Iris and Alice are at it again in the sequel to The Agathas. What are the chances that you would stumble upon your two ex-best friends in a forbidden part of a mansion, one holding a knife, and the other bleeding to death? Slim to none, yet that is exactly what happens to Alice. When Kennedy is rushed to the hospital, and Helen is the prime suspect in her attempted murder, Alice and Iris suspect that Helen is being framed. In a chaotic journey, the two friends set out to solve another mystery and might solve a decades-old murder in the process.
These books bring me back to my Geronimo Stilton days. They are super easy to digest, and a blast to read. They read as unserious, fun little mysteries, almost like Scooby-doo. I devoured the whole book in just over a day. Something about this series is incredibly nostalgic to me, between the writing, characters, and super dumb police. Books don't often give me the warm glow of my childhood days, but this one managed to do so.
The mystery aspect was not as good as the first book. This one revealed a lot of big clues and hints, so I was putting everything together much quicker than Alice and Iris. At times I just wanted to shout at them to hurry up. The clues around the hair and necklace (if you know, you know) were so obvious, it made the big reveals underwhelming. I did enjoy the way it was two cases instead of one, which made the book more interesting. The tie between the two cases was clever, if a bit expected.
I missed the dynamic between Alice and Iris. I was so excited to see their friendship really bloom in this book, but they hardly interacted. For most of the book they were upset with each other, and for reasons I could not figure out. More often than not, they are doing things separately. It was disappointing after seeing such a true friendship form in the first book. Both of them are dealing with problems in their personal lives, especially with how the first book ended. Alice is not acknowledging the trauma she went through when Brooke died, and Iris is struggling with the past traumas seeing her dad brought up. I suspected, in the beginning, those were the reasons their relationship was strained, but it's not really brought up between them. The duo is the most iconic part of this series, so I hope we get that fresh dynamic in the third book.
The romance in this book left a lot to be desired. I wish they had left it out entirely. It's hinted that there is a love triangle between Iris, Cole, and Spike, but she abandons one of the boys within the first 10%, and he is only mentioned again at the very end. Alice has a crush on Rafe, but he already has a girlfriend. Because of this, nothing happens between them, but it left me wondering what the point of her crush was. It would not sit well with me if he left his girlfriend for her, especially when he seems like such a caring guy in general. I hope they introduce someone a little less perfect for Alice to like.
This is such a small detail, but the villain confrontation scene almost took me out. It was so corny, I had to close my eyes to ward against the second-hand embarrassment. A super small detail, but you readers needed to be warned.
Overall, just a fun, light-hearted read this is perfect for summertime. I do recommend the audiobook version. The narrators really bring this book to life!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.