Keeper of the Lost Cities #9.5 Unraveled Part 4 Ethan Benedict Wright II

This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set.  Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published.  You've been warned.

I read this book twice immediately after it was released.  I was very confused about Ethan and Eleanor, although I did draw a few conclusions.  I deliberately kept away from the book for a month to distance myself.  I noticed so much about the Forgotten Secrets when I revisited them months later, and I wanted to create a similar situation for this book so that I would gain perspective.  I am making progress on Ethan and Eleanor, although I'm not there yet.

Ethan and Eleanor are ostensibly a human man and his human daughter.  Eleanor is alive, and according to her, Ethan is dead.  But we really don't know.  Let's go through what we know for sure, and what we don't know.

In Book 8, Mr. Forkle says that Ethan and Eleanor's deaths occurred in a gap in the Black Swan's surveillance.  Mr. Forkle agrees with the kids that it's odd.  

It cannot be a coincidence that the fake accident occurred where there was no surveillance.  Someone helped Ethan fake his and his daughter's deaths, and that person had to have been an elf who knew where the Black Swan's surveillance was located.

Since Ethan and Eleanor's deaths were faked to trick Lady Gisela, we can conclude that the Neverseen were not involved.  The only logical conclusion is that an elf associated with the Black Swan was involved.  Since that elf was hindering Lady Gisela and helping the two humans, I believe we can also conclude that this elf wasn't a traitor to the Black Swan. 

Page 356  "Three days later a stranger showed up at our door and told me my dad was dead and I had to leave because I needed people to think I was dead too... they had a letter from my dad.  Apparently he'd given it to them in case something like that happened... he'd made all these arrangements.  Obituaries.  Graves.  A new name.  New guardian.  A bank account."

Most likely, the elf involved was Forkle.  Since Forkle is the leader of the Black Swan and since Livvy once made a statement about the Collective going along with whatever Forkle wants, it's unlikely that Black Swan members would be involved in something like this without Forkle's knowledge.  

Page 168   And while Ethan Benedict Wright II had been called "prominent" in that obituary, Keefe had yet to find a single reference to his work.

Page 224  The only slightly interesting thing he'd found was a brief article that mentioned the "groundbreaking work of Dr. Ethan Benedict Wright II in the search for alternative energy sources."

Page 225  And yet, all of Ethan Benedict Wright II's obituaries had left off his title.

Ethan's work was "groundbreaking," yet there's very little information available for Keefe to find.  It sounds like very basic information was placed in a few articles to give Ethan a plausible backstory so that Lady Gisela would approach him.  The obituaries must have been hastily created, since they leave off Ethan's title.

We know that Forkle has the knowledge to create fake articles for human newspapers, since he did exactly that back in Book 1 when he replaced an article about the San Diego fires with the article he wrote about the "child prodigy."  My guess is that Forkle was involved with the Ethan backstory and obituaries.

In fact, Keefe tells Eleanor that he learned the location of Ethan and Eleanor's deaths from the newspaper obituary.  Whoever wrote the obituary knew that particular location was not covered by the Black Swan's surveillance.  Eleanor said that Ethan wrote the obituary.  This means we can conclude that Ethan knew that the Black Swan's surveillance did not cover that particular location.  Ethan had to be part of the Black Swan or in contact with someone from the Black Swan.  This points to Forkle as the contact.

When Forkle shows up to present the obituary to Sophie and Keefe, he acts nervous.  He must have known all about Ethan, since Ethan knew about the Black Swan's surveillance.  Forkle only supplied the article, since he had to give Sophie and Keefe something, but he knows more.

As I've written in my previous posts, I believe that Councillor Kenric faked his death and that he is Forkle.  Here is how Kenric is described:

Book 1, Page 57   Kenric was built like a football player, with wild red hair and a big, toothy grin.

And now, Ethan Benedict Wright II:

Book 8, Page 78   A really nerdy-looking guy.  Between the tweed blazer and the bow tie and the ruddy cheeks and the wild hair, he looked like some sort of professor stereotype.

Book 8, Page 78   and someone with deep smile lines and strands of gray peppered through his messy red hair.

Book 8, Page 80   And the man that Keefe had drawn was a pretty generic-looking British guy—from his bright ginger hair down to the elbow patches on his blazer.

Book 9.5, Page 163   Ethan Benedict Wright II looked exactly like Keefe had drawn him, with his wild hair, tweed jacket, and crooked bow tie. 

Kenric and Ethan both have red hair that is wild.  Ethan has "deep smile lines," and Kenric is always grinning.  What's interesting is how Shannon doles out the information about Ethan.  She separates it so that we don't put "wild" and "red" together.  She mentions Ethan's wild hair when she doesn't mention the color.  Other times, she mentions the color and not that the hair is wild.  Kenric, though, is stated to have "wild red hair."

I'm less sure about the anagram that I found in Ethan's name.  It could be a coincidence, but "Ethan Benedict Wright II" can be rearranged to form "grin teach tweed inhibit."  "Inhibit" is what I think Ethan was doing with Lady Gisela.  "Tweed" is part of Ethan's description.  "Grin" and "teach" are words that I pulled from the anagram I found in Kenric's name.  "Kenric Elgar Fathdon" rearranges to form the phrase "Forkle grin and teach."  It is all very curious.

Oh, yes—and the name Eleanor Olivia Wright rearranges to form the phrase "love Oralie with a grin."  Most curious.

Book 7, Page 431   Shockingly enough, he wove her hair into the most intricate braid she'd ever seen.  "Do I want to know why you know how to do this?" she asked.  "Of course—but that's a story for another day."

Ever since the first time I read through Book 7, I've wondered why Forkle knows how to weave an intricate braid in a girl's hair.  It's strange, and it's odd that Shannon mentions it.  If Forkle is Ethan, then he could very well have had practice braiding Eleanor's hair.

