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The Keeper of the Mist
Keri has been struggling to run her family bakery since her mother passed away. Now the father she barely knew—the Lord of Nimmira—has died, and ancient magic has decreed that she will take his place as the new Lady. The position has never been so dangerous: the mists that hide Nimmira from its vicious, land-hungry neighbors have failed, and Keri's people are visible to strangers for the first time since the mists were put in place generations ago.
At the same time, three half-brothers with their own eyes on the crown make life within the House just as dangerous as the world outside. But Keri has three people to guide her: her mysterious Timekeeper, clever Bookkeeper, and steadfast Doorkeeper. Together they must find a way to repair the boundary before her neighbors realize just how vulnerable Nimmira is.
At the same time, three half-brothers with their own eyes on the crown make life within the House just as dangerous as the world outside. But Keri has three people to guide her: her mysterious Timekeeper, clever Bookkeeper, and steadfast Doorkeeper. Together they must find a way to repair the boundary before her neighbors realize just how vulnerable Nimmira is.
400 pages, Library Binding
First published March 8, 2016
86 people are currently reading
3874 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Neumeier
56 books576 followersRachel Neumeier started writing fiction to relax when she was a graduate student and needed a hobby unrelated to her research. Prior to selling her first fantasy novel, she had published only a few articles in venues such as The American Journal of Botany. However, finding that her interests did not lie in research, Rachel left academia and began to let her hobbies take over her life instead.
She now raises and shows dogs, gardens, cooks, and occasionally finds time to read. She works part-time for a tutoring program, though she tutors far more students in Math and Chemistry than in English Composition.
She now raises and shows dogs, gardens, cooks, and occasionally finds time to read. She works part-time for a tutoring program, though she tutors far more students in Math and Chemistry than in English Composition.
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May 27, 2016
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature.
Kerianna, the illegitimate daughter of the dissolute, ailing Lord of the country of Nimmira and a former serving girl, is a baker in the town of Glassforge who prides herself on the quality of her wedding cakes and other baked goods. It’s a struggling business, and Keri has to run it by herself since the death of her mother, but it’s modestly successful and Keri has hopes for the future.
Rule over Nimmira passes from parent to child, along with the magical power that enables the Lord or Lady of Nimmira to maintain the magical mists that hide the entire country from the powerful countries around it that would quickly take over Nimmira, if they only knew of its existence. Though Keri has daydreams of being the next ruler and fixing the problems of Nimmira, she, like everyone else in the country, expects leadership to fall to one of her three older half-brothers. So it’s a shock to everyone, including Keri herself, when the aged Timekeeper of Nimmira appears on her doorstep and addresses her with the ritual words, “The Lord is dead. This is your hour, Kerianna Ailenn. This is your hour and your day.”
The Timekeeper’s magic has chosen Keri as the new Lady of Nimmira, to lead the country with the help of three others: the Timekeeper, who has some mysterious powers over time itself; the Bookkeeper, who magically knows and writes the history of Nimmira and has instant access to any book she needs (I really want this power!); and the Doorkeeper, who holds the magic that locks and unlocks all doors in Nimmira, as well as the borders of the country. When the former Bookkeeper and Doorkeeper decline to serve any longer, the magic quickly pulls in Keri’s best friend, the lovely Tassel, and her stubborn, energetic cousin Cort, to replace them.
Keri already has an uphill battle to overcome her own self-doubt and trepidations and to convince the people of Nimmira ― not the least her disappointed half-brothers ― that she is a capable leader. But her problems are compounded by a potential disaster in the making: the magical mists that have hidden Nimmira for several generations are failing fast, and dangerous men are entering the country from both Tor Carron to the south and Eschalion to the north, possessing different and potentially threatening magical powers. Keri and her friends need to figure out what has gone wrong with their borders and fix it, fast. And it’s not clear whether the Timekeeper or Keri’s brothers will be a help or a hindrance.
The Keeper of the Mist is an engaging light fantasy, in the traditional, classic vein of YA fantasies, quite strongly reminiscent of some of Robin McKinley‘s fantasies. Chalice and Spindle's End both came to mind as stylistically similar. Rachel Neumeier creates an appealing world, centered on a lovely, pastoral country that is surrounded by harsher climates, enemies and magical powers, and hidden from them by magical mists of confusion and forgetfulness. The struggle to recreate Nimmira’s magical borders is a major plot point, although Keri does begin to realize that her country cannot remain permanently isolated.
There is just a little romance in this book, but it’s very restrained and understated ― although there is an amusing contrast between one character’s gradual recognition of feelings for an old friend and another’s whirlwind romance that develops almost literally overnight. Equally significant is Keri’s close relationship with her friend Tassel. Keri is a little wistful about Tassel’s beauty and confidence, but not jealous. Despite their differences, they are fast friends who know that they can count on each other’s help and support, and this plays a vital role in the development of the plot.
While Keri is a familiar character type in fantasy, the young, uncertain person suddenly thrust into power and forced to cope with danger, Neumeier deftly shows her growth as a person and the depth of her love and concern for her country and its people. Some of the secondary characters also reveal initially unsuspected depths as the crisis of protecting their country deepens, which is always a pleasure to encounter in reading. The enemies of Nimmira were a little overly cooperative in letting their attention lapse at critical times, leaving Keri and her friends to their own devices and giving them time to plan escapes and counterattacks, but otherwise the plot flows smoothly and logically. The Keeper of the Mist will appeal to younger teens, as well as older readers who appreciate charming, lighter fantasies.
Kerianna, the illegitimate daughter of the dissolute, ailing Lord of the country of Nimmira and a former serving girl, is a baker in the town of Glassforge who prides herself on the quality of her wedding cakes and other baked goods. It’s a struggling business, and Keri has to run it by herself since the death of her mother, but it’s modestly successful and Keri has hopes for the future.
Rule over Nimmira passes from parent to child, along with the magical power that enables the Lord or Lady of Nimmira to maintain the magical mists that hide the entire country from the powerful countries around it that would quickly take over Nimmira, if they only knew of its existence. Though Keri has daydreams of being the next ruler and fixing the problems of Nimmira, she, like everyone else in the country, expects leadership to fall to one of her three older half-brothers. So it’s a shock to everyone, including Keri herself, when the aged Timekeeper of Nimmira appears on her doorstep and addresses her with the ritual words, “The Lord is dead. This is your hour, Kerianna Ailenn. This is your hour and your day.”
The Timekeeper’s magic has chosen Keri as the new Lady of Nimmira, to lead the country with the help of three others: the Timekeeper, who has some mysterious powers over time itself; the Bookkeeper, who magically knows and writes the history of Nimmira and has instant access to any book she needs (I really want this power!); and the Doorkeeper, who holds the magic that locks and unlocks all doors in Nimmira, as well as the borders of the country. When the former Bookkeeper and Doorkeeper decline to serve any longer, the magic quickly pulls in Keri’s best friend, the lovely Tassel, and her stubborn, energetic cousin Cort, to replace them.
Keri already has an uphill battle to overcome her own self-doubt and trepidations and to convince the people of Nimmira ― not the least her disappointed half-brothers ― that she is a capable leader. But her problems are compounded by a potential disaster in the making: the magical mists that have hidden Nimmira for several generations are failing fast, and dangerous men are entering the country from both Tor Carron to the south and Eschalion to the north, possessing different and potentially threatening magical powers. Keri and her friends need to figure out what has gone wrong with their borders and fix it, fast. And it’s not clear whether the Timekeeper or Keri’s brothers will be a help or a hindrance.
