Author: Trenton Lee Stewart
Release Date: 7 March 2007
Release Date: 7 March 2007
Genre: Middle-Grade Adventure, Science Fiction
Series: The Mysterious Benedict Society #1
Pages: 492
Series: The Mysterious Benedict Society #1
Pages: 492
Website Description:
"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?"
When this particular ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, and test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. With their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?
Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society.
I have to admit, the cover seemed rather... bland. It just didn't invoke any response in me, y'know? My reaction was more of "Oh hey, what a nice cover. 4 children running around, nice pastel-ish background. meh." It's equivalent to sayin "LOL" without actually laughing. Which a lot of people do. Just saying.
But what reaaaaaally caught my eye was the synopsis.
It caught me at "Are you a gifted child looking for special oppurtunities?" Wowzah. It was in red, not glaring red, but when words are capitalized and thrown in your face like that, you tend to notice. It then mentions tests. Mysterious ones. Mind-bending ones. That really made me interested and excited. And then a secret mission. Man, they really like to test the will of my wallet huh? My will crumbled and my wallet felt the strain of guilty pleasure.
I was not disappointed. I should have read this book earlier!
Everything caught me. The characters, the queer tests, the mission they went out for, the things uncovered, and to top it off- The ending was wonderful . Never will there be something as astonishing yet smile-making as the way this book ended.
Communicating using Morse code and cryptic words was also interesting, but risky. I was in constant dread for The Mysterious Benedict Society (can I call them TMBS? okay.) as I was certain that someone would discover the flickering lights and thier whole plan would come to shambles. Also the idea of influencing the mind, in such a interesting way! kept me reading on with vigour. How would they overcome this? How would they solve this? What is going to happen along the way? These question kept me awaiting each chapter with eager anticipation.
I also enjoyed seeing how TMBS worked as a team in order to succeed, with Sticky their walking encyclopedia, Reynie their clever mystery-solver, Kate their acrobatic extraordinaire with everything you need, and Constance the strong willed stubborn girl with her snark and intelligence.
Hmmmm the book could have improved on the cover's interestingness by making it seems less ambiguous but yet again, the title seems to suggest a mysterious setting in the first place, eh? I suppose it could incline more to the inviting mysterious, rather than the bland adrogynity of it all because people have GOT to get their hands on this book! I pity those who know not of this marvel, they are missing out on all that is good of life and living and ropes and secret societies and of puzzles.
The pace could also be faster, instead of chewing on a lettuce like a turtle. I don't mind reading a tome as long as it's interesting, which it is, but still... there is the little tendency to get a little dull. A bit like the cover.
My favourite character definitely goes to Kate. Kate, Kate, Kate. She lived in a _ _ _ _ _ !(Sorry, can't tell) How cool is that?! Her bucket sounded unconventional, but it has pulled TMBS through many tight spots. Although I would recommend a bucket cover. Her bucket is like Doraemon's (Japanese cat person) pocket! Whatever you need, Kate has... in her bucket. She intrigues me everytime she appears, and I can count on her to liven the story up.
This book was WONDERFUL, what with the adventure and the puzzles and the awesome plot and I'm definitely going to get a copy of the sequel right now. I can't wait to see what TMBS will do next! Chop chop everybody, things to do, books to buy!
5/5
I enjoyed reading this book. It kept my attention through out the story. It had an interesting story in that a gifted, intelligent man wanted to rule the world by using hidden messages through TV to change people. I really like the idea that children were able to stop the genius by using their combined skills and intelligence to overcome the problem. It was a creative story line and I never figured out that the one character was just a toddler until the end of the book. It was nice to have a good ending and have things work out for all of the children.
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