The Mysterious Benedict Society - Book Review

The Mysterious Benedict Society

This first book in the Mysterious Benedict Society trilogy was a clever, fun, and touching story of four exceptionally talented children, all of whom are orphans for one reason or another. As I read, I was so excited that I often found myself skipping pages to read ahead without thinking about it, then having to go back to read everything I had skipped. Although many of the book's puzzles are probably common knowledge for older children and adults, I think that young children would definitely benefit from having the puzzles presented in such an atypical format, especially if they stop to try and figure them out on their own before being given the answer. The young characters that Stewart has created are realistic, likable, frustrating, enjoyable, and fascinating all at once.










Reynie is an admirably patient and kind character, especially for a child who has been teased and tormented his whole life for being extremely intelligent. I found myself liking and admiring him, even if his almost always cheerful disposition was a bit unbelievable. I appreciated the scene with the Whisperer near the end when it was shown that Reynie was not above all temptation to take the easy route. Kate was by far my favorite character, precisely because of her unbelievable feats and acrobatics; she won me over almost immediately with her laugh-out-loud antics. Constance was frustrating and annoying, but too funny to hate; when her big secret was revealed at the end, I found myself as thankful as the other three children that she had a good excuse for being so downright grumpy. Sticky's intelligence and lack of confidence were important to the story, but I found myself often more annoyed with him than I was with Constance. His wishy-washiness may have been a bit overdone for my liking.

The time spent in the Learning Institute was full of plot twists, secrets, and challenges that were not only exciting to read about, but they also brought out the best and worst of the four members of the Mysterious Benedict Society. While I enjoyed the main plot of the story, I was happiest when the four main characters were making discoveries using uncommon methods and teamwork, such as when Reynie used bookmarks to get Mr. Curtain to switch to important pages in his journal, and Sticky used Kate's spyglass to quickly memorize the contents of those pages. The burgeoning friendship among the four young members of the Mysterious Benedict Society and their realizations that 1) each of them has something unique to offer and that 2) they will all make mistakes, adds a heartwarming moral to an already thrilling and enjoyable adventure novel.

Favorite Line(s): "'What good is your bucket doing you now?' Jackson jeered. 'I'm glad you asked,' Kate said, bending over the brook to scoop the bucket full of water. Instantly it was as heavy as a bowling ball. Returning to look down into Jackson's icy blue eyes -- he was only a few rungs from the top -- she gave him a friendly wink. And dropped the bucket."


Overall: I recommend this book to anyone who loves puzzles (if that's you, be sure to check out the Professor Layton games for the DS too), fast-paced adventures, or parents wanting to read to children who are a bit too young to read on their own.

(And coming soon, I'll be reviewing the second novel in the MBS series!)