Follow Felicity as she braves the Dark in her new path as a turnkey, to get back to her home before the horrors of the Dark catch up with her!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, while the blurb really interested me, I have not been able to get into the story.

What drew me in at first was a beautiful cover which made me think that this will be a graphic novel so I was pretty confused when I downloaded it and saw it was a regular book but only available as protected pdf which meant I couldn't download it on my kindle and made it harder for me to read.

I really enjoyed first 100 pages or so and loved and how creative and original fantasy world felt and it was overall a very light read, even if story dragged a bit at times.
My main problem with this book was the main character, Felicity, which was supposed to be 16 but she read like a child. I went into this one thinking it was young adult and it ended up being middle grade (in my opinion).
Even though book ended on a cliffhanger, I don't think I will be picking up book 2 cause I didn't connect to characters and plot didn't pull me in that much.

Interesting premise and beautiful cover, but I found the world hard to fall into. I liked the characters and the magic system, but the plot was a little slow for my taste.

The cover made me think of anime because of the art style which is what caught my attention. This felt more like a middle grade novel. The character does not feel sixteen at all, maybe twelve. I think this comes from the simplicity of the writing style. The writing has no draw to it. The premise is cool and parts of the world building are interesting.

As interested as I am in the premise, I just haven't been able to immerse myself in this book each time I've picked it up. The story has a lot of potential and I'd love to return to it someday, but for now I'll be leaving it unfinished.

I ended up not finishing this one I just couldn’t get in to it unfortunately. I would like to give it another chance though in the future.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

The Crystal Key is a thrilling, suspenseful fantasy novel for teens. I absolutely loved it. There are well rounded characters and an intriguing plot. The author is clearly wonderful at world-building, as the alternative future is quite interesting and descriptive. It is engrossing and has a tad pinch of romance. The novel ends on a cliffhanger that will definitely leave readers excitedly anticipating the sequels.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cover of this book is what immediately drew me in, it's just gorgeous!

The description hooked me after the cover did:

"The sun has not shone in over a thousand years. Sixteen year old Felicity lives in a world where the Dark rules. Humanity stays to the Wellsprings, illuminated swathes of land where the light of eternal fountains keeps the skies bright all day long. But beyond that, the world is wrapped in eternal shadows, filled with monstrous Horrors who pray on the unsuspecting. When Felicity discovers that she is a Turnkey, a guardian selected to protect the Wellsprings, her life unexpectedly changes. Not only is she gifted with a magical Key with amazing abilities, but her fate soon takes her deep into the Dark, where with the help of a mysterious boy named Tobin she must survive astonishing odds. For it is soon that the Horrors begin hunting her, and a race to get home is only the beginning of her worries."

The world building is quite expansive, I loved seeing everything and would have loved to see even more.!

The characters are meant to be 16 years old but I couldn't help but perceive them as younger. Not necessarily a problem just my observations.

Overall I enjoyed it but I don't know if I would read it again.

This reads more as middle grade than YA for sure. I loved the idea of this story, but the main character seemed excessively juvenile (not like a 16 year old). That just continued to grate on me throughout. Ok for younger kids, but don't go in expecting a YA story.

"The sun has not shone in over a thousand years. Sixteen year old Felicity lives in a world where the Dark rules. Humanity stays to the Wellsprings, illuminated swathes of land where the light of eternal fountains keeps the skies bright all day long. But beyond that, the world is wrapped in eternal shadows, filled with monstrous Horrors who pray on the unsuspecting. When Felicity discovers that she is a Turnkey, a guardian selected to protect the Wellsprings, her life unexpectedly changes. Not only is she gifted with a magical Key with amazing abilities, but her fate soon takes her deep into the Dark, where with the help of a mysterious boy named Tobin she must survive astonishing odds. For it is soon that the Horrors begin hunting her, and a race to get home is only the beginning of her worries."

Like an extra magical Dark City.

Rating: 2,5 stars

I expected a whole lot more of The Crystal Key. I realise that it sounds hard, but I really wanted to like this book! I expected a unique story laced with magic and adventure with an amazingly developed world building. What I got was a slightly cliche story with a unique setting, where everything was told and not shown. I also feel like this novel should be labeled middle grade instead of YA? The MC, Felicity doesn't seem like a sixteen year old to me, a thirteen year old maybe but definitely not sixteen - which kind of annoyed me.

