This review is for those who have read or are familiar with the previous books, Disney After Dark, Disney At Dawn, Disney In Shadow, Power Play, Shell Game and Dark Passage, or don't mind knowing major spoilers for them.
SPOILER ALERT
Deep within the catacombs beneath an Aztec temple, a Disney witch doctor is summoning powers that should be left alone. As terrifying wraiths and demons attack the Archives on the Walt Disney Studios lot, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, Finn, Willa, Philby, Maybeck, and Charlene are summoned to Disneyland fresh from high school graduation. They must stop an enemy that hasn't been clearly identified.
In this, the final installment in the epic Kingdom Keepers series, betrayal and ambition push the boundaries of loyalty. Chasing scattered clues in pursuit of a long-lost icon--whose magic offers a fighting chance against an evil that Walt Disney himself created--the Keepers find their hearts and minds tested in the park where it all began. Bonds that once threatened to fray are renewed under the pressure for survival. As the five are pushed to their limits--and then beyond--feelings intensify behind self-imposed walls of well-kept secrets.
With its dazzling action sequences and moments of touching intimacy, Kingdom Keepers VII: The Insider will leave readers breathless, cheering, and biting their nails. It's a winner-take-all battle for magical good--but then why is Disneyland burning out of control?
Not only was this the longest of the series, it also dragged way, way, WAY too long. The Insider included everything, plus the kitchen sink, yet still managed not to expand on anything other books set up. It took me three borrows from the library to get through this, and even then I almost ran out of time on the 3rd try.
But first things first: The Insider starts out with a time-jump. Despite Dark Passage ending with a cliffhanger - the hope of possibly reviving Dillard with Tia Dalma's voodoo doll - this book starts three years later with Dillard very dead. Now, I'm all for a time-jump if we're skipping past boring stuff, but you would think that essential character development (like Finn's dealing with guilt over Dillard, coming to terms with having intentionally killing Maleficent, getting closer to Allison, etc.) would be important enough to include first-hand. Instead we get an overview of Finn being depressed, getting support from the other Keepers, seeing a psychologist and being a dick to him, and somehow overcoming it eventually. Oh and he's at prom with Allison.
Another reason the time-jump didn't work for me is that nothing has changed. The Keepers haven't been together for a while - they seemingly didn't have missions to go on after the OT leaders disappeared - yet they act no differently together than they did in the last book. There's no rise in conflict between Finn and Philby, Charlene and Allison aren't resentful of eachother's relationship with Finn, and the others are just the same as ever. It's like the 3 years erased all conflicts that were introduced in the last two books.
In all honesty, I think the only reason the time-jump exists was:
A) someone pointed out Tia Dalma's trek to Mexico and work to free Chernabog wasn't logical in a shorter amount of time
B) the author wasn't sure how to deal with Finn's situation, so skipped it
C) the author could justify writing darker stuff if the characters were older (nevermind the readers)
D) the author was tired of including parents in the Keepers' activities
E) all of the above
But hey, what do I know?
Speaking of darker stuff, I was frankly horrified at some of the gore described in here. There's a rather graphic scene of ravens attacking a car. As you might expect, most of the ravens don't fare so well, but instead of just leaving it at just dead birds left by the road, we get this:
bushes are black from the hundreds of ravens impaled on their thorns. The fire rises, feathers lifting with the smoke. [character] turns away, averting her eyes as the conflagration consumes all but a handful of the birds.There is also a mention of bird guts coating a window in the car...
But I get it, the situation is getting worse, it's an all-out war, there are gonna be some grim scenes. I still don't understand how Finn and the others (specifically Philby) are fine with killing people - Characters...whatever - without a second thought. Or how the other Keepers are okay with their friends' killing. I mean, there are some deaths that are 'okay' because the Character was actually just a statue brought to life, but others that are clearly the real deal.
Then again, maybe their willingness to kill Characters would make more sense if we actually knew how the world works. I can't reiterate this enough: THERE IS NO CONSISTENCY TO THIS WORLD. And don't give me the "it's magic" excuse. There are plenty of magical worlds that still have consistent rules and logic behind the magic. But here, we have no freaking idea how the characters come to life, where they stay when the parks are open, why some have new magical abilities (Cruella & Megara), why some animals can talk and others can't, what they look like (Who Framed Roger Rabbit animated or live-action/CG), or what happens if they die.
A good number of the main OT villains died at the end of their films. Heck, Tia Dalma was released from her human shell to become Calypso again. So is there a respawn cycle to their deaths? At what point in their movie-existence are they reborn at - their most evil? Do they control their respawn over whether they're at Disneyland or Walt Disney World? And if ripping up Mickey's original drawing made it so he couldn't come back, why isn't similar done for the villains?
To that last point, I must give kudos where kudos is due. I was very impressed by the Osiris mythos being applied to Disneyland lore, with the Hidden Mickeys being a way to bring more eyes into the search. I think it would have been more effective overall if we'd been given clues about this prior to book 7, what with Mickey being GONE up to this point, but I still give kudos.
But kudos pretty much begin and end there, cause there's still a lot more WRONG to cover in this book. I'm not just talking Disney lore (cause there's STILL a lot wrong even this far in), I'm talking emotionally scarring wrong. I know I've mentioned Dillard's death before - and I am actually a bit impressed that they didn't give that a happy Disney ending, even if that would have been more fitting to the series - and how its impact wasn't properly covered because of the time-jump, but I neglected to mention how we still manage to get some 'closure' late in the book. It is rather spoiler-y, so I'll hide it for those who don't want to know, but suffice it to say my jaw literally dropped open at how HORRIFYING this supposedly well-intentioned decision was.
I've spent a good six months reading these books, and after everything is said and done, I don't feel any better for it. The original concept was confusing, ill-explained, and retconed at every opportunity. The characters weren't explored as much as their environment was, and that felt more like a commercial than anything else (especially the cruise ship). And the Disney Characters, who were really the main draw of the series, were either written with wrong information or never truly expanded upon. Even if research was done, it felt impossible to take anything as fact in these books since so much of the lore was butchered to begin with.
The Insider tried to end the series with a bang, but it couldn't even do that right. With dangling plot threads (some of which may have been outright abandoned), the ending is obvious sequel bait. I don't know if I can force myself to continue, even with the promise of Maleficent's return on the next book cover.
I didn't hate this book, and I didn't hate this series. The writing wasn't great, but it was for the most part creative and entertaining. I hated the lure of interacting with Disney characters come to life, only getting a handful of baddies and hardly any good guys (let alone heroes), and almost no regard for accuracy in referencing Disney. For a fan, it's just plain insulting. And as a reader, I don't have to put up with books insulting me.
If you want any more of my thoughts on this book in particular, you can check out my quotes/notes. I think I managed to make most of them PG...
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
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