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kailiyahknight's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Violence, Child abuse, and Torture
marie_reads16's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
yuusasih's review against another edition
4.0
Great conclusion book. The characters are more mature, with Reynie being wiser, Sticky being braver, Kate being calmer, and Constance being.... well, more polite. I love Sticky's development in the series, since he was my favorite character. He change from shy and anxiety kids, to overly smug, and then to a brave and mature kids--though he still got his anxiety. What I didn't like in this final part was Constance's development. I expected her genius laid in something more real and scientifically--with her stoneheaded and rudeness. I kinda dissapointed when Constance's ability was more like ESP-ish, with all of those mindreading. I still understand when in book 2 her talent told as pattern recognizing--that was still real--but when she could do mindreading in book 3, well... It feels like she should join supernatural society, not Benedict society. But other than that this book was brilliant as always.
themagicalinbetween's review against another edition
4.0
Book #3 another brilliant adventure for the Society!
This has been recommended to me for a few years and I finally picked it up! What an epic, fun and wacky adventure! Something I loved immediately about The Mysterious Benedict Society was the timelessness of the story, while there is technology involved, it feels like it could be taking place in the past as well as in the present. There are quirky adult characters, spies, bad guys and a bunch of kids who are misfits in their own way who come together to learn about how they can save the world IF they work together as a team. One thing the author did really well was creating the children in such a way that they were believable. Oftentimes in "save the world" kind of stories there's an overwhelming amount of leaping in logic or improbabilities to overcome that make it less than authentic. Somehow, Trenton Lee Stewart was able to write it in such a way that felt like these gifted and interesting children actually could achieve what they did through their genius, determination and teamwork.
There were times the story felt like it dragged on just a bit (496 pages worth) but overall it was a brilliant adventure filled with high risk, mystery, hard choices and the meaning of friendship and loyalty.
This has been recommended to me for a few years and I finally picked it up! What an epic, fun and wacky adventure! Something I loved immediately about The Mysterious Benedict Society was the timelessness of the story, while there is technology involved, it feels like it could be taking place in the past as well as in the present. There are quirky adult characters, spies, bad guys and a bunch of kids who are misfits in their own way who come together to learn about how they can save the world IF they work together as a team. One thing the author did really well was creating the children in such a way that they were believable. Oftentimes in "save the world" kind of stories there's an overwhelming amount of leaping in logic or improbabilities to overcome that make it less than authentic. Somehow, Trenton Lee Stewart was able to write it in such a way that felt like these gifted and interesting children actually could achieve what they did through their genius, determination and teamwork.
There were times the story felt like it dragged on just a bit (496 pages worth) but overall it was a brilliant adventure filled with high risk, mystery, hard choices and the meaning of friendship and loyalty.
julianna_schock's review against another edition
5.0
WOW! These books are the BEST!!!!!!!! THEY ARE FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE SHOULD READ THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really hope he makes another series like this!!!!!
broadchurchs's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
haleyrious's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
I really love this series but this book didn’t do the trick for me. I feel like I sped through it but nothing really happened. I guess it was less action-packed than the last two books so I felt like I was still waiting for the big bomb to drop but when I realized it already had. Still it was really nice getting to learn more about Constance and her story.
fallingletters's review against another edition
1.0
Originall posted 20 June 2012 on Falling Letters.
***
I hate to give a Goodreads Author a one star review (because I feel like there is a better chance they might read it), so a little disclaimer - Mr. Trenton! If you see this, don’t be disheartened, it’s not all bad news. You wrote a whole trilogy, you created characters and adventures, and you got you stories published and well-noticed. I would be happy if I were you. The following is just one person’s highly subjective opinion.
Now here's my response to this book.
Ugh. I’m rather impressed with myself for finishing this book. If I don’t like a book, I have no qualms dropping it, but since I bought the trilogy for $10 and trudged through the first books, I decided to stick it out for the third. You can read what I did/didn't like about the first two books here; all the things I didn’t like in the first books are intensified in this one and unfortunately the few things I did like about the first books are not present in this one.
About halfway through the book I got very frustrated and decided to make notes on just what was bothering me so much: Necessary but unnecessary awkward over-explanation (hard to describe but you know it when you see it - for example, 'she pronounced rendezvous as if it rhymes with "Ben says mouse"' - this maybe isn't the greatest example but others included explaining why a door wasn't locked, or why something had to be done a certain way, etc.), awkward out of place torture (pg 264) and passages trying to 'up the risk' (pg 280), puzzles too contrived and too oddly/too logically/too easily solved (for example page 223). Okay, that last one sounds like I'm being picky. I'm having trouble describing what I didn't like, but I think just found everything a little awkward or too contrived. The book has all the elements of an intense, daring, child adventure/thriller/mystery but they are poorly executed.
I think the overall impression I got from this book was that it reads like a first draft, as in you just had the idea for the story and you wrote it down as it came to you. The book needs a lot of work, but you have the basic frame. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like this book got the haul over it could have used.
***
I hate to give a Goodreads Author a one star review (because I feel like there is a better chance they might read it), so a little disclaimer - Mr. Trenton! If you see this, don’t be disheartened, it’s not all bad news. You wrote a whole trilogy, you created characters and adventures, and you got you stories published and well-noticed. I would be happy if I were you. The following is just one person’s highly subjective opinion.
Now here's my response to this book.
Ugh. I’m rather impressed with myself for finishing this book. If I don’t like a book, I have no qualms dropping it, but since I bought the trilogy for $10 and trudged through the first books, I decided to stick it out for the third. You can read what I did/didn't like about the first two books here; all the things I didn’t like in the first books are intensified in this one and unfortunately the few things I did like about the first books are not present in this one.
About halfway through the book I got very frustrated and decided to make notes on just what was bothering me so much: Necessary but unnecessary awkward over-explanation (hard to describe but you know it when you see it - for example, 'she pronounced rendezvous as if it rhymes with "Ben says mouse"' - this maybe isn't the greatest example but others included explaining why a door wasn't locked, or why something had to be done a certain way, etc.), awkward out of place torture (pg 264) and passages trying to 'up the risk' (pg 280), puzzles too contrived and too oddly/too logically/too easily solved (for example page 223). Okay, that last one sounds like I'm being picky. I'm having trouble describing what I didn't like, but I think just found everything a little awkward or too contrived. The book has all the elements of an intense, daring, child adventure/thriller/mystery but they are poorly executed.
I think the overall impression I got from this book was that it reads like a first draft, as in you just had the idea for the story and you wrote it down as it came to you. The book needs a lot of work, but you have the basic frame. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like this book got the haul over it could have used.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
3.0
Love this series. Quirky, old fashioned fun.
One thing I missed in this third volume was the absence of an exotic location. The first one, they explore the house, and spend much time on the island. The second, they go on a cruise and end up on a very different island. I really can't figure out how the image of a bus on the cover came from the story. A bus appears, but primarily in a memory. So I missed a grand double decker bus road trip. But maybe I wouldn't have noticed that if I hadn't seen the cover. Great stories, reminds me of E. Nesbit tales. One of the few series I continue to read.
One thing I missed in this third volume was the absence of an exotic location. The first one, they explore the house, and spend much time on the island. The second, they go on a cruise and end up on a very different island. I really can't figure out how the image of a bus on the cover came from the story. A bus appears, but primarily in a memory. So I missed a grand double decker bus road trip. But maybe I wouldn't have noticed that if I hadn't seen the cover. Great stories, reminds me of E. Nesbit tales. One of the few series I continue to read.