A review by courtneyfalling
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart, Del Roy

adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Yeah... no. The further I get in this series, the worse the disability rep ages from when I was a kid. Obviously we have the standard ableist trope
of Mr. Curtain ~magically being able to walk from his wheelchair~ as his most evil reveal
. But this book really ramps up the somewhat inaccurate and definitely problematic representation around Mr. Benedict's narcolepsy
and all the cure discourse in this book, and the kids' reactions to Mr. Benedict not using the Whisperer to hypnotize away his narcolepsy, felt really yikes. It could've been used for a conversation around how easily "finding a cure" blends into ableism and eugenics, but instead it felt gimmicky and like we were supposed to share the kids' inspiration porn reactions of like, wow, how heroic for Mr. Benedict to make the ultimate sacrifice of literally just being disabled!
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