The Keeper of the Mist is an engaging light fantasy, in the traditional, classic vein of YA fantasies, quite strongly reminiscent of some of Robin McKinley‘s fantasies. Chalice and Spindle's End both came to mind as stylistically similar. Rachel Neumeier creates an appealing world, centered on a lovely, pastoral country that is surrounded by harsher climates, enemies and magical powers, and hidden from them by magical mists of confusion and forgetfulness. The struggle to recreate Nimmira’s magical borders is a major plot point, although Keri does begin to realize that her country cannot remain permanently isolated.
There is just a little romance in this book, but it’s very restrained and understated ― although there is an amusing contrast between one character’s gradual recognition of feelings for an old friend and another’s whirlwind romance that develops almost literally overnight. Equally significant is Keri’s close relationship with her friend Tassel. Keri is a little wistful about Tassel’s beauty and confidence, but not jealous. Despite their differences, they are fast friends who know that they can count on each other’s help and support, and this plays a vital role in the development of the plot.
While Keri is a familiar character type in fantasy, the young, uncertain person suddenly thrust into power and forced to cope with danger, Neumeier deftly shows her growth as a person and the depth of her love and concern for her country and its people. Some of the secondary characters also reveal initially unsuspected depths as the crisis of protecting their country deepens, which is always a pleasure to encounter in reading. The enemies of Nimmira were a little overly cooperative in letting their attention lapse at critical times, leaving Keri and her friends to their own devices and giving them time to plan escapes and counterattacks, but otherwise the plot flows smoothly and logically. The Keeper of the Mist will appeal to younger teens, as well as older readers who appreciate charming, lighter fantasies.
April 30, 2016
Original Post: The Keeper of the Mist at FLYLēF (www.flylef.com)
The Keeper of the Mist, by Rachel Neumeier, is a thoughtfully structured fantasy adventure filled with worrisome twists and turns, as the heroine—Lady Kerianna—finds the courage and wisdom to protect her newly inherited kingdom from neighboring enemies and family rivalries.
The world-building was a mixture of conventional fantasy elements. Where is stands apart is in the magical chemistry between Keri, the Lady of Nimmira; Tassel, her knowledgeable Bookkeeper; Cort, her unwavering Doorkeeper; and the mysterious Timekeeper. The dynamic and synergy between them created a unique magical system in which I enjoyed and wished it was more developed.
When the mist of Nimmira thinned, leaving the kingdom exposed to two enemy forces, I enjoyed Keri’s quick-witted, tactical maneuvers to keep Nimmira safe. She exhibited a bit of Sun Tzu’s doctrine of keeping her friends close and her enemies even closer. With the exception of Keri’s romantic ruse to create an alliance with the enemy, which was actually quite disastrous in a comedic sort of way, there was no fluffy romance. It was refreshing to see bonds created through deep feelings of friendship and familial love, adding nice sentiments throughout the story.
My least favorite part of the book is its repetitiveness. Many times, when Keri fixes someone a steady look, it would also inevitably be followed by it’s “the kind her mother would have used to pin an important male customer in place.” And, almost every mention of the Timekeeper was also an opportunity to remind readers of how old he is, with his “dry, husky voice” or his “expressionless” face. I get it. He’s old. But, he’s also mysterious and wise! Rather that focusing on his sedentary qualities, I find that the Timekeeper was a missed opportunity for a character that could have been more fascinating.
The Keeper of the Mist is a satisfying fantasy adventure, in a fairly interesting world of magic and mythos that are appropriate for teens. It was a pleasant read with some concerning twists that manage to resolve itself with unexpected ease.
{ Thank you, especially to the author and publisher, for kindly giving me an opportunity to review this title. }
July 28, 2016
There's nothing keeping my interest so I'm going to have to DNF this one at 20%. However I do realize I'm skipping 80% of the book so I'm giving Rachel Neumeier an extra star for the benefit of the doubt.
I despised the writing. Keri, the main character, spends much of the book thinking to herself, which doesn't bode well on the writing quality because it's in third person. The author should have written in first person if she wanted to share Keri's thoughts with us every other paragraph. As it is we get sections like this:
I read this and other similar passages and wondered why Neumeier's editor didn't step in here.
At times Neumeier wrote in an indecisive manner that confused me to no end.
Huh?
Isn't there a better way to phrase that?
Beyond the writing concerns, Keri's actions and motivations made no sense to me. Take the Timekeeper, for example. Upon meeting him (a wise old man who is bound to her in service) she's immediately afraid of him. She thinks to herself that she should be wary of him. Then not an hour later Keri and her keepers come across a force of enemy soldiers, in the middle of their capital, for the first time in centuries, and Keri's response is "Oh no problem I'll just have the Timekeeper handle this while I go put on frilly dresses." Obviously I'm paraphrasing but that's how it went down. What in the world happened to not trusting him? I became more and more fed up with Keri's character inconsistencies as I read along.
I can say without guilt I'm better off not finishing this, if only for my own sanity.
I despised the writing. Keri, the main character, spends much of the book thinking to herself, which doesn't bode well on the writing quality because it's in third person. The author should have written in first person if she wanted to share Keri's thoughts with us every other paragraph. As it is we get sections like this:
Even though, now that it had happened, the succession pressed down on her like a physical weight. She would not know how to do things... She would do everything wrong... Well, but the Timekeeper, she reminded herself, would know all about everything. Though she couldn't help being a little frightened of him. She shouldn't be. But he was... he was... really, really old, she thought.
I read this and other similar passages and wondered why Neumeier's editor didn't step in here.
At times Neumeier wrote in an indecisive manner that confused me to no end.
He looked over his shoulder, not precisely impatient. But he was patient in a way that had much the same effect as impatience.
Huh?
Keri hardly cared. Except that she did, she found.
Isn't there a better way to phrase that?
Beyond the writing concerns, Keri's actions and motivations made no sense to me. Take the Timekeeper, for example. Upon meeting him (a wise old man who is bound to her in service) she's immediately afraid of him. She thinks to herself that she should be wary of him. Then not an hour later Keri and her keepers come across a force of enemy soldiers, in the middle of their capital, for the first time in centuries, and Keri's response is "Oh no problem I'll just have the Timekeeper handle this while I go put on frilly dresses." Obviously I'm paraphrasing but that's how it went down. What in the world happened to not trusting him? I became more and more fed up with Keri's character inconsistencies as I read along.
I can say without guilt I'm better off not finishing this, if only for my own sanity.
May 22, 2018
Bored out of my mind.
The Keeper of the Mist had so much potential. The synopsis and the cover completely sucked me in and I was excited to dive into this book. Well, I was .. until Andrea who was my die hard buddy reader friend, said it was terrible and that she hated it. She hated allllllmost all of the characters in it. Whereas, I hated a ton of them.. but I was just so freaking bored with this book.
NOTHING HAPPENED!
Heck, even people in this book seemed bored out of their minds.. or maybe it was just me getting even more bored! Who knows?! Either way I was bored out of my god damn mind reading this book. I even made a game to see how quickly I could get through it! I will probably never look back onto this book or remember the characters, plot, or anything else about it. I'm ecstatic that it's finally over.
