Seven Wonders #5: Legend of the Rift by Peter Lerangis

My name is Jack, and I only have a few more months to live. All of us Selects will die on our fourteenth birthdays if we can't find a way to reunite all seven Loculi. Each one enhances an ability, the Loculus of healing has been very handy, but they must be destroyed in order to correct history. Unfortunately, the followers of Massarym and Karai are fighting over the fate of the Loculi, and my friends and I are always caught in the middle. We must travel to the last two Wonders of the World, collect the last two Loculi, and travel through the rift to an ancient world. Hopefully, we'll save Aly and end this curse that's been killing Selects for centuries. Recent events give me hope that we'll be successful, but there's still a nagging feeling that something unexpected will complicate things. 

I enjoyed this conclusion to the series, but I wish I'd read the previous book more recently. It'd been six years, so I'd forgotten most of the past events. However, this book contained plenty of action, mystery, and suspense to carry the plot without knowing past details. Jack was leader of the Selects and displayed the uncertainty of being thrust into that position. His decisions were complicated by new revelations about characters and past events. This all created tension and suspense to keep the plot interesting. It was a bit unusual that the touch of a Select was necessary to activate the Loculi. Imagine several kids holding hands and touching the Loculus of Language to understand what someone else was saying. It made sense, but it was strange. It was also unusual that there wasn't a clear antagonist for most of the book. The main conflict was like fulfilling a quest to return the Loculi through the rift, but there wasn't an actual bad guy until the book neared the end. Overall, I really enjoyed the series and recommend you give it a shot. You'll probably appreciate it more than I did, because you'll read all the books straight through. You won't wait six years to finish the series!