Trenton Lee Stewart

The New York Timesbestselling Mysterious Benedict Societyseries returns for a triumphant fifth adventure! After starring in three adventures, the inimitable quartet of Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance haven't had a mission together in some time. But with the arrival of a new Society member - and a new threat - they must reunite to face dilemmas more dangerous than ever before, including the return of the villainous Mr Curtain and his Ten Men and a formidable enemy with a mystifying ability to track their every move.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages

sophia michaela

Christine

The brilliant and beloved gang from the New York Times bestselling series is back! The Mysterious Benedict Society is a modern classic, drawing comparisons to J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl, named a Time magazine "Best Young Adult Book of All Time," and selling over three million copies. Some time has passed since the inimitable quartet of Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance have had a mission together. But with the arrival of a new Society member -- and a new threat -- they must reunite to face dilemmas more dangerous than ever before, including the villainous Mr. Curtain and a telepathic enemy tracking their every move, not to mention a dramatically preteen Constance. In its triumphant return, the Society encounters all new challenges, but the series' trademark sly humor, sweet camaraderie, hairsbreadth escapes, and mind-bending puzzles are all as engaging as ever. Fans of the series will be thrilled to see the Society has grown up a little with them, while a new generation of readers will fall in love with these irresistible adventures.

I absolutely adore this book! It feels like the perfect culmination of the first three novels and I love seeing the kids when they are older! Tai is so precious and I adore everything about this one

Carrington Kinslow

This is honestly one of the worst books I have ever read and by far the worst (what I am hoping is) final installment in a series. I can't even be convinced that this was written by the same author and that it featured the same characters as the first three books of the series. It was unrecognizable. 

Evaluating it from a standalone perspective and not its place in a series, this book is just plain boring. I found the third book, The Prisoner's Dilemma, to be a bit boring and slow moving, but The Riddle of Ages made me wish I was reading something as entertaining as TPD. This read at a crawling pace, it was entirely uneventful and lackluster. I've always thought Mr. Curtain was a bit of a boring villain, but my god, I truly didn't know how boring he could be until this book. 

As for it being a series installment, I truly wish this book had never been written. It was written so long after the third book that it's quite obvious Stewart felt pressure to write another book, probably due to the rights being bought to make a tv show (which was an excellent adaptation, by the way). It was an utter mistake to give into that pressure and write another book, especially when The Prisoner's Dilemma had a perfectly nice and sound ending that I could have happily lived forever with.

These characters felt new to me, I could not recognize Reynie, Kate, and Sticky. Constance actually remained her perfect self, which I was grateful for, but Stewart truly fumbled with the three eldest society members. Reynie, Kate, and Sticky became such stuck-up and controlling brats. Reynie in particular became so selfish and close-minded. I couldn't stand the way they treated Constance, especially considering it has been established NUMEROUS times and even STRONGLY emphasized in this book that Constance's abilities are the most valuable to the society and that none of their plans will work without her. Yet, they treat her like an ignorant child despite the fact that every mission they completed with her (as a toddler), she was the one who got them to victory. They also try to leave her out quite a bit and try to control her, which makes no sense at all. They never once in the previous books held their ages over her and tried to control her because they're older. It was so out of character for them to do so in this book, I felt so badly for Constance being so abused by her so called friends.

Aside from these disturbing character developments, there was a severe lack of important characters. Specifically Mr. Benedict, Number Two, Milligan, and Rhonda Kazembe. These characters got extremely little page time compared to the previous books. Such a disappointment. 

And by far the biggest mistake made in this book, the introduction of Tai Li. The dynamic between the four original society members is so amazing, and Tai absolutely ruined it. He had no significant role in this and only served to be annoying and in the way. He ruined this book. He has a special ability, which seemingly makes him worthy of society membership because Constance also has a special ability. But the thing about Constance is... SHE IS INTELLIGENT. Tai is an idiot. He had no place in the society and brought absolutely nothing of value to the table. He was so immature, which I do know he is 5 years old, but Constance was 2-4 in the other books and so much smarter and enjoyable. I still cannot fathom why Stewart would introduce this character. It was so pointless and I couldn't stand any time he was on the page. He ended up causing so much more trouble than he was worth.

And that ending.... pathetic. All of the society members had such amazing opportunities laid out in front of them, and instead of growing up, pursuing these opportunities, taking the chance to flourish and GROW, they all decide to... stay put? Even though every single one of them expressed how restless they felt staying in place and how much they desired a change of pace. All of them felt ready to leave the nest and pursue other avenues with their talents. Yet they all decide against it in the end? This is trash character development, these characters deserved better and deserved to utilize their talents in other ways. This story felt suffocating. It was illogical writing on Stewart's part. How can you set up all these amazing new paths for these characters to take, and then just yank it away at the end?

Overall, this has got to be the most disappointing read I have ever had. I absolutely adored the first three books in the series. I will be accepting the end of TPD as the canon ending in my head and pretending like the trash that is The Riddle of Ages never happened.

1 big fat disappointed star.

Felicia Cathryn

It felt a bit rushed, which is ironic for a book that was written how many years after the the third book. While it was nice to have another adventure with the Society, the whole book felt a bit too "explained away" and too easy, without the stakes of the other books. Still, very much enjoyed being with the characters again

Zoe R

lauren

Paul McCarthy

Brent Nef

The brilliant and beloved gang from the New York Times bestselling series is back! Since The Mysterious Benedict Society debuted twelve years ago, the series has become a modern classic, drawing comparisons to J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl and selling over three million copies. Some time has passed since the inimitable quartet of Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance have had a mission together. But with the arrival of a new Society member -- and a new threat -- they must reunite to face dilemmas more dangerous than ever before, including the villainous Mr. Curtain and a telepathic enemy tracking their every move, not to mention a dramatically preteen Constance. In its triumphant return, the Society encounters all new challenges, but the series' trademark sly humor, sweet camaraderie, hairsbreadth escapes, and mind-bending puzzles are all as engaging as ever. Fans of the series will be thrilled to see the Society has grown up a little with them, while a new generation of readers will fall in love with these irresistible adventures.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages

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