Keri, the main character, whined so god damn much. The only thing I liked about her was that she liked to bake. Everything else about her just rubbed me the wrong way. She whined, trusted way too god damn easily, and then whined some more. I sort of liked her friends Cort and Tassel but liking them could only do so much for this book.
The mystery about this place was a cool concept that initially intrigued me. However, after reading this book.. it was just an underwhelming mess. The ending did nothing for me either. The twists and turns could be seen planets away. I almost DNFed this book because of how bored I was but I wanted to suffer and see if this book had the potential of getting better.
In the end, I had higher expectations for this book and it just didn't deliver.
The Keeper of the Mist had so much potential. The synopsis and the cover completely sucked me in and I was excited to dive into this book. Well, I was .. until Andrea who was my die hard buddy reader friend, said it was terrible and that she hated it. She hated allllllmost all of the characters in it. Whereas, I hated a ton of them.. but I was just so freaking bored with this book.
NOTHING HAPPENED!
Heck, even people in this book seemed bored out of their minds.. or maybe it was just me getting even more bored! Who knows?! Either way I was bored out of my god damn mind reading this book. I even made a game to see how quickly I could get through it! I will probably never look back onto this book or remember the characters, plot, or anything else about it. I'm ecstatic that it's finally over.
Keri, the main character, whined so god damn much. The only thing I liked about her was that she liked to bake. Everything else about her just rubbed me the wrong way. She whined, trusted way too god damn easily, and then whined some more. I sort of liked her friends Cort and Tassel but liking them could only do so much for this book.
The mystery about this place was a cool concept that initially intrigued me. However, after reading this book.. it was just an underwhelming mess. The ending did nothing for me either. The twists and turns could be seen planets away. I almost DNFed this book because of how bored I was but I wanted to suffer and see if this book had the potential of getting better.
In the end, I had higher expectations for this book and it just didn't deliver.
May 22, 2016
A young woman comes into a surprising succession and has to guide her country through its greatest crisis.
The land of Nimmira is a small nation sandwiched between the huge expansionary country of the sorcerer Wyvern King to the north and the martial Bear Lord of Tor Cannon to the south. Nimmira has been long protected by the mists that surround it generated by the magic of the land itself and an ancient blood ritual. But at the same time as the old Lord of Nimmira dies and his magic passes to his unacknowledged bastard daughter, a local baker name Keri, the mists that protect the land fail. And with the failure comes visitors from both lands. Although her friends are elevated to power as the Doorkeeper and the Bookkeeper and she seems to have the support of the mysterious Timekeeper, Keri's first challenge are her three half-brothers that were all passed over in her favor.
This is a clever story with some well-drawn characters and not too complex given that it's YA. Keri and her allies get through some really difficult situations by understanding their magic and making some clever decisions. Ultimately however, I never really thought anyone was in any real danger and the book could really be considered quite tame. Sometimes that's what you're looking for, but personally I prefer my fantasies with a bit more at stake.
In tone it felt similar to Chalice by Robin McKinley, but without the romance plot. I've read a comparison with this author and McKinley so I don't think I'm the only one to draw that parallel, although I thought Chalice was the superior book. This was still a pleasant unchallenging read though.
The land of Nimmira is a small nation sandwiched between the huge expansionary country of the sorcerer Wyvern King to the north and the martial Bear Lord of Tor Cannon to the south. Nimmira has been long protected by the mists that surround it generated by the magic of the land itself and an ancient blood ritual. But at the same time as the old Lord of Nimmira dies and his magic passes to his unacknowledged bastard daughter, a local baker name Keri, the mists that protect the land fail. And with the failure comes visitors from both lands. Although her friends are elevated to power as the Doorkeeper and the Bookkeeper and she seems to have the support of the mysterious Timekeeper, Keri's first challenge are her three half-brothers that were all passed over in her favor.
This is a clever story with some well-drawn characters and not too complex given that it's YA. Keri and her allies get through some really difficult situations by understanding their magic and making some clever decisions. Ultimately however, I never really thought anyone was in any real danger and the book could really be considered quite tame. Sometimes that's what you're looking for, but personally I prefer my fantasies with a bit more at stake.
In tone it felt similar to Chalice by Robin McKinley, but without the romance plot. I've read a comparison with this author and McKinley so I don't think I'm the only one to draw that parallel, although I thought Chalice was the superior book. This was still a pleasant unchallenging read though.
May 22, 2016
Nimmira is a small land which has survived by remaining hidden from its neighbours by means of a magical boundary mist. When the Lord of Nimmira dies, the succession passes not as expected to one of his three sons, but to his unacknowledged daughter Keri. Why the land has chosen to pass its magic to Keri, no one can say, but the mist is failing, and with Nimmira now visible, she must find a way to repair the magical boundary before her land becomes fully visible to outside eyes.
The world building in this book is a strong feature and sets the stage for a story that takes place over a fairly short period of time. Keri is a relatively everyday heroine, who must decide whether to have confidence in her own choices or to rely on others to make decisions for her. Helping her navigate her new position are both friends, her formerly estranged family, and the staff that comes with her new position, but she needs to work out who she can trust, and quickly.
The story moves fairly quickly once it gets going and is told with a great deal of subtlety. The main characters are imbued with magic but are not possessed of super powers; the relationships are all important but are not overwrought with emotion; finally, in the case of the cool and indifferent villains, this actually makes them even more frightening by comparison.
Although understated, I found the book ultimately satisfying in the end. The less overtly powerful, but still magical heroine stuggling to find her way reminded me a lot of Robin McKinley's style. So if you're a McKinley fan, or like quieter fantasy, you might want to check this one out.
The world building in this book is a strong feature and sets the stage for a story that takes place over a fairly short period of time. Keri is a relatively everyday heroine, who must decide whether to have confidence in her own choices or to rely on others to make decisions for her. Helping her navigate her new position are both friends, her formerly estranged family, and the staff that comes with her new position, but she needs to work out who she can trust, and quickly.
The story moves fairly quickly once it gets going and is told with a great deal of subtlety. The main characters are imbued with magic but are not possessed of super powers; the relationships are all important but are not overwrought with emotion; finally, in the case of the cool and indifferent villains, this actually makes them even more frightening by comparison.
Although understated, I found the book ultimately satisfying in the end. The less overtly powerful, but still magical heroine stuggling to find her way reminded me a lot of Robin McKinley's style. So if you're a McKinley fan, or like quieter fantasy, you might want to check this one out.
May 7, 2016
This is a very sweet, good-natured fairy tale about a woman who is thrust into leading her small, hidden country in the middle of a crisis created by her predecessor. To call it sweet does not mean that there's no peril or plot, but rather that it is fundamentally good natured. There are not many surprises in this one, even though I have been so conditioned to expect them that I kept seeing dark elements in characters at every turn (and for the most part, being disappointed). I think this is perfect for fans of The Goblin Emperor - a good person navigating their way to leadership, with help. (Personally, as with that book, it didn't quite hit all the right notes for me. I'm sort of at 3.75 stars, but it's well written and worth rounding up for!)
August 22, 2019
This story held my attention for the first 40% but then I started to fade but continued to fridge through it but finally at around 70% I had to skim the rest of the way.
June 27, 2016
I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This book just did not work for me, and I so wanted it to. After reading the synopsis I was so excited to read this. It boasted magic, conflict, and a young girl's personal struggle, but reading this left me unconvinced. It typically takes me a few days at most to read one book, as long as it is the only book I'm reading at the time, but it took me a month to finish this one.
