Vespers Rising: 39 Clues Book 11 {Cahills Vs. Vespers}

Vespers Rising: 39 Clues Book 11 {Cahills Vs. Vespers}

This review is geared toward people who have read the first ten 39 Clues books. I loved those books. They were very fun, with lots of suspense, great characters, and plenty of reader participation in the plot and clue finding.

 After reading the first 39 Clues series, I never dreamed I would say this – I am really disappointed in this book. I enjoyed reading it, but I have two bones to pick with this one.

1.      It was too dark. Oh, I’m not saying it was evil and dark and I wouldn’t let my kid read them. But let’s face it – the first ten books were very innocent. In spite of the competitive, winner-takes-all-its-worth-any-price theme, they were light and funny. This – not so much. The tone was different. I mean, people actually died. Violent deaths. And the scene where they turn around and see blood pooling under a shut closet door? Not exactly the depths of scary, I know, but definitely not the same tone as the rest of the series.

2.      There wasn’t much suspense, clue finding, or letting the reader figure things out. I know this was because they were trying to cram so much plot history into the book, yet still keep it short, that they had to quickly spoonfeed the clues, but it was still disappointing.

Overall, I still enjoyed reading this book, and am excited to read the next ones. I hope, though, they will return to the fun, sleuthing, let’s-figure-out-these-clues-with-our-awesomely-fun-personalities tone.