Flashback (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 7) by Shannon Messenger

Flashback is the seventh book in my favorite series ever, Keeper of the Lost Cities. Sophie's adventures and troubles are far from over, as the Neverseen proves to a bigger threat than ever. Healing from her previous endeavors, Sophie and her friends will learn how to finally fight back against the impossible- but the truth of the "Vacker Legacy" is far more shocking than what anyone could have believed.

I must admit that I don't love this one as much as I loved the past six books. The major breakthroughs and climatic events were almost too mind-blowing, and the pacing was strange to say the least. For 850 pages, it could have been structured better, and there were parts that could have been taken out as well as ones that I wish were expanded upon.

However, that is not to say that I did not love this book and will re-read it over 100 times just like all the other books in the series. Flashback was angled and structured in a heavy angle toward character development and is more of a story about the setting than it is about Sophie and her struggles.

I love the large strides it took in world-development, as the map of their universe expanded. Quite frankly, the best way I can describe this book is like the filling of an Oreo; the soft, filling, part rather than the violent, hard action cookie. The filling is sweet and full of love and support and character development. In some ways Flashback was a relief from the excitement in the previous book, like Messenger took a break from the suspense and excitement and focused on developing a "filling" of the other characters and their world, so to speak. Essentially, Flashback simply expanded on previous story lines, which is probably leading into something huge in the next book.

Overall, I felt that Flashback was a very interesting addition and I still enjoyed the book (as well the result of the love triangle and who Sophie will end up with!!!); however I had some issues and it could have been better than it ended up being. Don't get me wrong- I still completely adore this series and this book, however it felt short of my very high expectations.

I do recommend this book, and highly recommend this series, as I always will.

Read my review of the previous book in this series, Nightfall.

Title: Flashback
Author: Shannon Messenger
Publisher: Aladdin
Pages: 848
Series: Yes, Book 7
Rating: 3 Stars
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