Ted Sanders (1)

11/21/23:
THESE KIDS ARE TWELVE!!!!!!!!!! TWELVE!
ain'tnoway
the older i get the more i'm like Absolutely Not WHAT is going ON. most insane summer of your life and you're TWELVE! when i was 12 i jus kind of chilled i guess i don't even know. definitely didn't Save The World.

anyway! I have finally come and reread this, because I'm home on break and of course it's the most productive thing I could do.. because it's been about five years since TSL. (My mother, upon seeing me with this book, show more goes, "oh that again?" yea mom this again
i have Thoughts and Feelings. MANY of them. i have never stopped thinking about this series.. it has been going on six years. what does that say about me? a lot probably but i'm not going to think about THAT. instead..
as you can tell, I'm a very normal 19 year old.
well. I did in fact end up writing down a lot of my thoughts this time. goodreads does not get them because they're really stupid (not that this all isn't stupid; goodreads is basically my journal at this point). but..
i think i'll start with the way these books have always made me viscerally uncomfortable at points. Why? couldn't tell you. however I am beginning to believe it's just in the way Sanders chooses to write tan'ji, and that I appreciate - the belonging, the one and the same that is being tan'ji, instrument and keeper. it is not a concept i can explain even after reading these books six times (lol. help me) but that's the point of it, isn't it? and just the way it's written gets me. so yea OTHERWISE, my grievances remain the same because i am still mad as heck about Side Characters but that is a me thign and applies to basically every book i read. i will never stop getting far too invested in side characters with no background. #girl.
i have so many unanswered questions but that is the nature of worldbuilding (tolkien does not count). still, what's ongradalleae (spelling!!) and the cube in ingrid's doba??? ALSO WHO IS BECK!!??????
so much was built up in this book and thematically this series just satisfies me and drives me insane at the same time. there is SO!!!!! much and that is both what i love and hate about it. the heck are you gonna do with a MIDDLE GRADE series with the wildest worldbuilding ever like. So Much Going On aaaaaaaa i know not all of it is going to be covered but . Hhhfjkhjgkwo still. i appreciate everything so much. i am so insane about cycles and it definitely started here w the STUPOID IDIOT BLACK FISH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA shoutout to the p[eople that witness me losing my mind about cycles everytime one shows up ifn media. HELLO LOKI S2 I AM LOOKING DIRECTLY AT YOU! cycles and multiverses started here. this is fundamentally such an important piece of literature to me it's kinda concerning.
also just, Horace and Chloe. i love them so so so much. (do they read 12 to me? no. but i also have no understanding of ages so that means nothing) and H's mom takes best MG mother of all time. (C's takes worst). they are SUCH special protagonists.
also if i think too hard about it Dr Jericho and the Mordin are freakin terrifying. horror movie material.
i enjoy the whole "who is really right here?" bc Yea the Wardens are the Good Guys but also.. there's so much withheld and so much going on it's really just like that. the trickle of information is insane bc you're not going to just trust a couple 12 year olds with all the secrets of the multiverse but also at the same time. these are your champions.. your salvation in a way. they've gotta KNOW. meister be like transparency who??? and while the mordin are so clearly the bad guys there's also a moment of well. We don't know the whole story and we're not going to be told the whole story and trust isn't something that easily earned by anyone - so really what is going on here? bc it's black and white but also .. not really? and thats cool. yeehaw middle grade novels.
the use of ingrid's character still drives me insane though.
as always, i just want to know more about the other tan'ji that exist here.
--
1/17/23: hi lol I am here for the sole purpose of documenting that it's been five (5) years since I first read this book. I think it's a slight problem that I still think about this series. I should reread it tan'ji are pretty lit

2021: every single time i’m supposed to be responsible and productive i think ah yes, let’s proceed to reread THIS SERIES,
random things, this time
- listen for all its faults it’s incredible to reread knowing what happens in the later books bc like. the amount of detail is astonishing. foreshadowing babeyyy
- what the heck is organdelle it was literally never explained this is uncool lemme know abt more tanu :(
- if i have to read the phrase “slack with shock” or “rigid with shock” one more time i’m going to commit a crime
- hhhh alvalaithen my beloved
- i really like the way how the first time chloe meets gabriel she decides his staff is a lightsaber and he’s just kinda like ...”it’s decidedly NOT a lightsaber” idk why but that’s hilarious to me
- ingrid
- neptune
- how the hell are these kids still on their feet after 27 hours. death
- the pacing is still funny to me bc idk the first parts r all slow exploration and then all of a SUDDEN, INSANITY for like 100 pages
- sometimes i forget these kids are like 12 and 15 until parts like the “touching” part appear and then i’m like oh yeah. children
- i jus wanna know abt more tan’ji bro
- i want a jithandra i wonder what my vora color would be

— 2018

this... this is one of the books that I'll remember always. although it starts out really slowly, it does soon pick up pace and wow.