The main character, Keri, was rather annoying to me. I wanted to like her so much, but I just didn't. I am a sucker for a heroine, or a young person proving themselves. This book did not portray Keri like that to me at all. I kept reading just hoping that she would get more interesting, be I was disappointed.
The explanations for why the magic border mist failed were generic, and unconvincing to me. There should have been more substance to the reasons, and there just wasn't any. The premise itself is quite unbelievable as well. There is really no clear explanation to how the country's magic chooses the next ruler of the country. None. It left me wondering why it was happening and how it played into the rest of the story.
This book has a serious lack of romance and action, and I think that is one of the reasons why I did not enjoy it. I think that if there had been action and romance, I would have enjoyed it at least a little. The story hints to possible romance between Keri and her childhood friend, Cort, but it never comes to pass. Nothing. Literally not a bit of romance. The only romance that we get it between Keri's friend and the prince from the country on one of the borders of Nimmira. And it is very tame. There is really no real fight scenes or action to speak of. The enemy in the book is a sorcerer, and he does not truly harm anyone, only takes away their magic. I was so disappointed in the action and the romance.
One of the things that I disliked the most about this book is that I felt like I was reading a middle grade book, even though the main character is a young adult. It just didn't feel like a young adult book. I did not care for the writing style. It felt too dumbed down to be a young adult novel. It is written in third person, but most of the book feels like it is from Keri's point of view. And the descriptions of the country, more specifically the land itself, was too entirely repetitive.
I feel like this book could have done well with more explanations to the magic of Nimmira, and better character development. More backstory would have been helpful as well. We get a brief history, but it is indeed brief. Including some romance for the main character, and some action would have made the book much more interesting.
This book just did not work for me, and I so wanted it to. After reading the synopsis I was so excited to read this. It boasted magic, conflict, and a young girl's personal struggle, but reading this left me unconvinced. It typically takes me a few days at most to read one book, as long as it is the only book I'm reading at the time, but it took me a month to finish this one.
The main character, Keri, was rather annoying to me. I wanted to like her so much, but I just didn't. I am a sucker for a heroine, or a young person proving themselves. This book did not portray Keri like that to me at all. I kept reading just hoping that she would get more interesting, be I was disappointed.
The explanations for why the magic border mist failed were generic, and unconvincing to me. There should have been more substance to the reasons, and there just wasn't any. The premise itself is quite unbelievable as well. There is really no clear explanation to how the country's magic chooses the next ruler of the country. None. It left me wondering why it was happening and how it played into the rest of the story.
This book has a serious lack of romance and action, and I think that is one of the reasons why I did not enjoy it. I think that if there had been action and romance, I would have enjoyed it at least a little. The story hints to possible romance between Keri and her childhood friend, Cort, but it never comes to pass. Nothing. Literally not a bit of romance. The only romance that we get it between Keri's friend and the prince from the country on one of the borders of Nimmira. And it is very tame. There is really no real fight scenes or action to speak of. The enemy in the book is a sorcerer, and he does not truly harm anyone, only takes away their magic. I was so disappointed in the action and the romance.
One of the things that I disliked the most about this book is that I felt like I was reading a middle grade book, even though the main character is a young adult. It just didn't feel like a young adult book. I did not care for the writing style. It felt too dumbed down to be a young adult novel. It is written in third person, but most of the book feels like it is from Keri's point of view. And the descriptions of the country, more specifically the land itself, was too entirely repetitive.
I feel like this book could have done well with more explanations to the magic of Nimmira, and better character development. More backstory would have been helpful as well. We get a brief history, but it is indeed brief. Including some romance for the main character, and some action would have made the book much more interesting.
May 23, 2016
3.5 stars
January 16, 2016
A well written high fantasy with good world building. Some parts were a bit too drawn out but overall a good story. I didn't connect with the characters though and it didn't make me feel anything.
March 13, 2016
Rachel Neumeier is one of my favorite authors. I usually unequivocally love her books, but this is one I wasn't able to get into wholeheartedly. It contains the beautiful prose and complex relationships I've come to expect from Rachel. The last third of the book is gripping and difficult to put down. My main problem with the book is more about my expectations as reader which didn't match with what Rachel was doing. There is a point near the beginning when the protagonist Keri is meeting with her half brother Lucas and wonders if his mother, being a foreigner herself, had not taught him to "fear the countries of the Outside, despite their ambitious rulers and warlike people". Their country Nimmira is protected by a magical mist maintained by the Lord or Lady (a position now belonging to Keri) that keeps their neighboring countries from even knowing it exists. That mist has failed because of Keri's father's greed. She needs to restore it. I kept waiting for the whole "outsiders are bad and we need to wrap ourselves in a bubble" thing to be subverted, but it never was. Even though Keri comes to appreciate the support of a neighboring prince she can't wait to get him out (there are vague talks about a possible future alliance but only if his country manages to wall itself off too). That whole set up really bothered me. I don't understand how Nimmira functions this way. Centuries of closing itself off from the world would have to produce a fairly homogeneous society ruled by fear of the new and different. For the life of me I can't figure out why that's a good thing. The whole thing is incredibly isolationist. If you are a fan of Rachel's writing, this book definitely lives up to her others in terms of the beauty of the language and has her trademark political intrigue so I would still recommend it. You may have a different reaction to the other stuff than I did.
May 26, 2016
I'm rounding up. This is sweet. I like the idea of hiding a country away, like Mum's favourite Brigadoon.
May 22, 2018
I read this book for a challenge where I needed a book with bad reviews and this one fit the bill. I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, but all of those bad reviews were so damn right.
It started off okay, it wasn't horrible, but then it became horrible. After the first 75 pages or so I started super skimming, basically hunting for dialogue and only dialogue. There were so many pages and pages of just unbroken description! It was disgusting and gave me a tension headache. On top of that, the dialogue was so strangely constructed. Half the time I was like what the hell that made no damn sense!?!
Then we got to the sexism part, and oh was that a FIELD DAY. I was SO ENRAGED BY SOME OF THE BULLSHIT KERI'S HALF BROTHERS PULLED. I think they collectively pointed out that Keri was young, a girl and therefore that made her incapable of making decisions at least like 100 times. And this book is only about 400 pages. At least Keri had enough mind to shut this shit down, besides that I found her character very inconsistent and annoying.
So the good parts were basically: Lucas, he was funny so I enjoyed his character. And Tassel was okay. I liked her more than all of the others excluding Lucas of course. The random notable thing about this was that there were a lot of vocab words that you wouldn't usually see in a YA book so points for that.
Overall:
February 2, 2024
Beautiful, enticing, rich and evocative
Everything Rachel Neumeier writes is beautiful, unexpected, richly imagined, finely woven and utterly satisfying. I loved this. I knew I would…
Everything Rachel Neumeier writes is beautiful, unexpected, richly imagined, finely woven and utterly satisfying. I loved this. I knew I would…
March 23, 2016
It is very refreshing to find a YA story that is not full of angst, abuse, profanity, and violence. This has lots of action, strong characters, interesting plot, and a touch of fantasy.
December 15, 2020
Initial Thoughts Upon Finishing
This was honestly just awful. I persevered through the whole thing to see if it got better and to understand where the heck it was going. I have regrets. The writing hurt my soul, the characters were not just 2D, but 1D, and the plot was MIA. This was profoundly boring.