There were also a few other things that annoyed me throughout the book. First, the typos/grammar mistakes I discovered while reading The Crystal Key. I mean it's not the end of the world, of course. The copy I received was after all, an ARC but, you know, I'm kind of a grammar nazi I guess.
Second, the setting of this book, as I just mentioned was neat - it was unique and cool and it intrigued me. The execution, however, didn't feel right to me. In the beginning, I got the feeling that the author was just throwing around some foreign terms to get the story started instead of introducing us to this newly created world.
Third and lastly, the novel d r a g g e d. I got a little bored after the first hundred pages or so and there are about 400 pages? I mean, when everything gets told, 400 pages are long.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-book to review.

I wanted to enjoy this book and really tried hard to get into it but I fear it just wasn’t for me at all. I found the world building created too much confusion at times and unsure if this is why I couldn’t keep focused or motivated with the book. I couldn’t find myself connected or empathising with the characters so sadly not for me

This is a vivid illustrated experience, perfect, ripe, and ready for reading. Creative and adventurous.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the copy.

The first thing that drew my attention was the gorgeous book cover. I know I should judge a book by its cover, but who wouldn’t want to read a book with this beautiful cover?

The Crystal Key is a young adult and fantasy book about Felicity, a sixteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to become a Doorward, a caster who protects and maintain peace to their world. The story follows a very familiar YA troupe. It is about a girl who has lost both her parents and is being raised by a good family friend. She has a power, a rare kind in their world, but somehow her guardian doesn’t want her to be trained due to a reason which will be revealed later on. Despite her guardian’s warnings, she starts training and faced the true dangers and horrors in their world.

To be completely honest, it took me quite a long time before the story hooked me. The beginning is quite dragging, and nothing interesting is happening. It’s almost a hundred page before the good stuff begins. While I was reading this, I felt like those first few pages were unnecessary and could just be cut off.

World building wise, it has interesting elements and potential to be great. It’s just that I cannot see the whole picture, and I was a little bit confused about whether the setting was in the real world or it was a different one. There are too much information and terminologies that were poorly explained.

For the characters, although they are all likable, I didn’t feel connected to any of them, which was completely fine because it happens sometimes. The characters are sixteen-year-olds, but the way they speak and act make them look like eleven or twelve-year-olds. I’m not sure whether it was because of how the plot is simply written, or it’s just really how I perceived them.

Overall, the book was okay. I didn’t hate it nor like it. I think this would have been a good book if it has a proper editing and revisions.

I gave this book 3 stars!

2.25

Thanks to NetGalley, Robert Gronewold, and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity of reading this book in exchange for an honest review. Initially, I thought it was a graphic novel (mostly because of the publisher, description, and cover), and was pretty annoyed to find it is a 400 page book that cannot be sent to my Kindle, so I had to sit and read it at my computer, meaning this took me forever to read. 

Also, I just want to mention the beauty of the cover. It's more comic-book or anime-like compared to many covers in the genre, which is one of the things that made it stand out to me. I love the simplicity of the colors and how it gives just enough detail without overshadowing my own image of the character.

In this creative (and sometimes not so creative) fantasy world, the Wellsprings give their light to the world (no sunshine here, folks). There are different types of magic users, like Doorwards and Turnkeys. And some evil Horrors lurking about. Technology and steampunk-esque robotic animals also have their place in this world

Felicity lives with her aunt, Lenora, and what happened to her parents is a bit of a vague mystery, hidden by her aunt. When some Turnkeys come knocking on the door one Sleep (night), Felicity's sixteen-year-old existence is changed forever, and it's about time she got to do something fun with magic. Not only does Felicity have new magical responsibilities, but she also has to juggle the trials of being a teenager--romance, friends--on top of that! And she has ti fight Horrors and return home.

So...this book

d  r    a   g   s!

It was fun for the first 60-100 pages or so, but then there is just too much explaining, telling and not showing, going on. And it's like a completely different story. I do agree with some other reviewers that there is just too much information at times and some areas could be cut, but at the same time it's a very light read. It just took too long and did not hold my attention well. 