Book 9.5, Pages 355-356  "My dad was always paranoid.  Always preparing me for something he seemed afraid would happen.  But he got much weirder toward the end.  Started shutting himself in his office for days at a time.  Wandering around the house muttering under his breath about power sources and how he should've spent more time studying geology... he grabbed my arms and told me he'd made a huge mistake, and the only way to fix it was for us to disappear."

We know that Lady Gisela was attempting to recruit Ethan for a side project.  Since Lady Gisela knows about Elysian and since Ethan's research had to do with alternate power sources, then we can assume that Lady Gisela's side project had to do with power sources.  

Who all knows about Elysian?  By my count, as of the time when Lady Gisela tried to recruit Ethan, the only people who knew about Elysian were Fintan, Lady Gisela, and Kenric.  Apparently, Prentice also had information about Elysian via memories implanted by Forkle, but he likely didn't know that information was in his mind, so I'm not counting Prentice.  And yes, Forkle also knew, but I believe he's Kenric.

Fintan, Lady Gisela, and Kenric had all been to Elysian at one time or another.  I think it probable that Ethan is Forkle/Kenric.  Ethan certainly wasn't with the Neverseen, since he and Eleanor disappeared to trick Lady Gisela, which leaves Kenric as the remaining person who knew about Elysian.  If the anagram in Ethan's name is real, then Ethan was deliberately messing with Lady Gisela, trying to "inhibit" her scheme.

I also wonder about the timing.  When did Ethan say that he had made a mistake?  If he's Kenric, could it have been around the time that Kenric probed Fintan's mind and learned about Elysian?  When Kenric spoke to Oralie about Elysian, he said that the information needed to stay fragmented.  He was frightened.  It sounds like Ethan was frightened as well.

The problem with all of this is that Eleanor is very much real and alive, and not only that, she's a human.  At least, we think Eleanor is a human.  How can Ethan possibly be Forkle if he was a human with a human daughter? 

There's a lot we don't know.  Is Eleanor Ethan's biological daughter, or was she adopted?  She calls Ethan her father, but that doesn't tell us whether she always lived with him.  We don't know if Forkle washed some of Eleanor's memories or implanted memories.  Eleanor is evasive when she talks to Keefe, so we don't have the pieces to put the puzzle together.  

My next post focuses on Eleanor.

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

Hidden Clues #10 The Hardest to Find Books in a Series

Note:  This post pertains to defunct series that went out of print not long after the final book was published.  Defunct series that remained in print for many years after the final volume was published do not fit the pattern described here.

People often ask why certain books in defunct series are so hard to find.  The answer is simple: fewer were printed.  Decades later, many of the books have been destroyed, and the copies that remain are not enough to satisfy demand.  

Generally speaking, the hardest to find book in a series that is no longer in print is usually the final title.  The last book published usually went through one printing, and that was it.  

The first book in any series is usually the easiest to find, because it went through the most printings.

Take a hypothetical series consisting of four titles:  

#1 was published in its first printing.
#2 was published in its first printing, and #1 was printed a second time.
#3 was published in its first printing, #1 was printed the third time, and #2 the second time.
#4 was published in its first printing, #1 was printed the fourth time, #2 the third time, and #3 the second time.

The series ended shortly after the publication of #4, resulting in no additional printings of any of the books.

#1 had four printings.
#2 had three printings.
#3 had two printings.
#4 had one printing.  This would make #4 the hardest one to find.

This is a simplified version of what actually happens, since even more intermediate printings are involved, but it shows why the last book is the hardest one to find.  In addition to fewer print runs, a series usually declines in popularity, so the print run sizes decrease.  When the last book is printed in its one printing, the printing might be rather small.

I won't attempt to cover value, since it is constantly changing.  To get an idea of value, type the book into the search at eBay.com.  Filter the search to sold items, then see what the selling prices were.  Current listing prices do not indicate value.  Some sellers price items way too high, and those items will never sell.

Below, I have listed some examples of scarce titles for a sampling of series books.  The books are examples of titles that are considered to be the hardest to find title, usually by far.  The format matters as does the volume number.  For instance, the Dana Girls books were renumbered for a later format, so the same books with different volume numbers don't count.  If the book is in a different format than what I have indicated, then the book isn't scarce.

For series where I list more than one book, the scarcity is on a sliding scale where the highest-numbered title is usually the scarcest out of the group.

Scarce Last Titles (format matters)

Cherry Ames

27.  Ski Nurse Mystery

For the above book, the scarce book is the original hardcover with the Grosset & Dunlap imprint on the spine.  A modern reprint exists, and it is of minimal value.

Connie Blair

12.  The Mystery of the Ruby Queens

The scarce printing is the hardcover.  It was also printed in softcover, and that book's value is lower.

Dana Girls (Beige Spine Hardcover Edition Only)

27.  The Secret of the Silver Dophin
28.  Mystery of the Wax Queen
29.  The Secret of the Minstrel's Guitar
30.  The Phantom Surfer

Dana Girls (White Spine Hardcover Edition Only)

14.  The Curious Coronation
15.  Hundred-Year Mystery
16.  Mountain-Peak Mystery
17.  The Witch's Omen

Judy Bolton (Green Spine Hardcover Edition Only)

This one is tricky.  Prior to modern reprints, Judy Bolton #35-38 were completely impossible to find.  For that reason, they are still considered to be hard to find titles.  However, they actually aren't as hard to find as the rest of the Judy Bolton set in the green spine picture cover. 

