Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author (of which I am thankful for, thank you again !), this in no way affects my review my thoughts are my own.
This book was a peculiar read for me. There is a lot I enjoyed in this book, like the magic and world building. However, somehow, I found myself unable to connect to the characters. Maybe it is because I am difficult in middlegrade books I read and enjoy ?
Our main character is the gatekeeper of the gate that connects our world to the world of Pericael. The story truly begins as he is the last line of defense when an evil shaman decides to attack Pericael. The shaman steals souls of children and by accident Our main character Porter and his cousin Ames go through the gate and must hide in order to read the gate once more and run away with their soul intact. They end up getting together with the children of the village leader (a village in Pericael called K-something).
One of the characters is blind (Conri, long story short it was to save her life and is a side effect of that event) and while the rep excited me I found it detrimental to the community, while I cannot speak on it as I am not blind myself, the representation felt like an attribute or something to make them different rather than an actual badass character that happens to be blind (say like Toph in avatar the last air bender, she is so badass and funny and using her power of the earth to navigate the world through the vibrations of the ground). The whole time she is described as looking or making eye contact, which can happen but not without the person first talking or making sound, it is inaccurate to say a blind person is always making with no feedback eye contact and is looking at something. I wish it had been more realistic. While I can get the, she is a fierce fighter, it is unlikely that without someone describing or her knowing a place perfectly (even if she can see shadows and light to a degree) that she could fight right away or always save people ? She isn't affected at all by her disability, while it is very likely she can be highly independent, I wish there had been a spirit/mythical creature guide, animal guide or something that made for an explanation for the fights in unknown territories that were told as if she could see. So why make her blind if there are no instances of rep with blindness ?
I also disliked how Conri was always saving the day , our MC was just there, but not hero-ish or as cool or powerful as I had though a gatekeeper, which is a very serious job, should have been and it bothered me. While I in no way wanted them to be saving the day all the time it made me wonder all the time why Porter was the gatekeeper, it seemed like nothing set him apart, rather why wasn't Conri the gatekeeper wouldn't she have been perfect for the job, Porter could've been a gatekeeper in training ???
Overall packed with action and roughly a 4-5 hour read.
3/5 stars
Bookarina.
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