The Keeper of the Mist
This is a fantasy novel set in a kingdom that is separated from the rest of the world by a magical mist. The story beings with the king dying and a succession process starts. The king had several potential heirs but who would take the throne would come down to who is worthy.
The main character is the illegitimated daughter of the king who works in a bakery and seems to keep more or less to herself. All of a sudden a random triad of people turns up and BOOM: she's the heir. With next to nothing explained or elaborated on, the story begins with Keri having no idea what's going on, the mist is inexplicably failing and no one likes each other.
Why This Isn't Worth Your Time
The writing of this book is somehow worse than the lack of plot. I was dumbfounded by the enormous amount of repetition in the narrative. We would have the same metaphor or turn of phrase within pages if not paragraphs of each other. There was so little dialogue with most of the story being Keri's confused internal monologue that went on and on and on.
The plot itself was underwhelming. This book has a fantastic blurb that paints such a wonderful picture of what the book will be about, but the execution falls far short. It's okay when books don't explain *everything* to the reader, but at some point things have to be explain to a degree. And nothing is in this book.
It's ambiguous who Keri is to start with but it feels as though it's expected we know everything about her. I didn't realise the king was even her father to begin with, everything made very little sense. Then Keri goes on about how much everyone dislikes her when almost everyone acts in the exact opposite way or shows no reason for Keri to believe this. It was as if the story was attempting to entirely be written in Keri's thoughts rather than actually getting the characters to do something.
Hardly anything really happens and a good chunk of the book is spent telling us how independent Keri is when she is anything but. She even goes so far as to dress up 'innocently' to attract one of the other leaders and lure him into wanting marriage. What the heck?! Is that all Keri has to offer as a woman?! So bad. So unacceptable as a plot line.
Almost everything that happens in the book seems to be an accident with the one character who actually does stuff being the timekeeper—but this comes across as a massive cop out. He's always called upon when inevitably Keri can't solve a problem. God forbid a young woman take authority over an old, wizened man. Anything she does achieve is usually her taking credit for someone else's actions or entirely by accident.
Summary
I have nothing good to say about this book. I persevered through to the end baffled that *surely* things had to improve. But no. I don't recommend this: I think this book is a terrible representation of a woman in a position of power and it's irritating to read due to the writing.
This was honestly just awful. I persevered through the whole thing to see if it got better and to understand where the heck it was going. I have regrets. The writing hurt my soul, the characters were not just 2D, but 1D, and the plot was MIA. This was profoundly boring.
The Keeper of the Mist
This is a fantasy novel set in a kingdom that is separated from the rest of the world by a magical mist. The story beings with the king dying and a succession process starts. The king had several potential heirs but who would take the throne would come down to who is worthy.
The main character is the illegitimated daughter of the king who works in a bakery and seems to keep more or less to herself. All of a sudden a random triad of people turns up and BOOM: she's the heir. With next to nothing explained or elaborated on, the story begins with Keri having no idea what's going on, the mist is inexplicably failing and no one likes each other.
Why This Isn't Worth Your Time
The writing of this book is somehow worse than the lack of plot. I was dumbfounded by the enormous amount of repetition in the narrative. We would have the same metaphor or turn of phrase within pages if not paragraphs of each other. There was so little dialogue with most of the story being Keri's confused internal monologue that went on and on and on.
The plot itself was underwhelming. This book has a fantastic blurb that paints such a wonderful picture of what the book will be about, but the execution falls far short. It's okay when books don't explain *everything* to the reader, but at some point things have to be explain to a degree. And nothing is in this book.
It's ambiguous who Keri is to start with but it feels as though it's expected we know everything about her. I didn't realise the king was even her father to begin with, everything made very little sense. Then Keri goes on about how much everyone dislikes her when almost everyone acts in the exact opposite way or shows no reason for Keri to believe this. It was as if the story was attempting to entirely be written in Keri's thoughts rather than actually getting the characters to do something.
Hardly anything really happens and a good chunk of the book is spent telling us how independent Keri is when she is anything but. She even goes so far as to dress up 'innocently' to attract one of the other leaders and lure him into wanting marriage. What the heck?! Is that all Keri has to offer as a woman?! So bad. So unacceptable as a plot line.
Almost everything that happens in the book seems to be an accident with the one character who actually does stuff being the timekeeper—but this comes across as a massive cop out. He's always called upon when inevitably Keri can't solve a problem. God forbid a young woman take authority over an old, wizened man. Anything she does achieve is usually her taking credit for someone else's actions or entirely by accident.
Summary
I have nothing good to say about this book. I persevered through to the end baffled that *surely* things had to improve. But no. I don't recommend this: I think this book is a terrible representation of a woman in a position of power and it's irritating to read due to the writing.
April 14, 2016
4/13/16. 3.75 stars. Enjoyable, creative, unpredictable, and with nice integrative cover art and book design.
I kind of liked Keri's 'fake it 'til you make it' way of handling her difficult situations. That rang true with some of my own life experience.
Some very very slight romantic elements in here. Blink, and you'll miss them.
The plot itself is a bit like The Goblin Emperor (which itself has ties to The Foundling). This is a trope I always enjoy and it's fun to see how different authors put their own spin on it.
I kind of liked Keri's 'fake it 'til you make it' way of handling her difficult situations. That rang true with some of my own life experience.
Some very very slight romantic elements in here. Blink, and you'll miss them.
The plot itself is a bit like The Goblin Emperor (which itself has ties to The Foundling). This is a trope I always enjoy and it's fun to see how different authors put their own spin on it.
October 21, 2016
I wanted to love this but man- it was slow going.
March 13, 2016
I was excited about this book, but I found it extremely disappointing. The premise is that Keri, a young baker, suddenly finds herself magically appointed as the ruler of a tiny kingdom which hides itself, Brigadoon-style, behind mists. She finds the kingdom in danger, and with the help of some young friends, she has to save the day.
This is a YA novel, but even so, the story and the writing seemed a bit too young for my taste. The trope of the unknown teenager who is chosen to inherit power is overused, and here it was annoying, because the only people who help Keri are her own age, while those who are older or who know more just get in the way or refuse to act. I had trouble suspending my disbelief that this method of selecting the next ruler really worked. I found myself questioning whether selecting an uneducated teenager to rule is really the way to handle foreign relations.
The writing tended to over-explain the attitudes and emotions of all the characters. Keri often says a sentence, then notes that she did not add a second sentence because the second observation is obvious to everyone. This got to the point of annoying me, because there must be a more elegant way of making the second sentence occur to the reader. I also thought italics were overused.
As a character, Keri was something of a disappointment for me. I never felt that I got a clear sense of who she was. It probably didn't help , or that she spent most of the book trying to stop adults, particularly male adults, from doing idiotic things. Even though Keri was the Lady of the country, she seemed always to be coming from a position of weakness. This may have been realistic based on the politics described in the book, but I found it a little aggravating.
There were certainly some nice moments. I thought the description of was well done, and I was curious to learn more about how it worked. I also found the scene quite vivid.
Finally, one thing I found unforgivable - one of the characters attempts to use magic to persuade Keri to marry him, then later becomes a character we are expected to support and see as a "good guy." His explanation of why forcing marriage through sorcery is OK is that Marriage forced by magic is rape, period.
