Review Detail

Charlie Thorne, Dante, and Milana may face their hardest challenge yet now that they are all wanted fugitives with no support in this latest book, CHARLIE THORNE AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY. If they are caught, they are going to be sent to a black site and erased so the CIA director can cover up his wrongdoing. Add in an around-the-world puzzle to solve and a gifted fighter from Japan seeking to impress his rich and greedy grandfather and Charlie has her work cut out for her in this action-packed sequel.
Stuart Gibbs gives thorough background info on Isaac Newton and Captain John Cook's exploration to set up the plausibility of what Newton’s great discovery will be. He also explores themes of environmental harm and the plight of indigenous peoples due to colonization. The teacher/parent part of me appreciated the way this background is woven into a fictional story so that Middle-Grade readers are getting a history lesson mixed with an action thriller, although at points it did feel like too much of an info dump and broke away from the story at times. There is always an element of this in the series but it felt more obvious this time.
Charlie Thorne is a larger-than-life genius action hero so I did like that part of their troubles stem from her acting impulsively like a 13-year-old and making several poor choices. She became overconfident and Milana paid dearly for that mistake. It also allows Dante’s character to have more meaningful interactions as he is dealing with his anxiety for Milana and anger at Charlie.
Overall, this was an engaging story and a nice visit back into the world of Charlie Thorne. I am not sure if there will be more books in the future. The ending seemed to wrap things up with many feel-good moments and resolutions to their problems.