The Mysterious Benedict Society
Category: Blogging
Current mood:  talkative

If you've looked at my profile, you probably know that I love the Mysterious Benedict Society series, but when reading it; there's a few things I'd like to complain about. (As complaints are something my parents can attest to my skill in.) Don't get me wrong, I'm no Karen of complaints- at least I hope not- but I find that analyzing, and yes, criticizing, can help me explore the world around me and the way I personally tend to view it. I suppose I should include a frank disclaimer that although this is technically on the complaint side of things, that I do not mean any bad blood towards the author, and if I did, I doubt he'd care about some odd teenager on the internet's opinion on his best-selling book series. 
Alright, so the book series centers around four orphans: Reynie, Sticky, Constance, and Kate. They're all incredibly intelligent for their ages, although it is presented in different ways in each child. One might argue that that seems a little overpowered, but it's the premise of the story, and I think the author does a fine job of including struggles into these kids lives to make them seem a little more down to earth. In fact, the first book does a fine job of characterizing and showing us who these kids are as people and it was a great read! It's when we get to some of the later books that I start to see... issues, with the story. 
*SPOILER ALERT*
Constance Contraire is annoying, yes, but in the first books, she became my favorite character pretty quickly. Snarky, grumpy girl that she is, I thought making her a literal toddler with a genius mind was a very interesting way to go, and I was all for it! I was still on board when they gave her the "expert pattern recognition skills" and thought it was a logical jump from what we already knew of her, however when they revealed her as a psychic, I had to take a step back. Nothing else in all of the series ever hinted at magic or any paranormal abilities, and to give Constance mind reading, and even mind controlling powers felt like far too much, and it really took me out of the story. Especially when they already had a machine that could do the same thing. That the main characters were in possession of. I get that she needed to have her morality arc, but the arc itself was barely glossed upon and still could've been done with the Whisperer. It's not like anything Constance did with her powers in the original series wasn't something they could've achieved otherwise! Yes, they got to include the whole "S pies" shtick but couldn't they just focus the Whisperer on Mr. Benedict? It would've added more stakes! It would've caused for more development between Kate and Constance, and for both of them to grow! There was nothing that important about Constance having mind powers from my perspective and it was really annoying? It felt like she was too overpowered, especially for a three-year-old. I hope the tv adaptation handles it better. 
Next, the issue of Mr. Benedict. Mr, Benedict, the namesake of the series, has a prominent case of narcolepsy in the series. This is sort of nitpicky, but I'm not fond of miracle cures. Especially with the way it was done? I get the want for a perfect happy ending, but it really took the stakes from his sacrifice for Constance as well. Like, y'know how in Six The Musical Kathrine Howard says something to Catherine of Aragon like "Almost being sent to a nunnery and then not! That was almost really hard for you." It has that feel. Like oh, you were prepared to make this sacrifice for your adoptive daughter? Well ha, you didn't have to! Sort of takes away from it, in a way. Miracle cures in general feel lazy anyhow. They're also kind of boring. 
Moving on, SQ Pedalian! He's a good boy and I love him, but he deserved so much better. Like yes, weird father-son relationship thing that they really should be seeing a therapist for, but he deserves to have a life of his own. It also felt tacked on, like some last ditch effort to make LD Curtain some form of a decent person, make him troubled instead of just horrible. The author was far too subtle for it to feel right? To feel human? I don't know if I was just reading too fast again or if they attempt to remedy this in the Riddle of the Ages book, but it felt like a great idea that could've been expedited so much better than it was. As a whole the entire series felt like a good idea that could've been great. 
The ideas make it out to be some great thing like Percy Jackson, but the excecution made it almost a one-time read. I loved the story but not the writing I guess? It felt droning in some place, and not detailed enough in others but I'm pretty picky so it's not really too much of a critique. SQ also really deserved to be fleshed put more, which I see them doing in the parts of the TV series I've watched so far. However they did switch it around and just not make it a surprise that he had a father-son relationship with LD Curtain. I'm also glad they fixed the godawful Ledroptha thing in the TV series. It was funny the first few times but I got tired quick.  
As a whole, the story is an idea I will cherish, but I'm very unlikely to reread them all again anytime soon? As a summary of the story, if you hate La Croix you might hate this, because they have the same feel to them? Not the same vibe, La Croix is much more modern in that regard, but as mean as this feels to say about something I love so much, The Mysterious Benedict Society reads like you're thinking really hard about good writing. Like, it's almost there, you can see what it was aiming for, but it's still not there. Sort of like how La Croix is like thinking really hard about a fruit while drinking normal water. All in all, a 6/10 experience