The Mysterious Benedict Society – Review

Post Reading Time

Synopsis:

Content Warning: (As listed by Storygraph users) Kidnapping, Child abuse, Abandonment, Confinement, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood,

“Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?” Dozens of children respond to this peculiar newspaper ad and are put through a series of mind-bending tests, which readers take along with them. Only four children—two boys and two girls—succeed. Their challenge: a secret mission that only the most intelligent and inventive children could complete. To accomplish it, they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. But what they’ll find in the hidden underground tunnels of the school is more than your average school supplies. So, if you’re gifted, creative, or happen to know Morse Code, they could probably use your help.

Review:

My eldest niece thinks this is one of the best series ever written. We have an informal kind of book club going where we recommend and share books. It’s great. Like really guys, sharing the hobby of reading with my niece is one of the best things ever.

I finally got around to reading The Mysterious Benedict Society after hearing her rave about it for years.

Side note: I don’t know what it is about my current streak of reading books about orphans. It started when I read the Grishaverse books and the Crow Duology, and it’s now 8 books about orphans later.

This book would be perfect for an 8-10 year old gifted student to read. As a gifted student myself (with a college reading level by 5th grade) I think this book have really resonated with me. Certainly this book understands what it’s like to be “othered” because of your giftedness or intellect.

The main characters are all cute and relatable. I loved their found family. The main villain is perfectly horrendous. The Executives aka underbosses are all big bullies who I loved to hate. The brainwashed Helpers are creepy and a little surreal. The setting made this book feel like it belongs in a shared world with A Series of Unfortunate Events.

There is some spine-chilling realness to the villain’s plot. Which I won’t elaborate on for fear of spoilers. I can see direct connections to somethings happening in our world, and it was a bit eerie in that sense.

My biggest problem with the book is that it tried too hard. It wants to either out smart the reader or (and I think more likely) make the reader feel superior in their intellect. I found it did neither. There were few twists I didn’t see coming. And I didn’t want to be bothered with brain puzzles in the middle of the book.

I will freely admit that I am not the target audience for the book.

Bottom Line:

If I had been 8-10 years old when I first read this I probably would have loved it. I liked the book, but as an adult, it seemed to try too hard to be clever.

Looking around at Sticky, Kate and Constance, I wondered how I’d feel if one of them disappeared. Sometimes Constance drive me crazy, but now I can’t imagine being here without her. I can’t say for sure, because I have no experience, but – well, is this what family is like? The feeling that everyone’s connected, that with one piece missing the whole thing’s broken?. – The Mysterious Benedict Society

Buy The Mysterious Benedict Society by clicking this link and Amazon will give me a small commission for referring you.

Note: I do not use AI to assist in writing my blog. The words of this review are my own. The synopsis was taken from Amazon or another book seller.