Ruby Loves Adventure

I found my 39 Clues groove back!! And well, ever since I got back from London, I met up with my friend who was more than willing to let me borrow her books again rather than me buying all the books in the series. Ha ha. Plus, the most read article in my blog is about a review of a 39 Clues book so here I am, reviewing the series again.

Summary from Goodreads:


For the past five hundred years, the Cahills have silently dominated the world. Their desperate hunt for the 39 Clues lies behind some of history’s biggest enigmas – the curse of the Hope diamond, the race to summit Mt. Everest, the wild life and death of Harry Houdini. And now – finally – the secrets are out. With an introduction by Rick Riordan, The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets reveals the shocking truth about history’s most notorious family. 
In full, lush color, The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets lays bare each hidden fact, concealed strategy, top agent, lost founder, secret base and hushed-up scandal of the Clue hunt. This complete guide to the Cahills contains information on all five branches, including the notoriously elusive Madrigals. The must-know information includes: 
-Full files on the enigmatic Man in Black. 
-The true purpose of the Madrigal branch. 
-The complete story of the fire that split the original Cahill family. 
-The truth about the night Hope and Arthur Cahill died. 
-Open access to the secrets of the Lucian, Ekaterina, Tomas and Janus branches. 

It’s never too late to join the hunt – especially with The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets to provide complete access to the Cahill’s most deeply-buried secrets. 

So, the Black Book of Buried Secrets is a companion book to the 39 Clues franchise. It features all of the Cahill branches (yes, including the Madrigals), and some information about that branch: what weapons they like to use, where the strongholds are, and who their key members are (and they provide a brief profile of some of their more reputable members). It also features lots of pictures of the places and the members. (Although I was surprised at the supposed photo of Jonah Wizard and Ian Kabra - when I was reading the series, I never expected them to look like the photos depicted in the Black Book).

What I love most about the book? The pages - they are absolutely glossy and shiny, compared to the other books in the series which are just printed on normal paper. Add the strongholds and key character information and it mixes historical figures and places with made up ones.

I like that for such a young reader market, the publishers and writers have thought of mixing history and present: it makes history much more interesting and learning so much more fun. And yes, if I were a kid reading the 39 Clues, I would also want to embark on the adventures of Amy and Dan, thanks very much. I mean, who wouldn't if you were given such bagloads of cash to spend trying to chase after clues all around the world?

Hmmm... the beginning of wanderlust, I would say.

In the near future, these kids reading these books would probably end up blogging about their travels too and I would be stuck reading about them and going green with envy as I read about their adventures.

Nevertheless, this is a good companion book (so much better than the Agent's Handbook) and one I would splurge on to complete the 39 Clues series in the collection!