This is a YA novel, but even so, the story and the writing seemed a bit too young for my taste. The trope of the unknown teenager who is chosen to inherit power is overused, and here it was annoying, because the only people who help Keri are her own age, while those who are older or who know more just get in the way or refuse to act. I had trouble suspending my disbelief that this method of selecting the next ruler really worked. I found myself questioning whether selecting an uneducated teenager to rule is really the way to handle foreign relations.
The writing tended to over-explain the attitudes and emotions of all the characters. Keri often says a sentence, then notes that she did not add a second sentence because the second observation is obvious to everyone. This got to the point of annoying me, because there must be a more elegant way of making the second sentence occur to the reader. I also thought italics were overused.
As a character, Keri was something of a disappointment for me. I never felt that I got a clear sense of who she was. It probably didn't help , or that she spent most of the book trying to stop adults, particularly male adults, from doing idiotic things. Even though Keri was the Lady of the country, she seemed always to be coming from a position of weakness. This may have been realistic based on the politics described in the book, but I found it a little aggravating.
There were certainly some nice moments. I thought the description of was well done, and I was curious to learn more about how it worked. I also found the scene quite vivid.
Finally, one thing I found unforgivable - one of the characters attempts to use magic to persuade Keri to marry him, then later becomes a character we are expected to support and see as a "good guy." His explanation of why forcing marriage through sorcery is OK is that Marriage forced by magic is rape, period.
July 29, 2016
I LOVED this. LOVE LOVE LOVE. This is a callback to the fantasy books of my youth -when worldbuilding and character development were paramount and everything does not revolve around a silly love triangle. This is the story of a strong girl trying to do her best, which is the story that I want to read.
Keri is a baker in the idyllic, hidden kingdom of Nimmera. Nimmera is protected by a magical border that hides it from its bellicose neighbors. Keri is the unacknowledged bastard of the Lord (Nimmera's ruler). She has no thought to ever using her royal blood - her future will be running the bakery she inherited from her mother. Then the kingdom's ruler dies. A new ruler will be chosen by the land, and acknowledged by the ruler's three advisors/magical assistants: the Timekeeper (who keeps, and to an extent can manipulate time), the Bookkeeper (who has access to all the knowledge in the kingdom and can find any book), and the Doorkeeper (who can unlock or lock any door or path in the kingdom). The late ruler had three acknowledged sons, and Keri. Much to Keri's surprise, she is selected to be the next ruler. She begins her rule at a difficult time, because her womanizing, selfish father weakened the country's magical borders through illicit trade. Now, Keri has to deal with restoring the borders while trying to handle her three brothers (who have different ideas of who should rule, and how) and representatives from the wiley socerer dictatorship in the North and the hard-edged warrior kingdom in the South.
Neumeier has created a rich setting, that feels whole and lived in - without having to resort to miles of exposition. But my favorite part were the characters. As I said, Keri was a strong and clever girl who is doing her best to hold her kingdom together, against all expectations. She does have a love interest - Cort, her best friend's cousin, who became Keri's new Doorkeeper. And while Keri does clearly care about Cort, her first concern is protecting her kingdom; not whether Cort is smiling at her or not. I also found myself surprisingly interested in Keri's brothers: Bran (the arrogant charmer who is most like his father and believes he deserves to be the new Lord); Domeric (the blunt and direct warrior with the looks of a thug who thinks he knows better than Keri); and dark horse favorite Lucas (charming and flippant, he plays the fool to hide his own slyness).
I will admit that this book did drag in a few places. And while this often annoys me in books, I found I didn't care here. Because I loved the world and the characters and the whole book far too much to let anything minor like a bit of loss of momentum bother me. I truly wish more current fantasy YA was like this book.
Keri is a baker in the idyllic, hidden kingdom of Nimmera. Nimmera is protected by a magical border that hides it from its bellicose neighbors. Keri is the unacknowledged bastard of the Lord (Nimmera's ruler). She has no thought to ever using her royal blood - her future will be running the bakery she inherited from her mother. Then the kingdom's ruler dies. A new ruler will be chosen by the land, and acknowledged by the ruler's three advisors/magical assistants: the Timekeeper (who keeps, and to an extent can manipulate time), the Bookkeeper (who has access to all the knowledge in the kingdom and can find any book), and the Doorkeeper (who can unlock or lock any door or path in the kingdom). The late ruler had three acknowledged sons, and Keri. Much to Keri's surprise, she is selected to be the next ruler. She begins her rule at a difficult time, because her womanizing, selfish father weakened the country's magical borders through illicit trade. Now, Keri has to deal with restoring the borders while trying to handle her three brothers (who have different ideas of who should rule, and how) and representatives from the wiley socerer dictatorship in the North and the hard-edged warrior kingdom in the South.
Neumeier has created a rich setting, that feels whole and lived in - without having to resort to miles of exposition. But my favorite part were the characters. As I said, Keri was a strong and clever girl who is doing her best to hold her kingdom together, against all expectations. She does have a love interest - Cort, her best friend's cousin, who became Keri's new Doorkeeper. And while Keri does clearly care about Cort, her first concern is protecting her kingdom; not whether Cort is smiling at her or not. I also found myself surprisingly interested in Keri's brothers: Bran (the arrogant charmer who is most like his father and believes he deserves to be the new Lord); Domeric (the blunt and direct warrior with the looks of a thug who thinks he knows better than Keri); and dark horse favorite Lucas (charming and flippant, he plays the fool to hide his own slyness).
I will admit that this book did drag in a few places. And while this often annoys me in books, I found I didn't care here. Because I loved the world and the characters and the whole book far too much to let anything minor like a bit of loss of momentum bother me. I truly wish more current fantasy YA was like this book.
February 22, 2017
The Keeper of the Mist is the story of Keri, who has been tumbling through her life trying and struggling to run the family baker. When she is appointed the Lady of a new land by some magical decree, Keri has enough to handle. Yet there are people who are conspiring against her and she also needs to find a way to restore the mist that has failed because of her father’s mistakes. With the land now visible to everyone, Keri has very little time to catch up on everything so as to be able to fulfill what is expected from her.
The blurb intrigued me and I will admit that for some reason it gave me the impression that this would be something like putting a fantastical twist on The Princess Diaries – which was both satisfying and disappointing. While the book gave us a different world and plot, I was disappointed by the lack of ‘fun’ element that I was expecting. The author has cooked up a new concept where lands are kept isolated and hidden from each other by the Mist which is kept up by the Lord or Lady of the land. A magical world where politics and conspiracies are waiting for Keri at every corner she turns. The character of the protagonist is fleshed out well – I especially like the way Keri handles herself at the beginning when she is thrown into this new world. I also liked the character of Lucas even though I did wish for a bit more depth to him. The author’s language and narrative style is charming and easy going. It was really easy to get lost in her words.
What did not work for me was the basic concept of the Mist and what it meant for the different lands. In a time when the world seems to be getting smaller and closer, I really did not like the idea of whole clans isolating themselves from the others completely. Even though I am quite an introvert myself, I somehow just cannot get my mind around the fact that people would like to live like that. The world of fantasy is so inviting to me because of all the possibilities it represents. The never ending potentials are limited only by the imagination of all those who the story touches. And in this book the whole concept seemed limiting itself. I kept expecting Keri to bring a change. Also, the way magic is dealt with was a bit disappointing… I wished for more details on the concept and how one can master it, instead of it being just a predisposition in people.
Overall, it turned out to be an average book for me. It sure has its highs and its lows and I would leave it upon individual readers to choose whether the book appeals to them or not.