The world building is a combination of hit or miss. Sometimes it's very interesting, and other times there is random German or Spanish being spoken by the enemies. So...why not make up a language with this world? I get a fantasy vibe from this. There are inferences that make this world feel like maybe it was actually Earth once, but it's such a blend that it's hard to figure out.

This also felt more like a middle grade novel. The character does not feel sixteen at all. Maybe eleven or twelve. I think this comes  from the simplicity of the writing style. It's too simple and boring. The writing has no draw to it. There are also more typos than I have ever seen in any proof I have read. Even if it's just a proof, some kind of larger edit should have been done before dropping it to readers.

While this took a painstakingly long time to finish, it was okay (at best). I don't think I'll be following the series, but who knows. Curiosity might drive me to see if the second one is any better, but this was just a long read with no benefit to the reader.

Description:
The sun has not shone in over a thousand years. Sixteen year old Felicity lives in a world where the Dark rules. Humanity stays to the Wellsprings, illuminated swathes of land where the light of eternal fountains keeps the skies bright all day long. But beyond that, the world is wrapped in eternal shadows, filled with monstrous Horrors who pray on the unsuspecting. When Felicity discovers that she is a Turnkey, a guardian selected to protect the Wellsprings, her life unexpectedly changes. Not only is she gifted with a magical Key with amazing abilities, but her fate soon takes her deep into the Dark, where with the help of a mysterious boy named Tobin she must survive astonishing odds. For it is soon that the Horrors begin hunting her, and a race to get home is only the beginning of her worries.
My Thoughts:
This is a great book for tweens and middle schoolers who like Harry Potter without the bulk of reading Harry Potter. This first in the trilogy takes a girl with hidden talents thrust into a world she is not familiar with who must face horrors and zombies and things that go bump in the Dark. If you like magic, quests, a little romance and things that can kill you in the dark, this is the book for you.

A Few Words:
"Tobin - " she began. He looked up languidly. "You shouldn't call me that. It's not my name." "It is," Felicity insisted, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "To me, you are Tobin. I've never known you by anything else. Besides, some people can name themselves, why not you. I like that name."
An ARC provided by Net Galley for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of the book for review.

The reason I was drawn to this book was most certainly the beautiful cover. The soft undertones of the illustration promise magic and allure and for the most part the book delivers. My only disappointment is that the cover along with the way some of the story are written suggest that this book might be targeted towards middle grade (which I don’t believe is the case given some of the themes that are broached). However, it’s still an astonishingly good addition to the fantasy genre.

The plot starts out at a slow but steady pace, as we’re introduced to our main characters in the Wellspring of Key Island, where it is always Light and life is a combination of our current technology intermixed with a whole lot of magic. Constructs (or vehicles) are really alive. Many objects of common use are enhanced with magic to amplify their functions. The Dark is a constant threat engulfing the farther reaches of the world through the network of Mirrorgates, magical tunnels connecting cities across the globe, and the protective forces of magic are divided into two major divisions; Doorwards (who maintain the gateways) and Turnkeys (who fight the Horrors from the Dark).

The writing in this book is exceptionally good. The history well-researched. This makes up for utterly fantastic world-building. The author manages to hit a balance of both fantasy and science fiction in a book where the teenage protagonists are believable and the adults are well-rounded with faults. Once the main character, Felicity Bough, falls down the proverbial rabbit hole, so to speak, the story really hits its stride and it is nothing but one misadventure after another with the protagonist and her new friends usually coming out on top either through sheer luck or their uncanny resourcefulness. Either way, it’s impossible not to root for these characters. It’s a feeling I haven’t had since I was younger, reading The Chronicles of Narnia or Harry Potter, so this made me extremely happy.

The author does a great job of discussing the motives and backstories of most of the characters and I’m sure with the next book more of these will be explored and more questions answered. And more than likely more horrendous villains to be afraid of. I feel most excited for the next installment!

Rating: 4/5

The story was very interesting but needed more umph with the characters. I wanted to like the story but it needed more involved. I'm most likely not going to read the rest of this book but thank you for posting it. - S.