Keeper of the Lost Cities Fan Negativity and Criticism

This post is about fan negativity towards the Keeper of the Lost Cities series.  Before I continue, yes, fans have a right to share their feelings.  The problem is that the negative fans drown out the fans who just want to have enjoyable discussions about the books.  This is a moderator issue.  Moderators could rein in the negativity.   

I am so thankful that I stayed off of all the Keeper forums during the month that I read the series for the first time.  They would have ruined it for me.  The forums are an echo chamber, and people like me won't post because we get tired of being downvoted for daring to say something positive.

Most annoying are the disparaging statements directed at Shannon Messenger.  Here's one example.

There was a post about who Sophie's father is.  Someone wrote, "I don't think even Shannon Messenger knows yet, hence the delay and the release of yet another 'filler' book."  Someone else responded, "Hmm, that's actually interesting.  I wonder if she looks at fan theories and decides from there."

These are astonishing remarks.

Sophie's father's identity is central to the entire story arc of the series and clues to his identity have been meticulously placed through the books.  It is disrespectful to Shannon to suggest that she has no idea.  She even said in an interview several years ago that she knows who Sophie's parents are.  While the Keeper books have some flaws, Shannon is a talented writer who spent a year working out the series premise before she began writing the first book.  I have no doubt that she knew who Sophie's parents are before she began writing the first book.

Some fans say that the series has been ruined in recent books and that Stellarlune is particularly boring and pointless. 

? 

I enjoyed Stellarlune as much as I did the rest of the books.  The story does progress in Stellarlune, including some obvious clues as to Sophie's father's identity.  Of course, these same fans say that the part of the book with the clues is the most boring part, which means they missed all the clues.

These fans say that the series is just a money grab and that the only reason the series hasn't ended is because Shannon needs to keep the money coming in.  Actually, the Keeper of the Lost Cities books will not go out of print after the series ends.  The series is also steadily gaining in popularity, so the books will continue to sell.  Warner Brothers recently purchased the movie rights.

These fans more specifically say that Book 8.5 is a money grab.  They also say that the upcoming Book 9.5 is another money grab. 

Okay.  Shannon has stated that the Keeper of the Lost Cities books only show Sophie's point of view.  All books are from Sophie's perspective only.  The purpose of Book 8.5 was so that Shannon could include Keefe's point of view.  The purpose of Book 9.5 will be to show Keefe's point of view while he was in the Forbidden Cities.

Fans say that Shannon should just include Keefe's POV in the main series, but Shannon doesn't want to do that.  It's her series and her prerogative.

When I wrote my post about the cover art reveal for #9.5 Unraveled, I decided not to mention the negativity.  When the cover dropped, fans immediately began complaining.  It was just one complaint after another. 

The Unraveled cover is attractive.  What else does it need to be?

They said that the cover wouldn't attract someone who saw it in a store.  Um, I don't think beginning the Keeper series with #9.5 would be a good idea, so the attractiveness of the cover art to random people is irrelevant.  People new to the series ought to begin with #1.

Fans also say that the cover art for #9.5 looks AI-generated.

?

I don't get it.  I wish that I could find people who think like I do who just want to enjoy fan discussions that aren't negative.

I understand that fans who have been reading the series for years are tired of waiting at least one year between each new book.  My perspective is different.  I'm a pretty new fan.  I began reading the books on March 13, 2023.  If the series ends with Book 10, then it will conclude in November 2025.  I am thankful that I'm getting to have at least nearly two years of fun speculating about Sophie's father's identity and Mr. Forkle's identity.  It will be different when the answers have been revealed.

I dread the fan reaction when the secrets are revealed.  These fans are so certain that Elwin is Sophie's father when he most certainly isn't.  They will have a fit!

The original fans from 2012 are quite impatient for the series to end.  They are now in their early 20s, and I suspect that most of the toxic fans are a subset of this group.  These people started reading the series when it was first published, which was when they were in middle school.  They were the age-appropriate fans from when the series debuted.  They are now in college or out in the workforce and are in the final transition to their adult lives.  They are annoyed because they still don't know the ending of a series that they started reading in middle school.

I do understand their feelings.  These are not people who will read children's books as adults.  Someone like me wouldn't have been phased by an unfinished middle-grade series that was still in progress.  After all, I started collecting Nancy Drew books when I was 19 and voraciously read vintage children's series books (Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Judy Bolton, etc.) when I was in my early 20s.  And I still do, as evidenced by this blog.

But these people aren't going to be adult collectors of children's books.  They want to finish transitioning to adulthood, and they want to leave the Keeper series behind.  Being annoyed about it is understandable, but some of them behave very badly while others pile on, making everyone else miserable.

For instance, someone posted at 5:56:07 one morning.  They wanted to know what others thought about Stellarlune, which they had just finished and had enjoyed reading.  At 6:08:57, someone replied, "We have all stopped caring, its [sic] kind of sad seeing the series be butchered like this but you get over it."  At 6:09:52, someone else replied, "We just don't care anymore."  Those were the first two responses, which set the tone for the thread.  

Consider that both people said that they didn't care.  So, why do they frequent the subreddit for the series when they don't care?  Why do they jump on posts, spewing their negativity?  If the series upsets them so much (and it clearly does), then why do they obsess over it?  Their behavior is unhealthy and must negatively impact their mental health. 

It would be far better for these fans to just drift away from the fandom.  If they still care after the series ends, then they can read the ending.  Sometimes in life, things are left unfinished.  It would be far more healthy for these people to just let it go.