1/13/20: y'all it's been two years what the heck how jskdkfkslldkf
1/12/22: IT'S BEEN FOUR YEARS ???? GOD . show less

I was rather excited about this book from the moment I was first told about it. The person telling me about the book generally doesn't like children's books, so when she was proving to be excited about it, I thought I should be paying attention to that. And you know what? She was right.

There is so much in this book that I liked. We're immediately introduced to Horace, our hero of the story, who immediately sees a sign that catches his eye, which immediately leads him to his first encounter show more with a questionable character, which is quickly followed by Horace's discovery of the the House of Answers, which immediately sets Horace on his way to adventure. This all sounds really rushed when I type it out like this, but it works. Sometimes I feel stories are too drawn out to get to the action, and sometimes they are far too rushed, but this one worked perfectly for me to get us into the story. As was mentioned by the person who told me about the book, I had an immediate feel for Harry Potter, but only in the sense that there was a very real, very close world of magic that is going on in the background of this story that the general population knows nothing about, and it's been this way for a very long time. Sanders really does a great job of a quick world building that doesn't feel forced, it just is. However, that's about as far as the HP similarities went. Horace is a really smart kid, and he's very methodical and scientific in his thinking, so when he is presented with what seems to be a magical artifact, he goes about exploring it's properties in a very scientific way, even going so far as to discuss some of his thoughts with his science teacher. Here is another something that I particularly liked about the story; there does actually seem to be some science behind the magic and fiction in the story. It makes the entire story feel really grounded for me.

Horace, Chloe (the other hero of our story), their families, and the other characters in the story also feel very real. They have their flaws, their families aren't perfect, they make mistakes. One of the things that I continually was impressed with is Horace's relationship with his family, especially his mother. One thing that I find frequently frustrating about many YA and middle grade books is the constant necessity for the kids to keep things from the adults in the stories. I assume this must be to show that a certain level of independence in a young person is a good thing, but the other thing to remember is that the kids these books are geared at are young, and don't always know best, and sometimes it's OK, even a good thing, to ask for help from the grownups in their lives. Granted, while Horace doesn't reveal everything that is going on in his life with his parents, they still play an important part in his life and he still relies on their advice. To me, this seems like a refreshing turn of events for a YA or middle grade book. On the flip side of that, with Chloe's family and he strained relationship with her father, I feel this is refreshing in its own way, as it shows kids that don't have the ideal family life or have problems at home that there can still be magic in the world and that relying on your friends can be just as important as relying on your family.

While it seems like The Box and the Dragonfly is a large book (clocking in at 544 pages!), it is paced great and never feels like it is slogging along. I read it in two sittings and was partly saddened that I got through it so quickly. Given the age group that the book is geared towards, however, I think it will move along at a great rate and kids won't feel bored reading it at all, nor will they feel like they've got a huge book to plod through.

If I had any complaint at all about the book, it's Sanders' descriptions of his characters. I never felt at any point in the book that I had a clear idea of what any of the characters looked like. While this works to some of the characters advantages and their very nature, it doesn't work for others. Other than a vague idea that Horace is a bigger kid, I have no idea what he looks like. Is he bigger as in taller, broader, or bulkier? Just telling me he's a big kid doesn't really help me put a clear picture of him together in my head. While reading, I kept having more and more differing views of how the characters look. Maybe it's just me, but I feel a more precise description of some of the characters would have gone a long way.

This one "flaw" aside (and honestly, that's not even that big of a deal), Sanders has created quite the fine world in The Box and the Dragonfly. Not one to read much middle grade anymore, I'm pleased to have read two such strong middle grade debuts this year (the other being J. A. White's The Thickety: A Path Begins). Just like that book, I'll definitely be looking forward to continue reading Horace and Chloe's adventures and will be recommending this book to all my friends with young readers! show less

11/22/23: there are in fact spoilers here bc i have read this series like 5 times and i yell about it a lot
(see at first i was like ok im going to reread the anne of green gables books when im home then i saw thes ebooks sitting innocently on my bookshelf and it was all over)