35.  The Hidden Clue
36.  The Pledge of the Twin Knights
37.  The Search for the Glowing Hand
38.  The Secret of the Sand Castle

Ken Holt

18.  The Mystery of the Sultan's Scimitar

Rick Brant

21.  Rocket Jumper
22.  The Deadly Dutchman
23.  Danger Below!
24.  The Magic Talisman

Tom Swift, Jr.:

33.  Tom Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts

Trixie Belden:

35. The Mystery of the Memorial Day Fire
36. The Mystery of the Antique Doll
37. The Pet Show Mystery
38. The Indian Burial Ground Mystery
39. The Mystery of the Galloping Ghost

Vicki Barr

15.  The Mystery of Flight 908
16.  The Brass Idol Mystery

In the case of the two Vicki Barr books, Flight 908 is far harder to find than Brass Idol.

Keeper of the Lost Cities #9.5 Unraveled Part 3 Alvar

This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set.  Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published.  You've been warned.

I read the book for the third time in late January.  My opinion has shifted some, but I'm leaving the main body of this post as I first wrote it.  My current thoughts are at the end of the post.

In this post, I've collected interesting Alvar quotes from Unraveled.

Page 196  "But the longer I'm around humans, the more value I see to their way of thinking."

Page 199  "That's the thing about humans—most are pretty generous and helpful."

Page 202   "I'm done with the Lost Cities.  I have absolutely zero desire to ever go back again."  

Page 203  "I like where I am.  I like being insignificant.  No pressure.  No past.  No legacy."

But will his opinion change after he's healed?

Page 204  "Honestly, Keefe, I wish I had something worth sharing.  I could use a good bargaining chip right now."

This quote is in reference to Alvar wanting to bargain with Keefe to get Keefe to let him go back to his city.  But it occurs to me—Alvar overhears an important conversation Keefe has with Sophie later in the book.  What if Alvar uses what he knows to bargain with the Neverseen?

Page 241  "Stellarlune... apparently has something to do with... rocks."

Page 245  "Well, it's kind of pointless to speculate, but... I guess it would depend on how they tried to force me.  I'm not great with physical punishments."

So, Alvar isn't ruling out whether he could end up going back to what he did before with the Neverseen.

Page 281  "I actually liked not having an ability.  I know that probably seems hard to believe—and it definitely took a little getting used to.  But it kinda felt like proof that I belonged in the human world—and made it way easier to blend in."

Page 281  "It's like... there's a pool deep inside me.  Maybe it's something we all have.  Some sort of... inner reserve of energy that fuels our abilities." 

Alvar wants to fit in.  He did fit in with the humans, but with his ability back, he's going to want to be back in the elven world.  He doesn't have a lot of choices due to the bridges he's burned.  That's why I think it's likely that he'll end up doing something nefarious again.

Another thought I had was, How do we know Alvar isn't working for Lady Gisela?  Surely she's checked in on Keefe with her shadowflux tracker.  Is it possible that Gisela knew Keefe was going to libraries and that she had Alvar check libraries?

Gisela indicates near the end of Stellarlune that she still has a means to track Keefe.  Did Alvar place another tracker on Keefe somehow?

Also, there's this:

On page 234, Alvar says that Ethan Benedict Wright "had a weird name I can never remember."  Is he pretending?  He might have said that to throw Keefe off.

Alvar does seem sincere.  But we know from past experience that Alvar is a weak, needy person.  Since Keefe heals him, he knows what Keefe can do.  This is dangerous information for Alvar to have.  He also heard everything Sophie says about Kenric's cache.

Alvar and Keefe are like each other.  They parallel each other.  Both of them are "the boy who disappeared."  Alvar is that to Sophie, and Keefe is that to Eleanor.  Alvar was looking for an elf but thought Sophie was human.  Keefe thinks Eleanor is human.  What if she isn't?  Eleanor wants Lady Gisela dead.  Why?

Keefe thinks it's odd that he and Alvar just happen to show up in the same library at the same time.  It's very strange.

Alvar overheard all of Sophie's conversation with Keefe.  Let's see what Alvar knows:

• Keefe did something to Dex's family.
• Keefe has a voice ability.  He mentions it being a "voice command thing."  He then mentions "controlling humans."
• Keefe repeats the lie about using jewelry to pay for the hotel room.
• Lady Gisela had a shadowflux tracker placed in Keefe's chest.
• Sophie spoke of "a ton of memories they'd found in Kenric's cache" and that they had found out "about something called Elysian."
• Sophie was asked by Vespera to form a temporary alliance against Keefe's mom.
• Sophie didn't agree to the alliance, but they are going to find Elysian on their own.  Wylie is trying to find the starstone.  They mention the rocks being a power source.

Here are my thoughts after my third reading of the book.

I feel like Alvar is genuinely trying to help Keefe.  He seems to really care about Keefe and wants to help him overcome his problems.  He gives Keefe great suggestions and truly supports him.  I feel like Alvar is being genuine.  I really do.  However...

Page 245  "Well, it's kind of pointless to speculate, but... I guess it would depend on how they tried to force me.  I'm not great with physical punishments."

This quote is important and foreshadows what will likely happen.  Lady Gisela has probably been checking up on Keefe daily with her Eleventh hour tracker and may even have followed him around.  She could very well know that Alvar has been with Keefe in the Forbidden Cities.  In fact, she almost certainly does know.  She will most likely take Alvar captive and torture him into doing what she wants.

I have a different perspective now on why Alvar says that he can't ever remember Ethan's name.  I don't think Alvar ever met Ethan.  Even though Alvar says that Keefe was a last-minute replacement on that day, that can't be true.  Keefe went to Ethan's house at least three times.  I'll detail how we know this in my post about Eleanor.  

If Alvar never delivered anything to Ethan's house, then he would have never met him.  He wouldn't be as likely to remember Ethan's name.

