Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society #1)
Trenton Lee Stewart
MG sci-fi, adventure

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" ad attracts dozens for mind-bending tests readers may try. Only two boys and two girls succeed for a secret mission, undercover and underground into hidden tunnels. At the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, the only rule is - there are no rules.

The above blurb really doesn't do this book justice. It's been a long while since a middle grade series that's new to me managed to delight me like this one did. 

The Mysterious Benedict Society features 4 kids, each utterly genius and awesome in totally different ways. I loved that, because it really highlighted how different people have different types of intellignce and how each one can save them. The villain was scary, the plot moved quickly and told me only what I strictly needed to know about the people and places, leaving me thirsty for more. 

The chapter titles were adorable, the tone was like Raold Dahl ish mixed with like Narnia and Lemony Snicket- light but old-fashioned, the kind that a both kids and adults will find addictive and well, mysterious! Everything about this novel just came together beautifully.

And the best part? I got to be totally surprised!! As all veteran readers know, read too much of a certain genre and it becomes difficult to catch you off-guard, let alone completely throw you off. That happened to me twice near the end of the book. Needless to say, I'm ridiculously happy :-) 

I know they're young, but I'm holding out for a Reynie-Kate romance in the future. Hey, Percabeth started when they were 12, too. Rating:

I'm sure you all read about the Kathleen Hale scandal. All I'll say about it is that I know we're better than that as a community (readers, writers, bloggers). Let's put a stop to slander, stalking, identity stealing, and remember to be careful on the internet!
Love,
Esty