Book Review: Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter by Beth McMullen
The Details
Media Type: Ebook
Title: Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter
Author: Beth McMullen
Publisher: Aladdin Books
Pages/Length: Hardcover; 304 pages
Release Date: August 25, 2020
Source: Netgalley
Stuart Gibbs meets The Lost Property Office in this action-packed mystery about a young girl searching for her father from the author of Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls—the first in a new series!
Having a world-traversing archaeologist dad means twelve-year-old Lola Benko is used to moving around not putting down roots anywhere. But every day and every hunt for something hidden is an adventure, and no matter what, she and her dad are an unbeatable team.
Then her father disappears. The official story is that he was caught in a flash flood, but Lola’s research shows the day in question was perfectly pleasant. And it will take more than empty reassurances from suspect strangers for Lola to give up on her dad. She has a feeling his disappearance has to do with a mythical stone he was studying—a stone so powerful, it could control the world. But in the wrong hands, it could end it, too…
With the help of some new friends at her school, it’s up to Lola to go on the most important search of her life.
The Review
If you put a book in my hands that is both Middle Grade and an adventure, you can pretty much guarantee that it’s going to be a good fit for me. As a middle grade reader, and even now, getting lost in a good adventure story is one of my favorite things. I love daring escapes, treasure hunts, and mission fraught with peril. In fact, who doesn’t love those things? It’s such a great way to spend a few hundred pages. This is why Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter caught my eye.
Now, the beginning of this book was spot on for me. I loved the idea of Lola traversing the world with her father, and building her whirlygigs as a means of distraction when they were stuck in one place too long. It seemed like her and her father had a wonderful relationship, and I loved that. I hoped to watch them go off on an adventure together, but then I remembered that the blurb told me he’d disappear. Alas. Still, I was excited to see what Lola, with her fierce personality, got up to once she was on her own. I wasn’t prepared for this girl.
Unfortunately, this is where the book and I had a little bit of a rough patch. Although I still loved Lola’s fierceness, when she left her father and started her new life it was tough to handle her. Although I know that most characters at this age would also be single minded and self centered about the things that they did, especially when it came to their family members, Lola’s callousness towards others dug a little deep for me. As I kept reading, and she started to grow a bit, I understood her better. In fact, I’m glad that she had her friends to keep her grounded. I’m not sure we would have been able to reconcile otherwise.
Once I was back on board with Lola’s antics, things did pick up, and the adventure that I was waiting for began. It takes about half the book for things to really get going, but it is actually worth the wait. My only concern was that, as an older reader, I can handle a slow start with no issue. As a middle grade reader, I might have struggled a little bit. Still, this is the first book in a series and the ending leads me to believe that there are lots of good things in store! So that makes me a very happy reader.
Long, rambling review in summary? Essentially this book sets up a new adventure series quite well! Although it was a little slow to start, the last half of the book flew by. Now that we have a glimpse into Lola’s life, and her brilliance, I’m ready to see what happens next.
