The Mysterious Benedict Society is up against a new mission, significantly closer to home. After reuniting for a celebratory scavenger hunt, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance are forced to go on an unexpected search--a search to find Mr. Benedict. It seems that while he was preparing the kids' adventure, he stepped right into a trap orchestrated by his evil twin Mr. Curtain.
With only one week to find a captured Mr. Benedict, the gifted foursome faces their greatest challenge of all--a challenge that will reinforce the reasons they were brought together in the first place and will require them to fight for the very namesake that united them.

The society reunites! I really enjoyed this sequel, as I felt the pacing was better than the first book. However, there didn't seem to be as many puzzles this time around, and the ones that did exist were pretty easy.

I also felt like this one sort of encouraged disobedience to parents and guardians - it's frustrating to me when this sort of trope is present; kids are "smarter" than parents, therefore it's okay that they disobey. I appreciate it when parents are shown as wiser and worth respecting.

But I do love scavenger hunts and I enjoyed catching up with Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance! ( )

Every bit as enjoyable as the first in the series, both in terms of the story and the reader on Audible.com. ( )

This book is as good as (if not better) than the first Mysterious Benedict Society Book. It did not disappoint. Loved it. ( )

I did not read the first book, which may actually have helped me to see it more objectively. I did not have high expectations to be disappointed or comparisons to make.

The story starts with the reunion of four children,(Rynie, Constance, Sticky and Kate) who had a major adventure together a year before, at the home of their mentor/adult leader in their previous adventure, Mr, Benedict. As a fun surprise,Mr. Benedict sends them on a kind of scavenger hunt in Europe. Instead of being a pleasant, the trip turns into a dangerous adventure when their old enemies, evil Mr, Curtain's Ten Me shows up along the way. In the end Mr. Curtain escapes goes free, so he will be able to wreak havoc in a third book.

Each of the four children have some extraordinary talent that helps them to solve the mysteries they encounter and to outsmart those who want to harm them like is the case with children in many fantasy adventure books nowadays, when many children's author try to create their own version of Harry Potter. And the are all consistent to a tee in their characterisation. They remain stereotypes.
Unlike Harry Potter, the adventure appears to change the children very little.

I believe that most of the places they go to are fictional. At least Naansmegen and Thernbaakhaagen, supposedly in the Netherlands, my home country don't exist. Also the names do not sound very Dutch, more Belgian or Swedish. I doubt that The author has ever been in the Netherlands, because there is no specific information about Holland, except for what the average American know. My feeling is that if you use a place in your novel you should research it thoroughly, even if you use fictional towns.

I felt that this book was sloppily written, with a stale premise (scavenger hunt) and little or no character development. I do not need to read the first book.
( )