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A review by jodunn_
The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart
5.0
As soon as I learned that my favorite childhood author was going to release another book, I was absolutely ecstatic. The Mysterious Benedict Society will always have a place in my heart and on my bookshelf as one of my favorite stories of all time. So when I started The Secret Keepers, written by my favorite middle grade author, in a completely different world with different characters, I wasn't sure that it would live up to the hype. And in many ways it did.
This novel is a witty middle grade that feels very similar to the Mysterious Benedict Society. As per usual for Stuart's novels, it was easy to fall in love with the characters, especially the secondary. I was absolutely fascinated with the characterization of Reuben, Penny, and Jack. They became such a great team despite being as different as day and night. Stuart manages to create a dynamic that consists of love, without going into the realm of romance that I don't believe is that necessary in middle grade. Ex: the relationship between Penny and Reuben wasn't made out to be anything more than friendship.
As with every novel by Trenton Lee Stuart, there were many profound lessons told throughout the story. Fear, greed, bravery, and trust were all discussed, teaching necessary lessons that are extremely important in middle grade.
The story in general started a little dry, but slowly gained momentum with every page turn. There were many events that happened that I did not expect, plus some that I did. The expected plot points can be explained by it being a middle grade novel and many of them can be quite predictable for older readers. This being said, middle grade novels are intended for young readers, so I wasn't that bothered by the slight predictability.
Overall:
I would very much recommend this novel to pretty much any reader. Trenton Lee Stuart is one of the best middle grade authors I have ever read, and I would recommend his stories to anyone because of their simple but heart warming characterization and well thought out plot. If someone were to start this book and find it not as interesting as they would like, I would suggest picking up The Mysterious Benedict Society first, then continuing to this novel, because The Mysterious Benedict Society is absolutely wonderful.
This novel is a witty middle grade that feels very similar to the Mysterious Benedict Society. As per usual for Stuart's novels, it was easy to fall in love with the characters, especially the secondary. I was absolutely fascinated with the characterization of Reuben, Penny, and Jack. They became such a great team despite being as different as day and night. Stuart manages to create a dynamic that consists of love, without going into the realm of romance that I don't believe is that necessary in middle grade. Ex: the relationship between Penny and Reuben wasn't made out to be anything more than friendship.
As with every novel by Trenton Lee Stuart, there were many profound lessons told throughout the story. Fear, greed, bravery, and trust were all discussed, teaching necessary lessons that are extremely important in middle grade.
The story in general started a little dry, but slowly gained momentum with every page turn. There were many events that happened that I did not expect, plus some that I did. The expected plot points can be explained by it being a middle grade novel and many of them can be quite predictable for older readers. This being said, middle grade novels are intended for young readers, so I wasn't that bothered by the slight predictability.
Overall:
I would very much recommend this novel to pretty much any reader. Trenton Lee Stuart is one of the best middle grade authors I have ever read, and I would recommend his stories to anyone because of their simple but heart warming characterization and well thought out plot. If someone were to start this book and find it not as interesting as they would like, I would suggest picking up The Mysterious Benedict Society first, then continuing to this novel, because The Mysterious Benedict Society is absolutely wonderful.