The blurb intrigued me and I will admit that for some reason it gave me the impression that this would be something like putting a fantastical twist on The Princess Diaries – which was both satisfying and disappointing. While the book gave us a different world and plot, I was disappointed by the lack of ‘fun’ element that I was expecting. The author has cooked up a new concept where lands are kept isolated and hidden from each other by the Mist which is kept up by the Lord or Lady of the land. A magical world where politics and conspiracies are waiting for Keri at every corner she turns. The character of the protagonist is fleshed out well – I especially like the way Keri handles herself at the beginning when she is thrown into this new world. I also liked the character of Lucas even though I did wish for a bit more depth to him. The author’s language and narrative style is charming and easy going. It was really easy to get lost in her words.
What did not work for me was the basic concept of the Mist and what it meant for the different lands. In a time when the world seems to be getting smaller and closer, I really did not like the idea of whole clans isolating themselves from the others completely. Even though I am quite an introvert myself, I somehow just cannot get my mind around the fact that people would like to live like that. The world of fantasy is so inviting to me because of all the possibilities it represents. The never ending potentials are limited only by the imagination of all those who the story touches. And in this book the whole concept seemed limiting itself. I kept expecting Keri to bring a change. Also, the way magic is dealt with was a bit disappointing… I wished for more details on the concept and how one can master it, instead of it being just a predisposition in people.
Overall, it turned out to be an average book for me. It sure has its highs and its lows and I would leave it upon individual readers to choose whether the book appeals to them or not.
April 10, 2016
I feel like this owes a lot to Howl's Moving Castle: a young, unaware woman actually possessed of scads of talent leaves her small shop and fairly comfortable life to start the story. And yet where Diana Wynne Jones writes with verve and blithe delight, giddily spinning subtlety underneath her romp, Keeper of the Mist is ponderous and important, and so foreshadowing becomes clumsy and events become predictable.
There are also some conventional fantasy elements mixed in, and they feel at odds with the dreamlike tone: your previous lazy tyrant, the Midsummer king, his usurping Winter aggressor, maybe some reference to L'Engle's A Swiftly Tilting Planet with its "and the fire was roses, roses" - but the ending is ultimately telegraphed and unsatisfying.
The dreamlike quality to the writing redeems the book slightly. It's a little breathless and hazy, worthy of a book about mist and isolation, I suppose - but overall, the book is dragged down by a protagonist who worries about not knowing how to repair the boundary, and then tells Cort, "Doesn't everyone know the story?" and figures it out in apparent ease. Among other missteps.
There are also some conventional fantasy elements mixed in, and they feel at odds with the dreamlike tone: your previous lazy tyrant, the Midsummer king, his usurping Winter aggressor, maybe some reference to L'Engle's A Swiftly Tilting Planet with its "and the fire was roses, roses" - but the ending is ultimately telegraphed and unsatisfying.
The dreamlike quality to the writing redeems the book slightly. It's a little breathless and hazy, worthy of a book about mist and isolation, I suppose - but overall, the book is dragged down by a protagonist who worries about not knowing how to repair the boundary, and then tells Cort, "Doesn't everyone know the story?" and figures it out in apparent ease. Among other missteps.
March 24, 2016
This might be my new favorite Neumeier book. I love the characters, especially Keri and Cort and Lucas. I love the feel of the prose, with a richness and depth reminiscent of the best of McKinley's writing but without the heaviness which can make it difficult to get through one of her books. I love the magic that is understood without being fully explained, the bad guys who remain mysterious and aloof without becoming caricatures or generic Bad Guys.
I did wonder, at first, if she was going to subvert the idea of needing isolation for safety against the neighbors, and that would have made a fascinating story, too - the idea of the protective mists falling and Nimmira having to adapt and adjust to being part of the world again. But I like the way this turned out as well, it was more of a traditional fairy tale, which fit properly with the dream-like quality of prose and the development of the characters and magic. All in all, a thoroughly lovely book.
I did wonder, at first, if she was going to subvert the idea of needing isolation for safety against the neighbors, and that would have made a fascinating story, too - the idea of the protective mists falling and Nimmira having to adapt and adjust to being part of the world again. But I like the way this turned out as well, it was more of a traditional fairy tale, which fit properly with the dream-like quality of prose and the development of the characters and magic. All in all, a thoroughly lovely book.
March 23, 2016
Buzzwords: High fantasy, girls in charge, disaster strikes and young people need to save the day!, Questing, baking as a coping mechanism/stress reliever, cool magic systems, friendship, hints of romance.
I keep my eye out for new Rachel Neumeier books, since I know I will almost certainly enjoy them, and this one was no exception. Beautifully written, with a fascinating magic system and political tensions in the charge of awesome young people (mostly women - the majority of people with sense in this novel are female, though there are some awesome gentlemen as well), there was much to love. I only wish we would see more of this world and characters...but I think this is a stand-alone (Although Ms. Neumeier, I would be happy to be wrong on that).
I keep my eye out for new Rachel Neumeier books, since I know I will almost certainly enjoy them, and this one was no exception. Beautifully written, with a fascinating magic system and political tensions in the charge of awesome young people (mostly women - the majority of people with sense in this novel are female, though there are some awesome gentlemen as well), there was much to love. I only wish we would see more of this world and characters...but I think this is a stand-alone (Although Ms. Neumeier, I would be happy to be wrong on that).
May 1, 2016
The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 8th 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction
Rate: 4.5 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Keeper of the Mist for an honest review.
The Keeper of the Mist is a book with amazing world building, magic, and political intrigue. I loved the amazingly original story-line. I was drawn in right away by Keri, she has had to guard her emotions and I found her strong, and endearing.
FULL REVIEW GO TO: https://takemeawaytoagreatread.com/20...
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 8th 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction
Rate: 4.5 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Keeper of the Mist for an honest review.
The Keeper of the Mist is a book with amazing world building, magic, and political intrigue. I loved the amazingly original story-line. I was drawn in right away by Keri, she has had to guard her emotions and I found her strong, and endearing.
FULL REVIEW GO TO: https://takemeawaytoagreatread.com/20...
September 20, 2018
I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did. I bought it on a whim because it sounded kind of interesting, and the cover was gorgeous! (What? I’m being honest!)
