The time for answers has arrived. After the death of a much loved friend, Team Veritas has even more to fight for. At the University of Yale, in the underground vaults of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the team finally get to see the real live Voynich Manuscript. Amongst stories of giants, betrayal and death, the language of the most mysterious manuscript in the world is finally understood. An ancient secret is broken.
And now Team Veritas know their final quest: to journey to the real Avalon - the island where truth and legend meet. But they do not travel alone. There are some who seek revenge. And there are others who demand an impossible sacrifice - only then can the words of the Firebird Code be completely understood. With danger around every corner, can the Secret Breakers finally unlock the truth?
This book series is incredible. I read them when I was about 11 and loved them for the story. I reread them now ten years later and was drawn in by the story once again, having largely forgotten what happened, but also this time appreciating the craftsmanship of the plot. Dennis skilfully takes real world locations and historical artefacts and seemlessly blends them together in a way that makes you wonder why *isn’t* that how they all fit together.
Book one of the series held such promise: it was a brilliantly constructed, rivetting read from start to finish. I hoped that the Author had a similarly compelling plan for the overall story arch to the entire series but this final instalment has proven to be such a let down. Truth is, the Author has let whimsy and allusion have primacy over logic and fact all at the expense of what might have been a cracking great story.
When I was a bit younger I read the first 3 books of this series and enjoyed them. More recently I picked up the 4th book hoping to quickly finish it off. After familiarising myself with the story line I continued with the series and finished it. Unfortunately I was really disappointed. There was a lack of character development over the course of the books, not a hint of romance between Brodie and Hunter, somewhat irrelevant background characters such as Tulsa and Sheldon (sometimes it seemed to be just The Brodie and Hunter Show, or even just The Brodie Show) and unrealistic and repetitive plot points. By the end of the series reading it was quite tedious. It could be that I am just slightly too old for a series like this but I think that even if I’d have read it all when I was the target age I would have picked holes in it. I like the overall idea of the series but unfortunately it was just not for me.
- Megan, 13
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
"We certainly saw the light... not just the shadows of suppression."
Wow. What and ending for a series that had the ability to constantly blow me away. There is always pressure on the ending of a story, if it will live up to the rest of it, if it is the ending the reader desires or expects, and if it maybe gives the reader something they didn't know they needed. This ending was definitely the ending I didn't know I needed.
I felt physically transported to Avalon and surrounding islands during the last chapters of the book, I felt like I was experiencing what the characters were, and that is not an everyday experience when you read a book.
Dennis provides such a clear understanding of every single scene, and as a reader, I can just tell how much work and research she has poured into every sentence, every word. It's truly magical to read.
I knew from the first book that I was going to love this series, and I was right.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
3.7 I'm surprised by the low number of reviews these Secret Breakers books get. There's plenty of adventure and mystery and secrets and codes, the kind of books that are obviously meant for younger readers but can be read by adults as well when just looking for some good ol' fun. To me the series hovers between 3 and 4 stars, even though I did say in the past that it may have overstayed its welcome.
Wrapping up this series must have been difficult, and at some points in the book I felt that the author was trying too hard to find more hand-wavy connections than were actually needed, and probably going overly whimsical, but as I said, how do you deliver an ending to the series after building up the tension over the course of five books? An overall very gratifying experience, and I wish there were more series like this.
Last book in the series ... Amd what a way to finish ... By cracking Avalon and even seeing it. So happy for Team Veritas. I thought the book was captivating and magical. The book for me finished of an amazing series of code breaking adventures that the team went through starting of with only 6 in station X with 3 being Children!!!! Adding along : sheldon, kitty, Freidman, Fabian, Mr Bray but also losing one of the original 6 - Tandi 😞. Great series!! Awesoeme book!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.