After reading The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, I was pretty excited to continue the rest of the series. The only thing was that I read the first book – The Mysterious Benedict Society – six years ago and only remembered that I really enjoyed the book (present me tsks at past me).

So it was time for a reread. I found my copy of The Mysterious Benedict Society and promptly fell in love with it all over again.

In this first book, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance meet each other and form a team of very special children. As Mr. Benedict explains, he’s been trying to form a team for years. But he’s never been able to gather enough children until now. And so, this group of new friends must work together as they go undercover in the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened to find out why and how its head, Mr Curtain, is sending out mysterious, brain-affecting signals are coming out for it.

Looking back at my review the first time I read it, it seems like I found Constance a little annoying. Well, not this round. I don’t know if it’s because I already forgot the twist or if it’s because I now have a niece and teach children in Church (and hence am around a lot more kids than before), but I found her pretty charming in the book. Sure, she’s rather contrary, but I took that for liveliness this time round.

The mystery in the book gripped me just as much as it did the first time round and I found myself reluctant to put the book down. I thought the pacing and the revealing of the plot were pretty good. This may be a kids book but sadly, the way Mr Curtain manipulates people can be seen all too easily in the real world today. I don’t think I realised this, but the way the book talks about fear and the way television (and by extension, other forms of media) is used to spread it is remarkably prescient. Or perhaps I just didn’t notice this the first time I read the book because I have learnt a lot about media and the internet in the past six years and am probably more attuned to the idea of messages and how they spread now.

Overall, this was a lovely reread. It made me very excited to continue with the series – now I just have to finish the library books that I’ve already checked out and lay my hands on Book 2!