The story is about a small country called Nimmira that is hidden from the two countries on either side of it by magical mist. (Cool right?) I’ve always been a sucker for a story about magical lands hidden from the rest of the world. (I’m still hoping that one day I will aimlessly wander into one myself! 🤞🏻) It’s main characters find themselves in a rags to riches sort of situation when the previous lord dies and the land magically chooses the new leader out of the heirs of the lord. When this new leader, who never expected it to come to her, accepts her position two of the 3 “magical advisor” type people surrender their magical objects and quit their jobs. Which then allows the land to choose new people for the positions, much like it decides on the heir who will become the leader of this fascinating country. This means that, of course, our main characters close companions end up in the roles. Which we see coming, but it still makes me happy anyway. I mean imagine coming into a role of leader without choosing it, having to live in a strange house surrounded by strange people, who secretly (or outright) hope you will fail and lie to your face. If you were in that position I’m sure it would make you happy to have your closest friends with you on that journey. 🙂
Though honestly, that’s about all that I truly saw coming! I guessed at things and people throughout this entire book, and was only right less than a handful of times. Which I loved! The world this story is set in is truly spectacular. It’s not too over done, but it’s just imaginative, and whimsical enough to hook you. I will not spoil what happens, but I’ll tell you there’s an evil king in one of the countries that Nimmira is hidden from, who is a tyrannical dictator in a magical way, and wants to take over the whole continent. And I must admit that even though he’s a bad guy, I was so drawn in by his character and the scenes that he was included in. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because he’s a mystery, maybe it’s because he has wyverns that can shrink and grow as they please, (who wouldn’t want a bird sized wyvern?!) or maybe it’s because they say his magic is powered by the sun and air... I do know that you will never know for sure unless you read this book yourself!! If I’m being honest the evil king reminds me a bit of the king of Hybern from ACOTAR, but maybe his golden twin haha. The way he wants to take over any and all of the lands near him, as well as any magic he encounters, just has such a Hybern feel to me — just in a slightly less terrifying manner. 😯
I do want to mention that this book is not complex, and for me it was nice to have a bit of a break from heart wrenching, deep dark fantasies that have a lot of war and romance. I think for younger teens this is a perfect read. Or even adults who want a break from the darkness and heartbreaking plots that leave you at a cliffhanger wondering “WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! 😭”. I do enjoy those books but it is also quite nice to take a breather and read some light YA fantasy (that is actually YA appropriate) with a lovely storyline and even lovelier characters. (Lucas was my favorite! 😉)
All in all I think this standalone book was wonderful. I don’t think there’s many standalone books that are as under-hyped and great as this one was to me. I enjoyed this book very much and very much plan on looking into other books written by Rachel Neumeier to see what other hidden gems she has to offer.
If you do happen to read it, I would love to know your thoughts on it! If you’d like to read it but don’t know where to pick it up, or don’t want to spend too much, I happened to get mine on bookoutlet.com and only paid around $6 for a hardcover copy of it! So definitely check it out!
The story is about a small country called Nimmira that is hidden from the two countries on either side of it by magical mist. (Cool right?) I’ve always been a sucker for a story about magical lands hidden from the rest of the world. (I’m still hoping that one day I will aimlessly wander into one myself! 🤞🏻) It’s main characters find themselves in a rags to riches sort of situation when the previous lord dies and the land magically chooses the new leader out of the heirs of the lord. When this new leader, who never expected it to come to her, accepts her position two of the 3 “magical advisor” type people surrender their magical objects and quit their jobs. Which then allows the land to choose new people for the positions, much like it decides on the heir who will become the leader of this fascinating country. This means that, of course, our main characters close companions end up in the roles. Which we see coming, but it still makes me happy anyway. I mean imagine coming into a role of leader without choosing it, having to live in a strange house surrounded by strange people, who secretly (or outright) hope you will fail and lie to your face. If you were in that position I’m sure it would make you happy to have your closest friends with you on that journey. 🙂
Though honestly, that’s about all that I truly saw coming! I guessed at things and people throughout this entire book, and was only right less than a handful of times. Which I loved! The world this story is set in is truly spectacular. It’s not too over done, but it’s just imaginative, and whimsical enough to hook you. I will not spoil what happens, but I’ll tell you there’s an evil king in one of the countries that Nimmira is hidden from, who is a tyrannical dictator in a magical way, and wants to take over the whole continent. And I must admit that even though he’s a bad guy, I was so drawn in by his character and the scenes that he was included in. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because he’s a mystery, maybe it’s because he has wyverns that can shrink and grow as they please, (who wouldn’t want a bird sized wyvern?!) or maybe it’s because they say his magic is powered by the sun and air... I do know that you will never know for sure unless you read this book yourself!! If I’m being honest the evil king reminds me a bit of the king of Hybern from ACOTAR, but maybe his golden twin haha. The way he wants to take over any and all of the lands near him, as well as any magic he encounters, just has such a Hybern feel to me — just in a slightly less terrifying manner. 😯
I do want to mention that this book is not complex, and for me it was nice to have a bit of a break from heart wrenching, deep dark fantasies that have a lot of war and romance. I think for younger teens this is a perfect read. Or even adults who want a break from the darkness and heartbreaking plots that leave you at a cliffhanger wondering “WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! 😭”. I do enjoy those books but it is also quite nice to take a breather and read some light YA fantasy (that is actually YA appropriate) with a lovely storyline and even lovelier characters. (Lucas was my favorite! 😉)
All in all I think this standalone book was wonderful. I don’t think there’s many standalone books that are as under-hyped and great as this one was to me. I enjoyed this book very much and very much plan on looking into other books written by Rachel Neumeier to see what other hidden gems she has to offer.
If you do happen to read it, I would love to know your thoughts on it! If you’d like to read it but don’t know where to pick it up, or don’t want to spend too much, I happened to get mine on bookoutlet.com and only paid around $6 for a hardcover copy of it! So definitely check it out!
October 29, 2022
The cover was the only part I liked about this book, and the reason why I picked it up from the library in the first place.
But besides that, it was just so dry! I didn’t like any of the characters, since none of them had much of a personality, and it was just mind-numbingly boring.
It had a good premise, and with LOTS of editing it could have potential. But don’t waste your time on it now.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, kids.
But besides that, it was just so dry! I didn’t like any of the characters, since none of them had much of a personality, and it was just mind-numbingly boring.
It had a good premise, and with LOTS of editing it could have potential. But don’t waste your time on it now.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, kids.
June 12, 2019
I loved the premise behind Keeper of the Mist, and I'll admit it - the cover art drew me in, as well.
But...I was pretty disappointed with the execution. Even within the first paragraph, stylistic...shall we say, oddities - were jumping out at me. It reads very choppy in parts; the author is a fan of sentences like, "The door banged shut. It banged hard because...". The concepts seemed maybe YA-level, but the style often read more like middle grade at best.
I also felt like there was a LOT of info dumping of details that were often irrelevant to the story and over the top, such as entire paragraphs containing nothing but exhaustive descriptions of a character's entire physical description, or an outfit or gown the protagonist was wearing. Not only did this make me yawn, it made it hard to focus on what was actually happening.
The Wyvern King was an interesting concept, but I felt that he was never fully developed. Keri makes vague reference to how terrible he is, but I'm stumped as to why (it ought to go deeper than just that he wants to absorb Nimmira). The protagonists' seeming xenophobia was almost more irritating than anything.
Though there were many great ideas and concepts in Keeper of the Mist, it felt poorly written and underdeveloped in the parts that matter most.
But...I was pretty disappointed with the execution. Even within the first paragraph, stylistic...shall we say, oddities - were jumping out at me. It reads very choppy in parts; the author is a fan of sentences like, "The door banged shut. It banged hard because...". The concepts seemed maybe YA-level, but the style often read more like middle grade at best.
I also felt like there was a LOT of info dumping of details that were often irrelevant to the story and over the top, such as entire paragraphs containing nothing but exhaustive descriptions of a character's entire physical description, or an outfit or gown the protagonist was wearing. Not only did this make me yawn, it made it hard to focus on what was actually happening.
The Wyvern King was an interesting concept, but I felt that he was never fully developed. Keri makes vague reference to how terrible he is, but I'm stumped as to why (it ought to go deeper than just that he wants to absorb Nimmira). The protagonists' seeming xenophobia was almost more irritating than anything.
Though there were many great ideas and concepts in Keeper of the Mist, it felt poorly written and underdeveloped in the parts that matter most.
December 13, 2017
most enjoayble as all neumeier books, great story and great story telling and great characters, would definitely recommend it
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