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

March Selling Update + Nancy Drew Lunchbox Reminder

The last two months have been horrifically bad.  We have lost eight days of school this semester due to a school illness closure plus multiple bad winter weather events.  Additionally, when we have been open, student absences have been high due to this year's bad flu season.  School has been a complete disaster.

On March 2, I activated my listings, thinking that I could give it a go.  It only took 12 hours for me to deactivate all of them when I realized that I wasn't ready.

Currently, I am on spring break.  I've had to deal with some stuff, and my plan was to activate my listings on Tuesday.  I have been waffling back and forth since Tuesday on whether to activate my listings, with "no" winning each time.

Last night I finally activated some of my Etsy listings.  Around 100 are still inactive.  This morning I reactivated all of my eBay listings.  I'm going to try.  I can't promise how long I will stay open, and I could shut down at any point, since my heart definitely isn't in it.  

I do want to sell for two reasons.  I could use some more money coming in, since I'd like to resume paying off my new car quickly.  I've been stalled for a few months where I'm just making the minimum payment.  Second, my extra books are piling up badly.  I have boxed up some books.  The ones that I boxed are the Nancy Drew books that I have pulled for bulk lots, probably around 100 of them.  They are out in the garage.  Even with two full boxes of books in the garage, I have way too many unlisted extras.  

It's impossible for me to have the books arranged in order, and I've been shoving them wherever I can.  Here are some photos.  Click on images in order to see them at a higher resolution.

These images do not show all of the unlisted extras.  I have a bulk lot of Dana Girls books that I am still airing out.  They were musty, and I treated them with ozone.  I am now airing out the ozone odor.  I don't know where I will put them once I'm done with the process.  I also have some books stacked in random places.

I'm going to try to make myself list some books today.  We'll see how it goes.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Finally, the Nancy Drew lunchbox campaign has less than a week to go.  If you want a lunchbox, then you must act before the campaign ends on March 25.

Nancy Drew Lunchbox Campaign

Keeper of the Lost Cities #9.5 Unraveled Part 2 General Thoughts

This post contains some spoilers, so do not read it unless you've read this book.

Shannon Messenger has already revealed many clues to the big secrets but has obfuscated so well that many fans don't realize that we can most likely conclude who Forkle is as well as the identity of Sophie's father.  She's continuing this pattern in Unraveled.

I read the book all the way through on December 3 and 4.  It was over the course of around 30 hours, roughly.  I always read fast.  I noticed certain things but didn't process everything.  The clear takeaways were gaining information about two characters:  Alvar Vacker and Ethan Benedict Wright II. 

On my first reading, I felt like what was revealed meant that I was completely wrong about Ethan Benedict Wright II.  My theory has been that Ethan is Forkle's fifth identity.  The book ostensibly makes it very clear that Ethan is a real person, a human, with a human daughter, Eleanor.  There's no way that he could be Forkle.

On my second reading, I realized that Shannon obfuscates all through the entire Ethan and Eleanor reveal.  Shannon is a master of misdirection.  She appears to have revealed that Ethan was a human.  But was he really?  Some of what Eleanor says is incomplete or strange.  There's a lot we don't know.  I will expand on this in future posts.

Regarding Alvar, I want to believe that he's sincere, but I suspect that he's going to give in to temptation and do something bad yet again.  I'll also cover Alvar in a separate post.

The rest of this post covers various things I noticed, aside from the Alvar, Ethan, and Eleanor content.

On page 17 in a memory, Lady Gisela tells Keefe that anger is important.  When Keefe heals Alvar, he pulls from the energy that he has reserved from his anger.

Elysian can take power away.  Keefe can return it.  Keefe's power might come in handy in the aftermath of the cliffhanger for #9 Stellarlune.

Page 55  There had to be at least sixty years' worth of sketchbooks...

Lord Cassius was drawing decades before Keefe was born, and Keefe is better than he is.  No wonder Lord Cassius is jealous of Keefe.

Page 102  "Life is a very long game, and you have to play by the rules before you can break them.  Prove you're someone worth trusting, so that no one watches you too closely."

Lord Cassius worries about appearances, and he doesn't like that Keefe continually draws attention to the family.

Page 104  "You're forgetting that your mother will only show herself when the timing is right for her."

I think of Lady Gisela's sudden appearance at the end of Stellarlune.  She shows up at exactly the perfect moment.  

Keefe gets pep talks from both his father and from Alvar.  Here's Lord Cassius.

Page 110  "No matter what your mother claims—or what you discover about your new abilities—you'll always have a say in your future."

Lord Cassius also says that the Black Swan were correct to have Sophie grow up with humans so that she would gain that perspective.

In Book 5 on page 351, Sophie says that the Neverseen created Keefe to stop Sophie.  If anything, it would be the other way around.  Keefe is older than Sophie and was born first.  Sophie would have been created by the Black Swan in order to stop Keefe, who was first created by the Neverseen.

Here's another quote from Shannon's December 5 talk with Roshani Choksi, sponsored by Brookline Booksmith:

"I never give spoilers of any kind but...  The reason I wrote this book is because we need to know Keefe's secrets, and secrets always have a way of coming out.  Obviously, all of the big reveals in this book and even some of the small reveals that you might think were just kind of a casual little 'toss-in there detail' kind of thing like... 

There's a lot that's coming that's going to tie into this, and so I've actually given you quite a few clues.  You may just not realize yet, and so it's really going to be fun over these next months to kind of see how readers speculate that it's all going to come together.  And I do have a plan!  My characters have a way of ruining my plans, but I have plans of how it's all going to tie together.  

And I am hard at work on plotting that all out and diving in and starting at that horrible cliffhanger that I left you on in Stellarlune and starting to give you those answers."

