A decent YA altenate world adventure, easy to read and fairly pacey. The worldbuilding is relatively novel. You can see the twist coming miles off, but that's partly because it's being flagged up well.

A slight reservation is the handling of the other worlds. I found something a little odd about the other offworld characters and the presentation of their home worlds. You have a proud sultan's son with a djinn riding a magic carpet, and a tough spear-wielding dark-skinned girl from the wilds of Afirik. On the one hand, yay diversity and I quite liked the actual characters. On the other, there's something a little weird about this because despite being from different worlds, they are so fundamentally a mythical Persian and an African tribal warrior (thus also honestly pretty clichéd).

I think the reason it jars is because it's taking Earth people and their cultural background, but saying they're aliens. I mean, is Afirik basically a whole world that's one specific perception of Africa but with some magic? Is Irrakesh a whole world that's the Arabian Nights? They sound that way in the book. Earth isn't so limited. And if magic carpets and djinni are (in this storyline) tied to another world, then what about actual Arabian mythology?

It just feels strange because these could just as easily be other people sucked in from Earth, and by making them from other worlds that are (apparently) restricted to those concepts, it seems to restrict both the characters and the worldbuilding, while also putting an odd distance between the middle-class white Americans and the two non-white kids who are literally from other worlds despite being so obviously based on Earth ideas. I do wonder how non-white kids would find this. ( )

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Fourteen-year old cousins Gwen and Vic Pierce are almost nothing alike. Where Gwen is serious, scientific, and analytical, Vic is fun-loving, spontaneous, and outgoing. Older by a mere five hours, Gwen likes to think of herself as the one in charge. Vic likes to use his love of fun to rile his cousin up. Since they both live with Carlton Arthur "Cap" Pierce, Vic's father and Gwen's uncle, things often times get interesting. Gwen's father, Reginald "Rip" Pierce, was Uncle Cap's twin brother. And her mother, Fyera, was the sister of Vic's mom, Kyara. The two brothers met the two sisters on a dig in the Yucatan Peninsula and were instantly smitten. They soon married, and Gwen and Vic arrived on the same day, only hours apart.

Now Gwen's parents are gone, victims of a mysterious car accident. Even Vic's mother, Kyara, is no longer in the picture, having vanished into thin air two years ago only one week after the death of Gwen's parents. Now it's just Cap and the cousins, and the three attempt to make the best life together that they can. Gwen and Vic are raised almost like brother and sister, with Cap as their father. Although Gwen sometimes feels guilty for this new "family," her dreams of one day being a marine biologist keep her reaching towards her goal.

After a nearly disastrous trip to Ocean Kingdoms, the kids are surprised by Cap's strange behavior. He informs them that their family will be leaving the very next day, to avoid danger. Having no idea what he's talking about, Gwen and Vic spend a night of fitful sleep wondering what's gotten into their uncle and father. They awake the next morning to a solarium full of mirrors, crystals, and prisms, and suddenly their world gets a whole lot stranger.

Gwen and Vic find themselves falling through the light that Cap has created, almost as if it were a door. And when they land, they're no longer in a place that they recognize. The kids have come through a crystal door and ended up on the island of Elantya, the center through which all crystal doors unite. Although both bewildered by this new place and uncertain as to how they'll return home, Gwen and Vic are both excited by the people they meet on Elantya--Lyssandra, an interpreter and a telepath; Ali el Sharif, a novice at the Citadel who comes from the flying city of Irrakesh; and Tiaret, a young warrior girl who came from Afrik to also study at the Citadel.

As Gwen and Vic learn that the Elantyans are in the midst of a war with the Merlons, vicious creatures of the sea, they realize that getting back to Earth may be the least of their problems. The two teens will have to work together with their three new friends to protect Elantya from its enemies--and one such enemy might just very well be someone within the Elantyan's own midst.

The first in a trilogy, CRYSTAL DOORS is a highly entertaining contemporary fantasy that readers of all ages will enjoy. I look forward to reading more about life in Elantya, and finding out the reason that Gwen and Vic were brought there. A great read that you'll definitely enjoy! ( )