The Keepers #4: The Starlit Loom audiobook

i sincerely apologize to anyone who comes here looking for a real review. not sure why this is at the top. sorry!!--11.19.22 - i got out of bed at 11:53pm because i feel the need to note that it has been apparently four years since i first read this. cool. brilliant. this is certainly a book. im going back to bed.6.27.22: i am back again because i think it is objectively hilarious that the back cover just says THE END IS HERE. also i just noticed the glossary of my copy is printed impressively weirdly there's just random È's in the place of il's and Í's in the place of iu's. Awesome!that is all i will now leave again for an indeterminate amount of time before i, once again, remember this series exists. yes i do use book 'reviews' as journals sometimes 10.15.21 - i keep coming back to this for the sole reason of being confused, actuallybecause i was lying in bed at like 1:30 last night just going "huh" at random things i rememberedme and my 13-14 year old self who was OBSESSED with the multiverse! 3list of random things i thought about that i wish i actually understood:(view spoiler)[- why a mint apparently made Neptune sad/reminiscent (in #2) (yes that completely random moment has been HAUNTING me for years)- what in the universe is going on with Meister? there were just a million and one random moments where they were like "yeah ok he's really old and mysterious about it" or I'm just reading things ENTIRELY wrong but there definitely seemed to be a ton of hints towards something maybe unnatural and nothing was ever explained !!- what the random cube thing was when they were in Ingrid's doba in #1- (from the website..) "Ongrellondae are delicate, leaf-like Tanu. They are meant to be torn in two and swallowed."- BECK!!!!!!! There is no explanation for Beck! who are they! What are they doing! What is their taxi all about!! Is it a tan'ji??? Are they tan'ji??? Why don't they talk! Why are they just hanging around driving these kids around!!! scream. - i still would absolutely love to know Ingrid's story. Like. What is that. Felt like a genuine plot convenience because yeah idk this is MG yes but felt like she was just there to explain Lostlings and all that but I am intensely curious as to her actual story. not really something that that much of an annoyance to me because, well, MG - and the books are very clearly focused on H & C and science but still! i like backstory- on the topic of backstory one of my random least favorite things about books is when there's just a bunch of side characters that just. Show Up??? we got like a SHRED of backstory w Neptune in being that hey she's a legacy! But that was it I know in a really packed book/series (esp MG) like this it's hard to really Have backstories and stuff but honestly I just still go "??? what???" every time i think about Gabriel/Neptune/Brian/Ingrid like they fascinate me but. ? (as you can see, i can english

I can hardly remember what happened in this series all I know is that when I think about it I want to cry

"You were never lost with me. Promise me you'll come back." I think I've sufficiently recovered to finally write this review. But where do I even start?So much happened this book, in relatively few pages. There are 4 really incredible battle/confrontation scenes, on par with the best of the previous books. 1) We learn just how much Chloe can do with her instrument while seeing her be a badass (once again)2) How dedicated are Chloe and Horace to each other? Again, let's find out in one of the most dramatic ways possible3) Oh, you thought Horace was always the planning guy? Think again. There's some incredible teamwork here. Also Joshua redemption arc finally. Also also, I SEE Y'ALL WITH THOSE MOMENTS 👀4) DRAMAIn between, there are some more crazy reveals that this series loves so much as well as a few surprisingly emotional moments. (The thing with Neptune is so sad but I can't really even explain why.)Did someone say character development? Because I sure did. Horace having the idea that saved everyone, being powerful in ways other than combat, and becoming more confident in his own skills. Chloe mastering her (understandable) anger, saying what needed to be said to Isabel, saving Joshua in Big Sister Protective Mode ("you just tell them you're with me"), and, of course, realizing what it meant to be the Keeper of her instrument. And together, how much they grew since book 1 and how much they trusted each other 🥺We really got so much content for these two this book and since we started the series off with them it's fitting that we end with them too.But really, it's the ending that gets me. I don't want to spoil too much but let's just say I was in tears. It's no Amber Spyglass ending, thankfully, but it's not the perfect happy ending that Chloe deserved. (seriously, she wins the Most Trauma Survived award in this series. give the poor girl a BREAK.) I still had a lot of questions about the ending but as April said, there are always going to be more questions than answers and she was right :,) There were some deaths that I was not prepared to process 😭 Nobody too major but still.Listen, I KNEW this was coming. From the beginning of the book I was ready for the worst-case scenario. But at some point I got my hopes up and then didn't get them back down quickly enough when the ending came.I have so, so, so much more that I could say about this book that I'd probably somehow fill up the character limit. There were so many parts, even small ones, that had a profound impact on me. But I want to end with how the book overall made me feel. It's a beautiful piece on the cycle of life and death. But it's also about the different kinds of bonds we have with other people. We spent 4 books learning about how powerful the bond between a person and their instrument is, but I loved how at the end of it all, the bond between people who care about each other is the one that lasts longer.Definitely such a good series. Highly recommended :)(the keepers tv show WHEN?)