Whether we recognize them or not, this book has important clues in it.  We must read carefully to unearth them.

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

No Place Left to Hide by Megan Lally

No Place Left to Hide by Megan Lally was published by Sourcebooks Fire on January 7, 2025.

Publisher's summary:

Some secrets just won't stay hidden in this twisty new thriller from New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Megan Lally!

To Brooke, image is everything.  She works hard to maintain perfect grades, perfect looks, a perfect life—especially after "the incident" that threatened it all.  Getting into her dream university puts her that much closer to a fresh start.  How can she say no to celebrating with all her classmates?

Hanging out with her crush by the bonfire is the perfect end to the night.  Except it isn't the end.  An old truck starts aggressively tailing Brooke and her best friend on the isolated road toward home.  Someone thinks they know the truth about "the incident," and they won't stop until it's all out in the open.  This terrifying drive is about to bring out Brooke's worst fears…if she survives it.

The book switches back and forth between "then" and "now."  "Then" is when "the incident" happened and is a gradual retelling of what happened that night.  "Now" involves what happens with Brooke and the unknown person who is harassing her about "the incident."

I found most of the backstory from months before to be tedious and overall uninteresting.  It was basically some mean girls and their backstabbing fights with each other.  Once "the incident" begins unfolding in the past, then that part becomes quite compelling.  The "now" part of the book is much more interesting, even though part of it is a little slow.  

Even though I found the early part of the book to be less interesting, I knew as I read it that there were clues that I needed to try to catch.  I had a suspicion about the direction the story would ultimately take, and I was correct.  As the book approached the climax, I went back to the early part of the book and reviewed a few scenes, which confirmed that what I suspected was almost certain to be how the book would play out.  

The structure of this book is very much like the television series Cruel Summer.  If you enjoyed Cruel Summer and like YA lit, then you should enjoy this book.  In particular, this book is reminiscent of the second season of Cruel Summer for several reasons.  By the way, if you watched the Nancy Drew television series on The CW network, the second season of Cruel Summer was filmed in the same locale.  In fact, the set for The Bayside Claw from Nancy Drew was used for the popular hangout in Cruel Summer.

In summary, the early part of the book is a bit slow.  The book becomes pretty interesting by around one-third of the way into the story.  The second half of the book is highly suspenseful and overall excellent.

Keeper of the Lost Cities #9.5 Unraveled Part 1 The Review Bombing

This post contains some spoilers for this book.

Unraveled has been review-bombed on the American sites.  I decided to get that bit of unpleasantness out of the way with this post before I get into all of my thoughts in future posts.

People who are extremely religious are deeply offended that this book mentions gay people in two different places in extremely brief passages.  They have blasted this book with one-star reviews on all of the different American book sites.  The complainers have caused some people who haven't read the book to think that Shannon has put sex scenes in the book.  Um, no.  This is a middle-grade series published by a major publishing company, Simon & Schuster.  Sex scenes and anything remotely graphic would never be in a middle-grade book published by a major company.

On page 140, a male jogger makes this statement.

"My husband is a counseling psychologist."

On page 261, a female waitress states the following.

"In fact, my wife and I go at least once a month to check up on our koala buddies."

The lead-in to the next mention is important.  This is what Alvar has to say on page 265.

"I did [pick up my first match list].  And I dated pretty much everyone on it.  But it felt so... forced.  That's why I never picked up any other lists.  It's like, 'Here are the people you're genetically compatible with.  Go fall in love with one of them so you can have a baby with a powerful special ability.' "

Alvar goes on to say that love is much more important, and that it should be based only on that.  Alvar then makes an observation.

Page 265  "And did you notice?  The waitress said she has a wife."  "That's true," Keefe realized.  "And now that I think about it, I actually met a guy in London who talked about his husband."  "Yeah, it's really cool."

Keefe and Alvar then discuss whether the Council could ever decide to end matchmaking.  

That's it.  The only mention of gay people in 418 pages is what I just quoted, but it was enough to anger some fans. 

I went through the one-star reviews and noted some of the more extreme comments.  I have placed line breaks between each reviewer's thoughts.  If you're LGBTQ+, please be advised that these reviews will difficult to read, so you might want to skim or skip them.

ok like HELLO what to say what to say i know what to say THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST BOOKS IVE EVER READ like help... shannon did not need to add LGBTQ in even if they were minor characters it is not only disgusting but also wrong.

This book has ruined my week and the entire Keeper series for me. 

The author chose to force LGBTQ+ content into a book meant for children and sets the stage for Alvar to be featured as gay in future books or as an avenue to bring homosexuality to the elven world. So sad that she ruined her series this way.

This one clearly has a agenda for our kids. Controversal topics that are inappropriate for young readers.

The author said book 9.5 was essential before reading book 10 and now we know why. We won’t be purchasing or reading book 10 or any future work by her because now we know she cares more about checking a "fair representation" box more than she cares about her readers. So disappointing.

This book has an agenda and is not appropriate for children.

I used to respect Shannon as an author, but now I have zero respect for her she ruined the whole series for me. it was my favorite series now it's my least favorite. Didn't finish and will return.

Really too bad Shannon felt like she needed to go down that road when she had so much potential with this series! She just lost a lot of business for attacking the foundation of the family.

The author has decided to add homosexual characters which is completely unnecessary and inappropriate for the children this series is targeted at.

Okay.  There's a lot I could say, but I will refrain aside from mentioning that I don't have a problem with the content.  On my previous readings of the series, I had already thought that gay humans would likely be mentioned at some point in the series.  After all, if gay humans exist, then gay elves should exist as well, right?  I certainly noticed both references as I read this book for the first time, and I wasn't surprised to see Shannon do it.  The mention of gay humans is used to make a statement about what is flawed about the elves' match system.  That's all it is.  

