This Book is Not Good for You (Secret Series #3)
by Pseudonymous Bosch
Bosch: I'm really busy eating chocolate right now but I might as well tell you about the further adventures of our young heroes....
Yo-Yoji: Yo, I'm starving. Got a chocolate milkshake?
Bosch: The mission's dangerous, deadly, and.. delicious! Watch out for the evil chef and, of course, the always-upto-no-good Midnight Sun!
Cass: I don't care about the danger. I want to know who I am!!!
Bosch: They're going to be eating chocolate, then learning chocolate trivia, then eating chocolate, then visiting a chocolate plantation, and then.... did I mention that they're going to eat chocolate?
Max-Ernest: But I'm allergic to chocolate!!!
The third installment of the Secret Series did not disappoint! It was a very enjoyable read, as usual. It had been really hilarious and the part with Yo-Yoji going samurai mode was seriously awesome! Haha!
It didn't have as much codes or puzzles like the previous books, but it still makes you think and analyze. I find it exciting that it had been using different languages like French, Japanese, Italian, and you even have a glossary of "Hello" in a hundred languages! It even shares trivia related to animals and places. It was like the series went international and is acting like a tour guide for you~
And of course, what you'll learn most from this book would be stuff related to none other than CHOCOLATE! It really shows how the author loves it... and how knowledgeable he is of it! Interestingly, this book makes you see how much chocolate is connected to alchemy, which is one of the main themes of this series' story.
But no matter how much I adore this book, I've got to admit that there are several things that didn't seem right to me. One of them is the Japanese part. We were taught of what a haiku is. We got a translation of a haiku and it has the correct number of syllables BUT the character who said that line spoke in Japanese. Isn't it more appropriate that it's the Japanese lines that were in correct format, not the English translation? I mean, I pretty much doubt that the Japanese version of the haiku in the book would be in the same number of syllables as the English translation. Or was it because the author wasn't able (or got lazy) to do the Japanese version of a haiku? Come to think of it, not all of the lines that were supposedly uttered in Japanese are written in their original form.
Another thing that bothers me is that Cass has become... too special. It all began with the second book where she turned out to be a descendant of someone important. And what happened to her "prophetic abilities" from the previous book? Only applicable to the homonculus then? What the.... anyway, my point is, the more special Cass's background and role is becoming, the more special abilities she possesses. And that's quite..... boring. Super special characters are so boring.
But at least, in this book, Cass's mother has become involved in her adventures. It promises to me that this won't be your usual "parents don't know anything" adventure any longer. I'm also happy that we learned more about Mr. Wallace in this book. Hopefully the other older characters in the series get a chance to shine. I'm especially interested with Yo-Yoji's teacher, whose background was promised to be revealed sometime in the future. And Owen should do more awesome stuff, seriously.
Overall, I honestly think that this third book still can't beat the first book, it's certainly hell better than the second one! Hopefully the fourth book has a pleasant surprise for everyone~
It didn't have as much codes or puzzles like the previous books, but it still makes you think and analyze. I find it exciting that it had been using different languages like French, Japanese, Italian, and you even have a glossary of "Hello" in a hundred languages! It even shares trivia related to animals and places. It was like the series went international and is acting like a tour guide for you~
And of course, what you'll learn most from this book would be stuff related to none other than CHOCOLATE! It really shows how the author loves it... and how knowledgeable he is of it! Interestingly, this book makes you see how much chocolate is connected to alchemy, which is one of the main themes of this series' story.
But no matter how much I adore this book, I've got to admit that there are several things that didn't seem right to me. One of them is the Japanese part. We were taught of what a haiku is. We got a translation of a haiku and it has the correct number of syllables BUT the character who said that line spoke in Japanese. Isn't it more appropriate that it's the Japanese lines that were in correct format, not the English translation? I mean, I pretty much doubt that the Japanese version of the haiku in the book would be in the same number of syllables as the English translation. Or was it because the author wasn't able (or got lazy) to do the Japanese version of a haiku? Come to think of it, not all of the lines that were supposedly uttered in Japanese are written in their original form.
Another thing that bothers me is that Cass has become... too special. It all began with the second book where she turned out to be a descendant of someone important. And what happened to her "prophetic abilities" from the previous book? Only applicable to the homonculus then? What the.... anyway, my point is, the more special Cass's background and role is becoming, the more special abilities she possesses. And that's quite..... boring. Super special characters are so boring.
But at least, in this book, Cass's mother has become involved in her adventures. It promises to me that this won't be your usual "parents don't know anything" adventure any longer. I'm also happy that we learned more about Mr. Wallace in this book. Hopefully the other older characters in the series get a chance to shine. I'm especially interested with Yo-Yoji's teacher, whose background was promised to be revealed sometime in the future. And Owen should do more awesome stuff, seriously.
Overall, I honestly think that this third book still can't beat the first book, it's certainly hell better than the second one! Hopefully the fourth book has a pleasant surprise for everyone~
B (COOL! So good I like it, baby!) A very entertaining read! Much better than the second book!
4.5 Hearts ---> ADDICTION The first book's still my favorite but SAMURAI YO-YOJI WAS AWESOME! HELL YEAH! Haha!
