This book is a sequel, which fills in enough of the history to make it stand alone read. A handful of friends from the previous school year are charged with the unlikely task of locating a series of lost statues for the headmaster. Working almost completely independent of any responsible adult, they walk into a death threat situation and against better judgement and wisdom, they proceed to carry out foolhardy plans to rescue the statues and expose the "bad guy".

The idea of being able to achieve great things without the nearby grown ups is very appealing to the target age group, but paints such an unrealistic and unsafe picture that I kept shaking my head as I read. An enjoyable mystery adventure with no lasting appeal. ( )

The second book in the Dinswood series, The Missing Mortals follows Emma, Doug, Martha, and Sebastian and their school, the Dinswood Academy. The kids are tasked with finding seven statues, each is a famous woman from the Bible. Their adventure takes a dramatic turn as they realize they are being blackmailed and spied upon. As 8th graders, the kids are 13 years old, so they begin to develop feelings and relationships for each other. ( )

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't connect with it. I couldn't lose myself in the pages and so it just felt long. I didn't read the first book in the series, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Thank you to NetGalley and LibraryThing for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. ( )

Just as a warning: This review contains slight spoilers. I tried to keep it to the bare minimum while expressing my views on the book.

I did not read the first book in the series, The Secret of Dinswood. That being said, I did not find it hard to gather the basics of the plot and the relationships established in the previous work. I never got the feeling of a huge info-dump which is a pet peeve of mine, so kudos on that.

The story follows plucky eighth-graders as they attempt to find the Missing Mortals and solve the mystery of the bad guy. I thought the plot was rather predictable. Even though my initial bad-guy guess was wrong, he still ended up being a part of another scheme. It doesn't bring anything new to the table for its audience. I'll admit that the genre can be rather formulaic, but that doesn't excuse a lack of originality.

I found parts of it to didactic. For example, the students are barred from video games and the internet, even for academic purposes. I won't claim that video games and the internet are always the best use of time, but I got the feeling that both were looked down upon in the extreme. Following a similar line, Emma (a main character) has a crush that is shamed/policed because of how another boy may feel about it. It felt very icky.

The novel has a strong religious undercurrent. I won't call it a plus or a minus to the story, but it was something I felt should have been made clear in the description of the book in case that was something a reader might want to avoid.

I suppose, on the whole, the story was okay. The target audience would probably enjoy it. But it's definitely not my cup of tea, and it likely won't be my first recommendation to a middle-school reader. ( )

The Missing Mortals is the second novel in Ellen Alexander's series. I did not read the first novel and she refers enough to previous events that it is not necessary.

Four friends at the mysterious Dinswood Academy are tasked with finding seven missing statues of powerful biblical women. The four young kids are then dragged into a world of conspiracy and mystery as they navigate the social pressures of middle school, secret missions, and mysterious demands from an unknown figure.

The book was enjoyable, even if the characters are unbelievable as 8th graders. Overall I really enjoyed seeing how all of the elements of the novel connected. ( )