphasis on the children because in my opinion they're a lot more interesting to read about. The audiobook narration also does a good job of bringing them to life, along with the crazy city of Spoke.
Once again, if you can get your hands on the audio version of this book, I highly recommend doing so. This series would not have made even made it onto my radar screen if it weren't for Claudia Black's name being attached to the project, since it's not a regular habit of mine to pick up children's books (but maybe I should make it one, since my toddler is growing up so fast). Black's voice work is always top-notch, and so far these books have been great. I've already put my name on the waiting list for the final installment of this trilogy from my library.
Final verdict:
4 of 5 stars
I like that this focuses more on the kids, since so much emphasis was placed on trusting in them at the end of the last book. I hope Broo gets to play too, though. I love him.
ReplyDeleteI have this in hardcover, but I am hesitant to miss out on Claudia Black!
I think I mentioned this already on goodreads, but it almost sounded like they slowed down her voice for the audiobook for this! It was still good, but...I couldn't help but notice she sounded a little more sluggish. Have the third book downloaded, which I'll probably read next because it's due back to the library in less than a week, LOL. I'll let you know how that goes.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Museum of Thieves, and my son is currently reading it, so it sounds like this might be just the thing for our summer road trip! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI just finished the third book! It really is a wonderful series, I enjoyed it even as an adult :)
DeleteThanks for checking out the review!