From the talk with Roshani Choksi on December 5, 2024, sponsored by Brookline Booksmith, Shannon Messenger made this statement:

"I always take myself out of it.  I never put anything in just because I want it to be there.  I never leave anything out just because I don't want it in there.  I'm always going... what makes the most sense for this... what is the story telling me it needs...  I really try to put myself in the shoes of the character and just be...  what are they experiencing right now?  What are they thinking?  What are they feeling?  What are they noticing?  And that's what goes into the book." 

She wasn't trying to fulfill a quota or anything like that.  It made sense for Keefe and Alvar to acknowledge that they had been around a couple of gay humans and then tie it to the match system.  

All Shannon has done is acknowledge that gay people exist.  And they do.  Nothing more should be read into it. 

Christian fans feel betrayed because they say that Shannon promised never to have gay people in her Keeper books.  I wish I could find the exact quote or video of what she said.  The best I can figure out is that Shannon said something about gay people not being a part of the elven worldbuilding, which they wouldn't be because of how the elf match system works.  I don't know whether Shannon actually promised anything as a definitive statement.  It doesn't matter, since these fans believe that she did.

I recently purchased the French and German editions.  I ran the Unraveled reviews through a translator to see what Europeans have to say about the book.  I noticed that European readers have no problem with the content, and there has been no review bombing on the international Amazon sites.  On the UK site only, I found maybe one or two reviews that mentioned displeasure at having gay humans mentioned in the book.  Other than that, people outside the United States are unfazed by the content.  It's just this one group of Americans who are upset.

New Nancy Drew Lunchboxes and New Three Investigators Books

Wandering Planet Toys is offering two Nancy Drew lunchboxes through a BackerKit campaign. 

Nancy Drew Lunchboxes

The lunchboxes can be pre-ordered through the link.  You can purchase them for $36 each, or you can purchase the set of two for $60.  The prices do not include shipping.  The campaign ends on March 26, 2025.  The lunchboxes are expected to ship in August 2025.  

If you are interested, make sure that you order before March 26.  If you miss out on pre-ordering, then you won't be able to purchase a lunchbox except through later secondhand offerings.

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Robert Arthur's daughter, Elizabeth Arthur, has written a set of 26 new Three Investigators books.  The first three books were published earlier this week.  The books are print-on-demand and can be purchased online through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.  The books won't be sold in stores.

1.  The Mystery of the Abecedarian Academy

2.  The Mystery of the Brobdingnagian Beast

3.  The Mystery of the Chimeric Cornucopia

Early reviews from open-minded Three Investigators fans have been positive.  I have read part of the excerpt of the first book, and what I have read so far is good.

If you decide to order the books, be aware that fans have reported that Barnes & Noble orders are delayed and not shipping, while Amazon is producing and shipping the books out promptly.

More on the New Trixie Belden Cover Art

My previous posts were written in October and November 2024.  This post was just written.  I wrote it soon after I posted the new cover art on Facebook in February 2024.   

A few people made lukewarm comments on my post.  Others no doubt felt the same but held back because of my position.  Look, I get it.  This is not the cover art of our youth.  We will never like new cover art as much as the original art.  That's just a given.

That's why we collect the old books.  We recapture the magic of our childhoods by surrounding ourselves with things that we loved back then.  Nobody can take that away from us.  The new cover art isn't a threat to that.  The books can live on with new art while we continue to enjoy the old art.

I will purchase the books because I want to see them firsthand.  I don't know if I will keep them, just because I've decided in recent years that I don't need everything and don't want to keep most modern variants of series books.

Here's a comment I made on Facebook on February 8.

Series books are well on the way out and well on the way to being completely forgotten by the general public.  Library editions are no longer being made of the original Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys hardcovers.  Fewer and fewer children read them.

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys are still in print by a major publisher, but their longevity is now in jeopardy.  Trixie Belden is going back in print with these four titles by Random House, another major publisher.  No other major publishers have any series books in print.  Some series books (Happy Hollisters, Judy Bolton, Three Investigators) are in print by heirs.  Series books are just a whisper from the past.  That's why I find new cover art exciting.

I really try to keep any less-than-positive comments about series book art out of any online statements that I make.  People are very sensitive about the cover art of their favorite childhood books.

I made another comment on Facebook, and the first paragraph is something that I don't think I had ever admitted before due to the extreme sensitivity of many Trixie Belden fans.  I'm treading on thin ice even by making the admission.

I usually keep pretty quiet about this, since I have long felt like the only one who feels this way.  The original Trixie Belden cover art doesn't do much for me.  It's fine, but it doesn't appeal to me.

My favorite Trixie Belden covers are what everyone quite unfortunately calls the "uglies," a term that used to deeply offend and upset me.  It didn't help when someone taunted me when I admitted that it bothered me.  I'm now old enough that I don't care what they call those covers.  I just won't join them in using that term, but it no longer has any impact on me.  I will quietly continue to admire them as the beloved books I read when young.

Since I'm not invested in a deep love of the original Trixie Belden cover art, I can view these covers more objectively than the most diehard Trixie Belden fans. It's a lot harder for them to appreciate new takes on the old books. I'm all about wanting series books to continue to be viable for a few more years.

Most of the Trixie Belden artwork is nice, but I like the Grosset & Dunlap series artwork style much better.  That's just me.  I don't mean it to be a derogatory statement; it's just how I feel.

I especially dislike the square paperback Trixie Belden artwork.  It's puzzling to me that my beloved books are "ugly" while to me, the square paperbacks are ugly.  But you see, that's why a word like "ugly" never should have been used as a format title.  Different people have different interpretations of which covers are ugly.  That is my point.

