Caro's Book Reviews

Lainey Styles is a high school student who pretty much has her life planned out. She wants nothing more than to be able to leave her small town life behind and explore the world around her. However, all her meticulous plans come crashing down around her when she discovers most of what she knows about herself is a lie. Thrust into a world of magic and the impossible, Lainey must learn how to navigate in this new world while facing enemies who are after her unique gift. Lainey is not alone, as she is aided by her best friend Maggie, and new-to-school Ty. Together, they try to help Lainey discover her family's history and her true self. Keeper is filled with magical creatures such as witches and werewolves. Lainey must learn who she can trust, and who is working for the enemy. Initially, I wasn't too enthused but as the story moved on and the pace quickened, I began to enjoy reading to find out what happens next to Lainey. The ending is a bit abrupt in my opinion,

Road of the Lost , by Aiden Russell, is the first book of the Judges Cycle series and is set in the Land of Nod. Two young Templars looking for a missing champion, and an Elf with an inherited duty as a guardian, are thrown together as unlikely companions due to dark machinations of an ancient evil. Dark Elves, with brutish and hungry Ogres for minions, work for the ancient evil and constantly beset the heroes with attacks. Due to this, there is plenty of action with with all of the battles. The two Templars, Gratas and Jerah must learn to work together with the Elf, Reslo, in order for the three of them to survive the quest that they have been given. In the background, political truces are hanging by a precariously thin thread. Rival nations disagree over religion and gods, and there is bitterness remaining from a long ago war. The novel ends well, with threads leading towards a second book. There are also a few intriguing sub-plots that left me curious. Road of the

Quick reads from last weekend: “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” by J.K. Rowling (et al.). Quick review: not as good as the original series. Seemed cliche at times with father/son not understanding each other arguments. Script form, so not for those who prefer novels to scripts. “The Hostage” by James Patterson and Robert Gold. Quick review: quick read as intended, took about an hour to read with distractions in between. Little bit gory so not for those who are a bit squeamish. Ending was a bit unsatisfactory for me, but otherwise it was an ok read. Both books were library books, and reviewed for fun.