Five Kingdoms: Crystal Keepers: A Review

Goodreads (description):

Trapped in a world where magic is powerful and dreams are real, Cole continues his quest in book three of a “fanciful, action-packed adventure” series (Publishers Weekly, starred review), from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fablehaven and Beyonders series.

Cole Randolph ventures to a new kingdom as he continues his search for his friends—and also pursues his quest to mend what has gone awry with the magic in The Outskirts. Can he overcome the challenges ahead, or will he be stranded forever in a world between reality and imagination?

My Review:

This was another great installment in the Five Kingdoms series. Cole found himself in the third kingdom, which was sort of futuristic. There were a lot of things this kingdom had that Earth doesn't, but they were set back by their imagination, and a few laws that kept them from going overboard. Still, it was cool to see this new kingdom.

The action starts right off in the beginning. Cole and Jace are separated from Dalton, Mira, and Joe. (Twitch having left to save his hometown). They go to this awesome arcade center where they meet the Crystal Keepers--a secret spy group of kids.

Here, we see Cole finding similarities with home, even emailing his family, who still fails to realize who he is and what's happened to him. It's really sad to see, even if Cole knew the results before he even tried.

In this book, Cole is singled out. He goes on an adventure by himself, the only he can help his friends. During this adventure, he meets an unexpected friend. I'm still slightly suspicious of him, but Cole's new friend turned out to be a huge help.

I liked seeing how Cole handled things on his own. It showed me how much he has grown in his short time in the Outskirts. He is intuitive, brave, strong, and witty. For being only about twelve, he's pretty resourceful.

My favorite new character was Sidekick. Who knew a robot could be so sarcastic and funny? Cole may have handled some things well on his own, but without Sidekick Cole and his friends would have been caught in some sticky situations.

Overall, I like the growth of this series. We are seeing one kingdom a book, but the underlying social structure is falling apart due to the king's waning powers and Owendall's scary secret society.


I give this one a 4.5 out of 5!