Who's ready for an alternate Earth history full of neat gadgets and a cipher that a couple of very famous inventors left for New York City? Is it EVERYONE? Yay!
An amazon summary without all of the reviews or praise, "It was 1798 when the Morningstarr twins arrived in New York with a vision for a magnificent city: towering skyscrapers, dazzling machines, and winding train lines, all running on technology no one had ever seen before.
Fifty-seven years later, the enigmatic architects disappeared, leaving behind for the people of New York the Old York Cipher—a puzzle laid into the shining city they constructed, at the end of which was promised a treasure beyond all imagining. By the present day, however, the puzzle has never been solved, and the greatest mystery of the modern world is little more than a tourist attraction.
Tess and Theo Biedermann and their friend Jaime Cruz live in a Morningstarr apartment—until a real estate developer announces that the city has agreed to sell him the five remaining Morningstarr buildings. Their likely destruction means the end of a dream long held by the people of New York.
And if Tess, Theo, and Jaime want to save their home, they have to prove that the Old York Cipher is real. Which means they have to solve it." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
The Morningstarr twins were magnificent inventors who made inventions around the city of New York. Notably, they made things like a public transport system that also has little cleaners on it that take care of it. They also built many buildings throughout the city that have elevators that don't just move up and down, but every which way. The Morningstarr twins were also celebrities of a sort, had lavish parties, and met many people through many walks of life.
Tess, Theo, and Jaime live in a Morningstarr building, which is currently being bought by a real estate developer. They hope by solving the cipher, they can save their building. They love their building, they love their community, and they think that by solving the cipher and proving it's real, they can save their building.
That's enough summary.
I loved this book. There was plenty of mystery, there were also all sorts of different inventions, strong themes of family, and such a thrilling adventure.
The world was also full of it's own pockets of mysteries. It's a way more technologically advanced New York City, but they also have their own problems. Like, they have Chimeras; animals that are a combination of more than one animal. Tess has a chimera as a support animal for her mental health, but her chimera is unusual. It's a very large cat, but its unclear what aspects of other animals have been added with the cat. There's a bunch of fun little details like that throughout the story that paints the familiar New York City with a different color. It gives the world an entirely familiar feel, while also giving it more of an alternate world feel.
There's also a cipher society that's been trying to solve the cipher for years, and are FULL of a cast of wonderful, wonderful people. I also learned a crap ton about the different types of puzzles, which was oddly informative and makes me feel like I can take on Escape Rooms better.
I don't really want to talk about the general plot of the book because, it's a mystery book. I feel like any neat cipher clue that I talk about might lead to a reader discovering a clue too soon about the book. The mystery must be preserved!
But, I loved this book. It's very wonderful. I'm looking forward to the sequel!
Happy reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment