Book Synopsis:
Children
You must not come
STOP
Dangerous
The Mysterious Benedict Society is back with a new mission: to go on a mind-bending international scavenger hunt designed to engage their individual talents. As they search for all the clues and riddles Mr. Benedict has hidden for them, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance faces an unexpected challenge that will reinforce the reasons they were brought together in the first place and require them to fight for the very namesake that united them.
Join
The Mysterious
Benedict
Society
At your own
Risk
My Review
4.5/5 stars. I can’t remember too much about the beginning of the book because I read part of it, then took a long break before continuing again, but what I do remember and read recently was good. It felt more intense than the first book at times, and I liked all the puzzles. I liked this one about equally as much as the first, for different reasons.
Like I said, about the first quarter to third of this book I don't have as good a memory of. I started it months and months ago, got busy and distracted with other stuff, then finally went back to it a few weeks ago. What I remember of the beginning was enjoyable. I thought it was a nice re-introduction to the characters and what they'd been up to since the end of the first book.
I liked the main idea of this book centering on a kind of scavenger hunt around the world. It was cool seeing the Mysterious Benedict Society travel to different places, even if they didn't spend much time there.
The middle until almost the very end was the most intense part of the book. The consequences felt much bigger, and the characters were in real danger many times - more than in the first book - so it was much more nerve-wracking. There weren't any crazy plot twists, probably because it's a middle grade novel, but there were times where you weren't sure how a character would get out of the situation they were in, and then they came up with a clever solution.
This book had a lot of character development. Characters went through internal struggles they didn't have in the first book, and it made them feel much more real. I'm pretty sure I said the characters were my favorite part of the first book, which is still true. Even though this is a more simple book compared to YA novels, you fall in love with the main gang and want to read about them.
The ending of this book, however, felt kind of forced and rushed. The last chapter was short and didn't really leave me feeling excited to read the third book in the series. It was a little cheesy, just trying to wrap up everything perfectly. Other than that, this was a great book.
Age wise, it's a middle grade book, and I would even recommend it for older elementary school aged kids, especially gifted kids. The main characters are children, so there's nothing inappropriate and no bad language whatsoever.
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