It's been six months since the conclusion of the first adventure of the Mysterious Benedict Society. Six long months since Reynie Muldoon, Kate Wetherall, Sticky Washington and Constance Contraire have all been together. Now, Mr. Benedict has asked them to reassemble: not for a danger-filled investigation, but for a celebration.
Unfortunately, evil Mr. Curtain has other plans... which involve kidnapping Mr. Benedict!
Reynie's intuition, Kate's red bucket of tricks, Sticky's huge brain and Constance's stubbornness* are all formidable -- but will their talents be enough to find Mr. Benedict, rescue him AND save the world?
I was a pretty big fan of the first book, though I felt the pacing was a little strange in that it felt like two completely different books duct-taped together -- at about the halfway point, the story went from a puzzle/mystery to a sci-fi thriller. Don't get me wrong -- I liked both halves very much! It was just a strange transition.
As for this installment: I absolutely loved The Perilous Journey. There was no strange transition -- the story flowed. Reading it made me realize how much I've grown to enjoy the world and the characters -- these kids are just plain good kids. They squabble, argue and occasionally disobey** the adults they love, trust and respect, but there's absolutely no malice in them, they'd do anything for each other and they just try to do what's right. They're kids that you'd want to be friends with and that you'd probably want your kids to be friends with -- if you didn't mind your kids regularly getting into life-threatening situations, that is...
The pace is quick, the characters have continued to develop, I love the narration (these would make great read-alouds) and, as in the first book, I especially enjoyed the puzzles and brain-teasers. It makes me so happy to read books that celebrate smarts. The illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are super, but I do hope that Little, Brown darkened up Sticky's skin color on the finished cover -- because he's whiter-than-white on the ARC that I'm looking at right now.
Very highly recommended to fans of Dahl, Rowling and Snicket.
*It's starting to look like she's got another talent -- but I won't spoil it for you!
**Though even that is something that they wrestle with.
I wasn't as impressed with this as a sequel (although I do agree it really does flow better than the first book). TLS just seemed to retread the old book with a slightly new adventure, which probably will appeal to young readers more than to adults.
Posted by: Lazygal | 10 June 2008 at 01:05 PM
Ah, but I liked the actual adventure more this time around! The third book will be the real test for me.
Posted by: Leila | 11 June 2008 at 06:43 AM
I loved the first book and can't wait to read the next
Posted by: Megan | 15 June 2008 at 04:22 PM
Hi!!! you know what I hate this book its so freakin retarded all they
are trying to save one of their stupid mentors fuck you Trenton lee
stewart for creating a shitty book
Posted by: Elias Rodriguez | 07 December 2008 at 03:40 PM
Well, that was constructive.
Posted by: Leila | 09 December 2008 at 07:24 AM
I thought this book was great!!!! I think it is a book for all ages with adventure and suspense! I give it a 5 star ratoing and recommend it to everyone willing to read!
Posted by: hippoman | 21 December 2008 at 12:32 PM
i love this book!! is there going to be a third book?
Posted by: elva | 05 February 2009 at 06:43 PM
I think this was a great book.. I actually read it before the first.. Reading the second one first really made me want to read the first one.. So now I'm reading the first one. Is there to be a third book?
Posted by: StrawberriMoon | 02 March 2009 at 06:58 PM
so excited for the third book i go to the library every day. to see if they got it.
Posted by: chocolate strawberri | 13 March 2009 at 03:56 PM
oh and i luv the way madge comes and saves the day! that part was awesome. oh and poor milligan.
Posted by: chocolate strawberri | 13 March 2009 at 03:58 PM
I love the Mysterious Benedict Books and I can't believe their is a third book I want to get it and read it very badly!! I think Milligan is funny!
Posted by: Awhy | 21 March 2009 at 12:33 PM
I loved this book and the whole series. Although I did like the first book a bit better than this one... I didn't like how trenton went on and on and on about duskwort. Good book however! I hope there is a third!
Posted by: Gina | 04 May 2009 at 06:41 PM
I loved this book and the whole series. Although I did like the first book a bit better than this one... I didn't like how trenton went on and on and on about duskwort. Good book however! I hope there is a third!
Posted by: Gina | 04 May 2009 at 06:42 PM