The day I posted about the new covers, my post was mentioned in a new post in the Trixie Belden group.  This resulted in more complaints.  As before, the comments were overwhelmingly negative.  The comments made were by people saying that the artwork is bad, that it's like a cartoon, that it doesn't represent the books, that Trixie looks too young, and on and on.  I want to mention one notable comment.

One person said that they didn't have a problem with it.  They stated that they don't think they would even know about Trixie Belden if the books hadn't been reprinted 15 years ago by Random House.

That is precisely why the rerelease is so important.  I looked at this person's Facebook profile.  I'm not great with determining age, but this person is a youthful adult, probably in her twenties.  Something like that.  Someone her age would only be a fan if introduced through new reprints or by an older relative.  Most people don't have older relatives who are Trixie Belden fans, and besides, children tend to be resistant when a parent encourages them to try certain things.  Children prefer to be allowed to discover what they like.

With the books going back into print this summer, they might show up in Barnes & Noble stores.  A child might see the book, like it, and have their parent purchase it.  The child might become a big Trixie Belden fan, and the parent might buy some of the old books for them—ones not back in print.  Some 15 years from now, that child after becoming an adult, might decide to join an online Trixie Belden group and become part of the collecting community.

Why would that be bad?  Why be critical of reprints?

There were comments saying that our books should be left alone and simply shouldn't be reprinted with new cover art for children.  20 years ago when Random House began reprinting the Trixie Belden books, one fan said that they didn't want them to go past #16, since they didn't like the paperback titles.  I guess they got their wish, but I don't understand that viewpoint. 

I doubt that Trixie Belden fans truly want their fandom to die out, but this resistance to reprints sure makes it seem like they feel that way.  Some Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys fans give off that same attitude.  Some collectors have stated that they'd rather the Nancy Drew franchise end than continue in a changed form.  They'll soon get their wish if Simon & Schuster continues on its current path. 

I understand that most Trixie Belden fans are just making a knee-jerk reaction with little thought as to how much cumulative negative energy is generated by dozens of fans complaining about something that truly doesn't really matter one way or the other.  As I already stated, they still have the old books.  Nobody is taking them away.  The new books aren't a threat to the old books.

Other comments made were that people don't think the covers would appeal to children and that children wouldn't be enticed by them.  Actually, there's no way that we can know that.  We aren't children.  Each of us once was a child, but I doubt that most of us have any memories where we can truly pinpoint how we saw something as compared to how we see it now.

I do have one memory where I know for sure how my young mind interpreted a television show.  

When I was around five to seven years old, I watched reruns of the sitcom Get Smart on Saturday mornings along with The Jetsons and Lost in Space.

I particularly loved Get Smart.  I remember clearly what kind of show it was.  Get Smart was a serious detective show.  Yes!  The show was dead serious with Maxwell Smart performing important investigations.  I loved it so much.  

When I was in my late teens, the show was rerun on Nick at Nite.  I watched it one night to see what it was like.  I remembered what a serious detective show it was.  I couldn't believe it.  I found that the show was slapstick comedy and so extremely silly—too silly for my taste.  I was amazed that young me had missed all the humor in the show and had thought that the show was a serious detective show.

The lesson to be learned is that we can't predict by our refined adult tastes what children might like.  If the new Trixie Belden covers seem bad to you, they might be just fine for the target audience.  We can't know how a child will feel about the books.  All we can hope is that Random House has found the perfect packaging for today's child.

Keeper of the Lost Cities: The Council and the Black Swan

This is a summary of how the Council's view of the Black Swan has shifted from book to book.  It also tracks what the Council knows.

#1 Keeper of the Lost Cities

The Council bring Sophie to the Lost Cities.  Bronte is angry that Sophie exists, and he's annoyed that he didn't know about her.  Kenric and Oralie are supportive of Sophie.

Two tribunals are ordered when Sophie bottles Quintessence, which is forbidden, and later Everblaze.  Sophie is found innocent and is allowed to continue at Foxfire.

The Councillors are in denial about the serious problems faced by the Lost Cities.  They refuse to believe that Fintan tried to exterminate the human race with his fires.

#2 Exile

The Councillors ask Sophie to assist Alden in Fintan's mind break.  She later heals Alden after his mind break.  This shows that the Councillors do trust Sophie to some degree.

#3 Everblaze

After Sophie attempts to probe King Dimitar's mind, the Council, led by Alina, turn against Sophie.  The Council place an ability restrictor on Sophie.  The only Councillors who appear to be against Sophie's punishment are Bronte, Oralie, and Terik.  The Councilors vow to hunt down and punish every member of the Black Swan.

#4 Neverseen

Sophie and her friends become fugitives and go into hiding with the Black Swan.  They are joined by Della, who swears fealty to the Black Swan.  The Councillors nearly capture the Collective and the kids when they attempt to rescue Prentice.  The Council grant the Black Swan a temporary reprieve to allow them to trade their captive, Gethen, for Prentice.

Sophie and her friends half destroy Ravagog.  The Councillors seem impressed, and they once again view Sophie favorably.  Sophie will be allowed to return to Foxfire.

#5 Lodestar

The Council have decided that skills are important and that everyone will be trained to use their skills. 

Oralie helps to set up a meeting between the Black Swan and Gethen.  Sophie and Forkle are allowed to attend the peace conference as representatives for the Black Swan.  Emery comments that the "Black Swan have proven themselves to be both resourceful and reasonable."

Oralie tells Forkle that she has an idea about who he is.  I assume that she is thinking of Leto.

Granite makes a slip in front of the Council, and they figure out that he is Tiergan.

#6 Nightfall

Bronte is now aligned with the Black Swan and is friendly—in his own way—with Sophie.  He asks if the Collective are willing to drop their disguises.  Mr. Forkle said that they might someday if "the Council continue to make the right decisions."

