The Gatekeeper of Pericael by Hayley Reese Chow – ARC Review

A fun and refreshing middle-grade fantasy, filled with magic, monsters, and nerds!

Title: The Gatekeeper of Pericael
Author: Hayley Reese Chow
Genre: Middle-grade fantasy
Publication date: April 6th 2021
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis from Goodreads

Twelve-year-old Porter would much rather spend his weekends playing soccer than channeling spirits in the parallel universe of Pericael. Unfortunately for him, Porter’s family has guarded the gate between Earth and monster-filled Pericael for generations, so he’s not getting out of Gatekeeper lessons anytime soon.

But some after-school activities are more dangerous than others.

When a soul thief threatens the gate, Porter reluctantly comes to its defense… and gets thrown deep into Pericael’s dangerous jungle wilderness. With the help of two fierce native girls, Porter must learn to embrace the creepy spirits and find his way back to the gate. But the soul thief is racing for the gate too, and if he gets there first, Porter won’t have a home to go back to.

Review

I had such a fun time reading this brand new middle-grade fantasy novel. When I read it, I was mourning finishing Rick Riordan’s Camp Half-Blood books, and so it was the perfect remedy for my misery. Porter was a really likable and relatable character. He wants to spend time with his friends and play soccer, not guard the gate to another, very dangerous, universe. But he has no choice. His parents make it clear that being a gatekeeper isn’t optional, and so after school he goes through the gate to Pericael for training.

And then Pericael is threatened, and Porter’s world changes. I found him really believable. He’s quite reluctant about his destiny, but throughout the novel he grows to accept it. I also really enjoyed getting to spend time with all of the other characters, including Porters dorky, game-loving cousin. It’s great to read about kids who spend their evenings playing games and talking about comics, because those are the kind of kids I really wanted to read about when I was a nerdy pre-teen who enjoyed those sorts of things myself. The kids in this book aren’t particularly special. They aren’t good at everything, they don’t have all the answers. But they keep trying even when it seems like they can never win. It was their courage that I most admired.

I really enjoyed how information about the magic system was woven in throughout the book, rather than being given as one huge info dump. I got enough information to make sense of what was going on, but as I needed to know more, it was revealed. This really helped me to connect with the setting and not feel too overwhelmed but to also believe it. I often find that authors either tell me far too much or nothing at all, leaving me exhausted or confusing. This was the perfect balance and it enabled me to read this very quickly and stay engaged.

The pacing was perfect, with the action starting immediately, but it also held enough back so that there could still be a build up throughout the novel. And I absolutely loved the way the author described the world.

I was really excited to discover that one of the characters is blind, because I hadn’t known the book would include any disability representation, and as a blind person I’m always eager to read about blind characters in fiction. I was even more pleased to discover that like many of the characters, Conri is able to cast spells. I wasn’t expecting the blindness rep to be perfectly realistic, this is a fantasy world, so the treatment and expectations of blind people are likely to be different, fitting within the culture. I did find it strange that Conri would look at people, which was indicated clearly in the text. Normally, a blind person would turn to face the person, or turn their head, but actually making eye contact is pretty difficult if not impossible. But at other times she did turn her head, and fail to make eye contact, so I found those inconsistencies a little jarring. I’m really digging down into the detail of the representation here. You can still love the book regardless, I loved it. But I think authors also have a responsibility when writing about under-represented groups.

I was also a little disappointed that the magic was essentially used to compensate for the blindness. Conri has bound herself with a spirit which guides her, so she’s able to draw perfectly to cast magic, and can walk around without needing to be guided. I understand why this was done, but it left me feeling a little sad. On the one hand, why not, this is a fantasy setting. On the other, when do we get blind characters who get to be blind, with all this involves, and are still viewed as whole and useful? Often it feels like the character is blind for the sake of the plot, or representation, but rather than come up with the creative hacks real life blind people use, a cure or magic is thrown in so that the character can effectively behave like a sighted person when it’s convenient. I took a star away for this, very reluctantly, because whilst I loved the fact that there was this representation, and the book was great overall, I felt like this was a missed opportunity. Having said all of this, it’s rare that I give a book with a blind character four stars, because they are usually an utterly painful experience. Whilst I’d have liked to see Conri as more of a real blind person, rather than a magically sighted one, the representation wasn’t bad and if I had picked this up when I was twelve, I’d have been really excited to read it. So this does matter, and I’m glad it was included.

The final battle was very quick, considering all the build-up. However, because there was so much action throughout the book it didn’t feel out of place. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out to see if this is the start of a new series, as I’d want to continue with it if it is.

This was such a fun book with a unique and engaging setting. I highly recommend to fans of middle-grade fantasy. All in all I had a great time reading it and I would happily recommend this title.

Rating: 4/5

I’d like to thank BookSirens and the author for providing me with an advanced review copy of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Where to Buy

• Amazon

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