Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities #3) by Shannon Messenger

★★★½

*** Warning: This review contains spoilers! ***

The exciting titular event depicted in the cover illustration happens about halfway through the book. After that, I was sort of left wondering, "Okay... Now what?" Rest assured the last third of the book picks up quite a bit, with a number of satisyfing revelations!

Overall, I just didn't feel like this book was tight enough. There wasn't a defining climactic event, and the story didn't have a good flow. There was the assignment with Fitz, and then the adventure with Keefe, then one shocking plot twist, and then another. It was kind of just all over the place.

I was also bothered by a lack of character development between Sophie and her friends. Dex is the only friend who I feel has "earned" his place as "a good friend of Sophie's who wants to help her by going where she goes." Sophie and Fitz shared the trust exercises from their Telepathy classes, but that didn't feel like an authentic bond of friendship. Keefe is by far the most developed character on his own, but even though Sophie and Keefe share the Silveny bond, she never seems to warm up to him as a friend unless she's faced with his vulnerable side, which makes it seem like Keefe just likes to be around Sophie because exciting things happen when she's around. Sophie and Biana's friendship is the most baseless of all. They don't have much in common except playing base quest with Fitz and Keefe, a pretty convenient way for each girl to spend time with her crush (Fitz for Sophie, Keefe for Biana). It's like Biana just wants to join in because otherwise she'd be left out, and also she wants to be where Keefe is. I don't know if I'm being too harsh, but all I know is that when Hermione and Ron volunteered to leave school and run off with Harry to hunt horcruxes, it was pretty believable because of the strong friendship shared by all three. When Keefe, Fitz, and Biana all volunteer to run off with Sophie, I saw it as a plot device, not really genuine.

Still, the Council versus the Black Swan versus Neverseen and ogres makes for a pretty exciting set-up, and now that we know who some of the Neverseen players are, it'll be fun to see where the story goes next.

Her2: The Making of Herceptin, a Revolutionary Treatment for Breast Cancer by Robert Bazell

★★★★★

I first read about the dramatic story behind Herceptin in The Emperor of All Maladies, a sweeping biography of cancer that includes Herceptin as one of many major developments in cancer research. When I learned of a book that dives in deep and provides all the fascinating details of Herceptin's own biography, I jumped to read it.

This story has all the players you might expect, and more. There are academic researchers, oncologists, and biotechnology executives; insurance companies, government agencies, Hollywood philanthropists, and activists. There are missed opportunities, serendipitous encounters, and determined individuals with unrelenting perseverence. 

The author, Robert Bazell, interweaves the story of Herceptin with stories of women with breast cancer who helped make the drug available by participating in clinical trials or by advocating for compassionate access before it was FDA-approved. Bazell provides important facts about cancer and cancer research alongside candid accounts of the reality of cancer treatment and recurrence. There is poignancy and meaning in each woman's story. 

For me, this book is personal, so maybe my rating is inflated. I was diagnosed with a HER2-positive breast cancer and am currently receiving targeted therapy with Herceptin. I am keenly aware that if I had been diagnosed 25 years earlier, my prognosis would very likely have been much more grim. I am deeply indebted to every individual who believed that Herceptin would save lives, and who persisted despite obstacles and set-backs. I feel sincere gratitude towards each woman whose participation in a clinical trial helped bring the drug to market.

Finally, this book reaffirmed my belief that health care and pharmaceuticals should not be for-profit industries. I am horrified to think of how many potentially life-saving drugs aren't under development because corporate executives don't see a path to profit. 

Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities #2) by Shannon Messenger

★★★

I still like the series, but I felt this book was lacking. I was a bit bored at the start, feeling like the story didn't pick up until chapter 8. I was annoyed at all the explicit recapping, but my daughter said if I had to wait a year in between reading books, I'd have appreciated it. The adults in this series seem to have a bigger role than I realized, because we didn't get to see any peers for Sophie until Dex appeared in chapter 15.

Similarities to Harry Potter continue, e.g., the mesmer talent is analogous to the imperius curse, and inflicting is like the cruciatus curse. Also, Silveny the flying horse-like alicorn was reminiscent of Buckbeak the flying half-horse hippogriff. But just as my son assured me, by the end of this book, the series veered quite a bit away from the wizarding world of Harry Potter. 

I was surprised at how dark and disturbing some of the scenes were, e.g., people consumed to death by flames, minds shattered to the point of insanity. I liked the encouraging message about not letting yourself get destroyed by guilt. And I thought it was weird how quickly elves turned to sedatives to calm down, instead of just trying to calm down naturally. 

Overall, the whole arc of the story just seemed kind of convoluted. The link between Sophie wanting to save Alden and her figuring some doodles in an old diary would be the answer seemed awfully tenuous. And sure, all the clues left by the Black Swan were intriguing and helped to build suspense, but why all the riddles? If they were able to contact Sophie directly via private messages in her locker, why not just give her clear instructions? 

Finally, I had to dock the rating a star because I really disliked the way the author reframed J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings was a seminal work of fantasy and literature, yet in Shannon Messenger's elven world, Tolkien was unoriginal and didn't understand his own writing. Maybe she was trying to pay homage to Tolkien's elves, but the execution was lacking and, at least to me, it felt derisive.