#7 Flashback

The Neverseen go to Everglen to open up a secret troll hive.  They are confronted by Sophie and her friends.  The Neverseen broadcast the fight to the Celestial Festival, where everyone in the Lost Cities sees what happens.  It doesn't turn out the way the Neverseen want, since they decide to flee after the hatched trolls attack.  Sophie and her friends fight off the newborns as the entire Lost Cities watch.  Opinion of the Black Swan order turns positive throughout the Lost Cities.  Sophie is now respected.

#8 Legacy

Sophie learns that Gethen has read Tam's mind and knows everything that Tam knows.  This means that the Neverseen know that there were two Forkles and that only one is dead.  They also know that Magnate Leto is Mr. Forkle.  This means that anyone could end up knowing that Leto is Forkle, since the members of the Neverseen could tell anyone.

The Council appoint Sophie as a Regent in the nobility.  Sophie is now officially working with the Council.  Sophie is told by the Council that they are on the same side.

Forkle and the Council realize that they haven't been upfront with each other and agree to share information.

Livvy drops her disguise in front of the Council.

The Council and the Black Swan make a joint statement.
 
#8.5 Unlocked

Noland comments that the goals of Project Moonlark remain unclear.

#9 Stellarlune

Sophie uses her Imparter to demand to speak to Forkle, using his name as well as Leto and Astin.  The book states that Sophie also called for Forkle using all three names while in Oralie's mind map room.  If so, then Oralie knows that Leto and Astin are Forkle.

Both Lord Cassius and Bronte know that Leto is Forkle, since each of them is with Leto while discussing various affairs tied to the Black Swan.

At this point in the series, the Council and the Black Swan are allies.  All Councillors know that Tiergan is in the Collective, and some of the Councillors know that Leto is Forkle.  The secrets are being exposed, and it shouldn't be much longer before everything is revealed.

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

New Paperback Editions of the First Four Trixie Belden Books

This post was written in November 2024 as the second of two related posts.  I planned to publish both posts in November 2024.  I had to wait because this post contained proprietary images that had not at that time been shared outside of Edelweiss, which is a site used by publishers to list their catalogs.  I didn't want to get into trouble by sharing proprietary images.  I delayed publishing the posts until the images were finally released to public view.  I left the text of this post exactly as it was written in October 2024, with the exception of a note about the images.  I have written another post with additional thoughts, and it will be published next.

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New paperback editions of Trixie Belden #1, 2, 3, and 4 will be published by Random House in June 2025.  As I stated in my previous post, this is GREAT news.  

The news was posted to Facebook on November 1 with a link to the Barnes & Noble site.  This is what the site shows.  Click on images in order to see them better.

The initial reaction was mostly positive.  The images depict the Cameo edition artwork, so this makes it appear that the paperbacks will have the Cameo artwork.  Since fans like the Cameo editions, the comments were almost all positive.  The only negative comment was the person who said that they weren't interested if they couldn't purchase an entire matching set.

On November 2, someone else found the new cover art online.  [Note:  I have swapped out the images from Edelweiss that had banners on them and switched them to what now show on Amazon.]

Random House has this to say about the books:  "We have four brand-new covers that refresh this series for modern audiences, and the interior retains the original black-and-white full-page illustrations making for a stand-out package!"

Before I get into what transpired, I want to give my reaction.  I apparently look at cover art differently than most people do.  When I first see new artwork, I view it as an entire image without looking closely at details.  I react to the overall aesthetic appeal of the image.  I react to the colors and the presentation and how the image makes me feel.

When I first saw these images, I was pleased to see something new.  I felt happy.  I saw bright, attractive colors.  I saw a fun assortment of colors.  I saw images that are reminiscent of the older cover art, most especially the Cello editions.  The cover art is a marriage of the original cover art to the modern animated style of all current children's books.

That's not what everyone else saw.

The negativity commenced.  Here, I paraphrase some of the complaints.

The price is too high at $8.99.  The old paperback books were more affordable at $0.95 to $1.95. 

Um, that was 38 to 47 years ago.  Books now cost much more than they did back then.

The girls look too young on the covers.

The current trend is to depict youth as looking very young on book covers.  Think of how Nancy Drew looks on the Nancy Drew Diaries books.  Besides, Trixie Belden looks very young on many of the old Trixie Belden books.  Seriously, she does!

I paid $2,000 to replace my books a few years ago.  It's frustrating that now they reprint them.

My comment isn't about the person who spent $2,000 on their books but about the person who jumped on them, saying that they couldn't have spent that much.  I noted that the person who spent $2,000 lives in Canada.  They likely had to pay international shipping to acquire many of the books.  If they purchased all formats, then they ended up purchasing multiple sets.  I did some rough figuring with values like $10 to $15 each for many of the books.  I came up with around $1,700 for a set of all formats, and I knew that my estimate was going to be low.  How dare people question what someone paid for their set!

The covers are too cartoonish.

Most of the complaints were about the covers being too cartoonish or similar to anime.  That's just the modern style.  Honestly, these Trixie Belden covers are much better than most of what is on the covers of current children's books.  To prove my point, I went to Amazon's bestsellers list for middle-grade books (or approximately middle-grade, since tween and teen books get mixed together).  I took screen captures of what I found.  Remember to click on the images in order to see them better.

I personally feel that the new Trixie Belden covers are more attractive than nearly all of these covers.  Modern books are by and large unappealing to those of us who like old books.  The new Trixie Belden covers capture the essence of the old books but modernize them.  Random House's promotional text even says that the books "have four brand-new covers that refresh this series for modern audiences."  In my opinion, Random House did a great job accomplishing that.