User blog comment:Charlotte O CATS KOTLC/Why I Don't Like Keefe/@comment-37719459-20181221032228

K, so I'm sorry if this comes across as rude, but I'm going to counter your argument like you said, but step by step, so forgive me since this is REALLY long.


 * 1) Keefe joined the Neverseen.
 * 2) When Keefe joined the Neverseen, it made Sophie cry. Yes, it made her cry, but the entire reason he did it was to keep Sophie safe.
 * 3) Keefe got nothing from joining the Neverseen.
 * 4) Keefe lost Kenric's cache.Yes, that's true
 * 5) Keefe got a fake Fintan cache. Also true
 * 6) Keefe didn't find any useful things about his mom True, but I don't really get how that makes you dislike him.
 * 7) Keefe lost Alluveterre (see K). Again, true.  Now I'm going to reply to all above "true"s.  Yes, Keefe joined the Neverseen.  Yes, he was a little *a lot* reckless.  YES, HE MADE A MISTAKE AND LOST THE CACHES.  Everyone makes mistakes, and he's naturally reckless--but he IS trying very very hard to fix that--see below.
 * 8) Keefe had to spend a few months eating gross food for no reason.  Not sure why this makes you dislike Keefe, but ok--moving on.
 * 9) See above (1) for this
 * 10) Keefe wants Sophie so much he pushes too much.
 * 11) This may be because of my theory: Keefe wants Sophie because his Ventral Striatum tells him that Sophie gives the biggest social reward. (The Ventral Striatum is a part of the brain that tells you who you need to impress. It can make you do embarrassing things like telling people each other's crushes or if they are LGBTQ+ even if they told you not to say because at the moment that you are telling everyone, you get a social reward for sharing a secret. It also tells you who to be friends with, because it decides who will give you the biggest social reward. It is in the Corpus Striatum part of the brain near the Dorsal Striatum. It tells you who you need to be friends with/impress and how.)  I really, REALLY disagree with this.  Please do not take offense to any of this.  *Takes twenty deep breaths before continuing.*  Keefe, is--ABOVE ALL--selfless.  Especially in the last couple of books, that's what DEFINES him.  And (Again sorry) when people think that Keefe likes Sophie to get a social reward...? No, it just doesn't make sense.  Besides, all his friends know who he is; he's not trying to gain popularity in their little friend group, and he likes Sophie because she's like him--she's selfless and caring and above all willing to do what's right without thought of her own safety.  I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree.
 * 12) Sometimes, Keefe tries to push Sophie's friends away from her.  I've never seen this happen--can you send me a page of when it happens?  Thanks!  
 * 13) Keefe hates Tam and Tam is cool.
 * 14) Yeah, I have no idea why Keefe hates Tam so much.  The basic thing with their relationship is--THEY DON'T HATE EACH OTHER.  It's more of a teasing kind of "dislike" that none of them really mean it.  It's honestly just a stubbornness battle--they both don't dislike each other--they haven't since like book 5--but neither of them wants to be the first to back down.  I actually kinda like it; it adds some more depth to their characters.
 * 15) Keefe is obviously hiding something BAD because he won't let Tam take his shadowvapor. Yessss, that could? be possible?  Sophie and Keefe know each other SO well though, that is like almost zero that that would happen.  He didn't take the shadowvapor reading because he initially didn't like Tam--but was too stubborn to change opinions on that later.
 * 16) Even after the Neverseen incident, he still won't let Tam take his shadowvapor.
 * 17) Alvar was doing bad when he wouldn't let Tam take his shadowvapor.
 * 18) SoLinh is to foster-keefe as happiness is to sadness. (ANALOGIES ARE HARD IN E.L.A. CLASSSSS)
 * 19) Actually... this is not a very good point. Sorry! You are fine--I do that all the time : )
 * 20) Keefe skips classes.
 * 21) Foxfire has GOT to cost a lot of birth fund. It has to be possible to run out, and it's a waste of his time. He won't be able to earn money without learning things at school.
 * 22) School is really fun! K, yes he skips school.  I'm sorry, but that's part of his character.  He's the "rebellious" kid to hide what needs to be hidden so that no one else has to bear it.  Besides, they've all missed A LOT of school.  I'm sorry if you don't like the lack of school....
 * 23) Keefe has made Sophie cry/come close to crying multiple times throughout the series.
 * 24) Lots of times. I'm too lazy to name them all.  Once, in fact, when he joined the neverseen.  (See above.)  She's been really annoyed at him quite a few times in Lodestar and Nightfall when he tried to take control, but the minute he realized, he changed--for her.
 * 25) Sophie obviously likes Fitz more than Keefe, but he still wants Sophie
 * 26) FLASHBACK.
 * 27) I know that Sophie is growing on Keefe, but still, she finds Fitz more attractive. Yippee, Fitz has "stunningly teal eyes" and a "movie star smile".  Sorry, but a lot of elves do--they're elves!  Besides, Fitz isn't the 
 * 28) Keefe is rude.
 * 29) What did Tam ever do to Keefe? Read above comment.  He is only joking around.
 * 30) Keefe makes a huge show about how he hates his parents and he doesn't care about them just to impress Sophie. (Ventral Striatum)
 * 31) His parents deserve that. Scratch that. His parents deserve less than that. I know that they are rude to him, but his dad doesn't deserve that much rudeness. His mom does, and until book 4, his dad did. His dad has opened up A LOT, and has been much kinder to him. K, if you had their parents, would you talk about the fact that you hate them?  And secondly, he hasn't been bringing that up unless it's required since like Neverseen or Lodestar--Sophie knows this so much
 * 32) Keefe literally tossed the Alluveterre hideout to the Neverseen, and that was one of my favorite settings in the book. He was trying to get the caches.  Yes, I know, he messed up (read above) and Aluvettere was also one of MY favorite places in the series, but it would have been worth it.  It was a mistake.
 * 33) If I could visit anywhere in the Lost Cities, it would be Alluveterre if the Neverseen didn't have it.
 * 34) Why? It was a sentimental place of Sophie's and the Black Swan's.
 * 35) Keefe makes too many mean jokes.
 * 36) Yes, most of them are nice and teasy, but some really get to the characters. I know Fitz goes straight to anger, but Keefe is constantly teasing people. Would you rather be friends with someone that lashes out in anger when upset, or one that makes jokes to cope with it?  It's not a hard decision.
 * 37) Keefe doesn't show his real self.
 * 38) Maybe if he showed his real, sad, self to people, they could help him have his real self be happy and positive.  He does this so that no one else has to be a part of it--it's honestly REALLY selfless when you think about it.
 * 39) Keefe is a complainer.
 * 40) Try to deny this one. Ok, I will.  He's joking, and it's usually to cope with something bad that happened.
 * 41) Keefe brags too much.
 * 42) He has the bragging right on some things... but a lot of the ones that he DOES brag about are ones that he should not. Again, HE IS COPING WITH HIS LOW SELF ESTEEM.  His whole life he has been told that he's lazy, dumb and just about every bad thing, so it's only natural that he's try to deny it that way.
 * 43) Dex is a bigger part of Sophie's life, (only slightly, because he's her best friend) but he only shows up on one cover while Keefe shows up on three.
 * 44) This seriously bugs me.
 * 45) Dex shows up on book 1, and the book 1 scene is pretty minor.  Honestly, I think Keefe has been a bigger part of her life--he's been in every climax since Exile.  But I'm not disagreeing with you on the cover part.  DEX NEEDS MORE LOVE!

So sorry if that offended you in any way, I just needed to defend poor Keefe--if we don't who will?!