book 1 might be the cool expository "hey look at this neat world" one and book 3 might be the insane fight one and book 4 might be the tear your heart out one but book 2 is the unreasonably funny one.
Meister what did you show more EXPECT?? you put a bunch of teens (not even) together and not expect utter chaos to ensue?? you put BRIAN and CHLOE together and not expect sheer insanity? yell. Brian is hysterical btw he is just offputting in the right way for a 13 year old that hasn't been outside in 3 years. Yknow, the usual.
I forgot that I actually fr love April she is just so sensible and also a kid. she definitely balances H&C out with her animal practicality. and Joshua this kid is insane hello yes memorize every single geographical location in Illinois and the world and read atlases for fun. love them both.
I have never wanted to throw hands more with a middle grade novel parent than Isabel. OR EVEN MATTHEW LIKE.. in a Mr Bennet P&P style kind of way. Isabel makes me FURIOUS and Matthew does too for letting her do these things. It is Complicated yes but also. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. the sheer rawness of the "reunion" gets me. i want to deck someone in the face. Isabel is in fact a deeply complicated character but she drives me insane and i like her less and less the older i get even if i can more appreciate the absolute mess that is Tuners and Meister. but Isabel has no excuse. her masterplan... go AWAY!
I really really enjoy the complicated not black and white morality of Meister and the Wardens. Bc the kids are just kids but the adults.. there is So Much going on over there and Jessica Andrews is the best of them all btw. Crazy to think Isabel was once 9 and a Tuner, and Jessica was once 13 and a Tuner.. yeesh.

This book introduces even more unanswered questions L but also even more cool things that just so happen to exist in this world. Ethel and Morla?!? I always forget about them but that is CRAZY and literally never mentioned again. the way so many things in here exist and then are never mentioned again because of course they wouldn't be but my interest is PIQUED so much. My "notes" on this book are so stupid there are so many question marks.
ok. well. WHO IS BECK???? and why did a mint remind Neptune of something?
that is all.

AUDITORS! THE FORSWORN! FALKRETE STONES! PHALANXES! LOOMDAUGHTERS! SIL'FALO TENEVES! THE MOTHERGATES! there is so much going on in here!! worldbuilding go crazy!! falkrete stones intrigue me so deeply they are so cool.
the Mordin AAAAAAAAAAA I cannot remember my first reactions upon reading this book but it must've been INSANE the amount of revelations in here is shocking (i can remember where i read it because of how fast i tore through this book). Anyway Auditors terrify me too they're such an insane thing. evict you from your OWN INSTRUEMNT Ghost stones?? How do they WORK?? how are auditors chosen and trained? why are they all feminine & mordin all seem to be masculine? also continuity thing that isnt a big deal but i notice everytime but also auditors are described as having big blue or green eyes but theres one bit where an auditor is said to have small black eyes

i freakin love the scene where Brian fixes the Ravenvine. the magnitude and power of the Medium plus the fact that this kid is thirteen >>

AND THEN THE POTENTIAL OF THE TAN'JI! the Box has become a weapon alongside an advantage. The Ravenvine working so beautifully w the humour. Neptune doubling as a spy and a weapon, and of course Chloe. Chloe is fascinating and that is all.

idk just the way literal catastrophe is compounded by kids being kids is real funny to me. mg novels are so fun. (i Know this series wouldn't have worked as a YA series but ye the characters. dont read like 12 year olds.) you always gotta have the mysterious weird old guys with dubious plans and the unhinged new kids with no sense of self preservation against a cosmic problem heck yea!!
the moment sanders was like how can i add a layer of teenagers being teenagers and was like yea N definitely likes G
im not mad tho it gave me something to be even more insane about when i was 13 loll. i say that like i'm still not six years later

lolo poor Derek bro is dragged unwittingly into chaos bc his younger sister just so happened to stumble across a piece of jewelry once.

5* left by 13 year old me and untouched almost 6 years later because i can't be bothered. idk what else to rate it tbh this whole book is so completely deranged in the right way

.. anyway, time to go back to reading about east asia after WWII

4/16/21: aajlksJFEIOFUNSK
i might be just dumb and have a weird sense of humor but this book has no right to be so randomly funny (note to self: page 465)
(Also I accidentally stayed up until 3:30 last night reading bc I lost track of time and I'm pretty sure that's doubly ironic because the literal protagonist of this book has perfect time and then there's me)

Jan 2018: I broke my fast reading record with this one - 650 pages in 2 1/2 flippin' hours!
It was hard not to read so fast though - this book is about 10x better than the first one. show less

This was a fun book to read. It has suspense, a bit of creepiness, and plenty of unique magic. Horace (science geek) and Chloe (angry skeptic) are realistic, well matched, and engaging characters. There is an ensemble of characters who offer additional mystery and interesting personal dynamics. The magic had a Mary Poppin-ish feel to it: ancient and sometimes whimsical, but also with dark edges. Although there are Harry Potter comparisons, The Keepers stands on its own for a refreshing, show more intriguing story.

Pros: Magical instruments, engaging characters, and plenty of action will keep readers spellbound and searching for answers.

There's more to our review. Read why this is a "buy" at The Reading Tub®. While you’re there, add a link to your review of the book. show less