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didsomeonesayviolin's review against another edition
4.0
My fourth-grade boyfriend gave this to me for my birthday and I remember devouring it in 2 hours. This series is just great. I read every single one in my library.
→4 stars
→4 stars
ferrisscottr's review against another edition
5.0
This is a re-read - thought I would read it again after I listened to an audio dramatization last week.
The book holds up great (I grew up on the Three Investigators) but it is what it is...juvenile 1960's detective story written for teen boys about three friends that hook up with Alfred Hitchcock, have a Rolls Royce on hand, have a great clubhouse in Jupiter Jones's junkyard and run a detective agency. Not realistic in the least but it's not supposed to, it's supposed to be escapist for teen boys.
The book holds up great (I grew up on the Three Investigators) but it is what it is...juvenile 1960's detective story written for teen boys about three friends that hook up with Alfred Hitchcock, have a Rolls Royce on hand, have a great clubhouse in Jupiter Jones's junkyard and run a detective agency. Not realistic in the least but it's not supposed to, it's supposed to be escapist for teen boys.
ashleylm's review against another edition
3.0
A decent-enough sequel, but I found myself wincing or shaking my head fairly often. I'm all for shades of grey in bad guys (no one sets out saying "I'm evil, I'll do evil things," but the relationship between protagonists and antagonists was all over the place here, and not handled well, in my opinion. There was no Alfred Hitchcock—and Worthington's place was taken by a colourless substitute—which makes no sense at all since it literally costs nothing to include them. It's a book, it's not a movie script.
The boys did less 'investigating' and more 'stumbling into solutions' which is profoundly unsatisfying. And the atmosphere (aside from a scene with fog near the end) was decidedly more spy/thriller than creepy horror mystery, which seemed to be their USP in the first book.
I had to go to the effort of interlibrary loan through my university to find this one (or pay silly amounts of money for a used copy) and I'm not sure I'll be seeking out the third any time soon. Although oftentimes that's when the quality creeps back up again ...
(Note: I'm a writer myself, so suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. These aren't ratings of quality, just my subjective account of how much I liked them: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
The boys did less 'investigating' and more 'stumbling into solutions' which is profoundly unsatisfying. And the atmosphere (aside from a scene with fog near the end) was decidedly more spy/thriller than creepy horror mystery, which seemed to be their USP in the first book.
I had to go to the effort of interlibrary loan through my university to find this one (or pay silly amounts of money for a used copy) and I'm not sure I'll be seeking out the third any time soon. Although oftentimes that's when the quality creeps back up again ...
(Note: I'm a writer myself, so suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. These aren't ratings of quality, just my subjective account of how much I liked them: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
the_doubtful_guest's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
govmarley's review against another edition
3.0
A case involving talking parrots? Of course. Why not. These parrots sound amazing.
Jupiter, Pete, and Bob all get involved with this one, with their nemesis Skinny Norris. I was hoping Skinny would get his comeuppance but alas, he did not. Skinny reminds me of Bugs Meaney from Encyclopedia Brown. I loved those books! Anyway, back to the mystery. We have parrots who hold the secret to a missing treasure, and the boys are hot on the case.
We have a mildly scary scene in a cemetery with a lot of fog, and Hans and/or Konrad (always getting those two confused) are right there to play getaway driver, as usual.
Satisfying if you ignore a few plot holes, and I will. 3 stars.
Jupiter, Pete, and Bob all get involved with this one, with their nemesis Skinny Norris. I was hoping Skinny would get his comeuppance but alas, he did not. Skinny reminds me of Bugs Meaney from Encyclopedia Brown. I loved those books! Anyway, back to the mystery. We have parrots who hold the secret to a missing treasure, and the boys are hot on the case.
We have a mildly scary scene in a cemetery with a lot of fog, and Hans and/or Konrad (always getting those two confused) are right there to play getaway driver, as usual.
Satisfying if you ignore a few plot holes, and I will. 3 stars.
4kberiu7's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
chrissilucht's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jupitermond's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0