** spoiler alert ** 5/5Umm.... I’m not okay. This book was absolutely incredible! All the theories about the multi universes was so interesting. The ending really got me, like when Chloe has to leave FOR 20 YEARS WTF!!! I am actually heartbroken, I don’t see why Horace couldn’t go with her. I would have still been really sad but at least Chloe wouldn’t have been alone all those years. And the fact that when Horace steps out he finds out that Mrs. Hapstead is dead and so is Dailen like what! And the epilogue didn’t say anything about what happened to the other characters or how Chloe even got back and what she and Horace and the others had been doing the past 20 years. I know I probably sound like I hated the ending which to clear things up, I didn’t. It’s just really sad that they (Horace & Chloe) were apart so many years and now they’re just on a train, so I’m just feeling pretty lost. Also another thing why did it take her 20 years to get back?!? The ending just made me so sad, I think them being apart hurt the most. So now I’m just going to try to pretend that they weren’t apart and that everything’s fine. Okay... I’m done. Oh... lol, by the way I did love this series and the characters. I don’t think I will reread the series, at least not for a long time just because the last book is very sad for me. But I would definitely recommend the series. Alrighty now I’m done😗✌️

😤

Much like Horace, Sanders is very meticulous, with a penchant for abstract, mind-boggling space-time conundrums. Thankfully, he is kind enough to explain things for all the Chloes of the world and...even if we still don't get it, the story still works (probably, lol). My only complaint about this book is that it felt like it spent a little too much time on the abstract and not on the characters. People would disappear for entire chapters and - ah! - poor Beck was nowhere to be found!!! (view spoiler)[(Except, I like to imagine, at the very end in the epilogue :D) (hide spoiler)]Nevertheless, I absolutely loved the ending, not least because (view spoiler)[ Sanders didn't try to push a romance between Horace and Chloe. He just let them grow up like normal 12-year-olds and even when they were 30-something, he keeps emphasizing the fact that they're really, really good friends and not necessarily anything more than that. Cool because different. (hide spoiler)]

** spoiler alert ** This was, in my opinion, the least exciting or interesting book out of the four. It was also the shortest, so this makes sense. The ending was very bittersweet, and nothing that I expected. There are a few issues I had with the ending, such as it doesn't explain what happened to Neptune, Joshua, April, Baron, Brian, and Gabriel (and probably some others I can't remember right this moment.) Also, after Neptune faded, she was hardly seen or mentioned again, which really bothered me, because I was hoping that as the last book in the series, the other characters who didn't have perspectives yet would have their perspectives for at least a chapter in this book, and also because I wanted to learn more about Neptune.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. I loved the whole plot, I absolutely am in love with the ending and all of the answers to every question the books raised in the series. It was beautifully wrapped up in a nice little bow. The writing was AMAZING and I just am so in love with this series it was so good I was nursing this book because I didn't want it to end but then it got so good I couldn't put it down again and I just am taken back by how good this series was and this book. The story was so GOOD. I am also shattered and in love with the last chapter and how it ended it was amazing and lovely and just YES. 10/10 recommend this book and this series omg.

I think that this final was really satisfying but very heartbreaking on the final part. I felt really sad about (view spoiler)[Horace and mainly Chloe on these 20 YEARS, it's too much time. (hide spoiler)] But instead of it, the science-fiction part and the developing of the caracthers was very interesting and pleasent.

This book delivered a good ending to a great series. They wrapped things up in a way that was both unexpected and satisfying. All in all, the series exceeded my expectations and I'm going to be recommending this to my teenage children immediately.

A satisfying ending to an excellent series ❤️

How rare for a series to get an ending that really does it justice. Inevitable, surprising, heartbreaking, and totally satisfying.