So, this week I read the third book in the Mysterious Benedict Society. While I definitely enjoyed it(I thought it was improved from book 2) I have a problem with this series that are becoming clearer with each book.
The stakes feel low: Now I know the actual stakes are the world will be taken over by evil, and everyone the kids have ever loved will be brainswept or killed, BUT we all know that isn't going to happen. While you could loosely say that for a lot of books, (we often know the good guys will prevail ahead of time) it is especially annoying to me here. In the Harry Potter books we knew that people could die. They did die, and so in the constant battle of good versus evil there were real stakes for the reader. In mysterious, I just don't need to feel nervous or emotional about the characters' fates, because it doesn't matter how many hundreds of feet milligan falls, it will only result in a broken arm and slightly weakened voice.
That being said I enjoyed the slower pace of this book from the last. I also feel that the situations seemed less forced and more realistic (an across the world voyage alone made less sense). I look forward to more of the series coming out! Does anyone else think Kate and Reynie are gonna get it on soon? I mean, they are 13 and 14, and both attractive go-getters who live in the same house......
1 comment:
So my braaain agrees with you, but my heart just thinks it's the most perfect series ever written... Even though the story doesn't make sense...And the plots of all three books start to crumble into nothingness about 3/4 of the way through...And the central driving motive behind the most evil character's evil is narcolepsy...
Also, come on, Allison. Kate's clearly a big ol' lesbian. I'm watchin' out for her and Rhonda.
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