A Mom's Quest to Teach: Book Club: Book Review of Britfield & The Return of the Prince

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Do you enjoy suspenseful fiction? Perhaps you are looking for a new series of books to read fall under action-adventure and juvenile fiction. In 2019, I reviewed the first in the Britfield series. This book was a hit with our oldest (who doesn't really enjoy reading). Last summer, I reviewed the second book, Britfield & The Rise of the Lion. And now I am sharing my thoughts about the third book — Britfield & The Return of the Prince.

Background Information

In the first book, we meet Tom and Sarah as they escape from an orphanage, travel in a balloon, and move through different parts of England. Just like the second two books, Britfield & The Lost Crown is packed with action and adventure. There is intrigue and mystery as we discover that Tom is actually the Britfield heir and the Britfields are the rightful heirs to the English throne.

Britfield & The Rise of the Lion is set in France. Again Tom and Sarah, along with the other characters who are attempting to help them (the members of the Resistance) face danger as they fight their way through the cities and countryside of France.

The Plot of Britfield & The Return of the Prince

During the second book, the Resistance releases information regarding the evil organization known as the Committee that is trying to maintain its power and control over the world. The Committee is trying to get a hold of Tom so they can maintain their control over the English throne. They do not hesitate to use force and violence to try and succeed.

At the very beginning of Britfield & The Return of the Prince, we see Tom and Sarah learning and working alongside Fontaine at an elite school. All does not remain well as the Committee strikes the school in an attempt to kidnap Tom. At the same time, they are attacking Devonbury Academy in Switzerland, the Committee hits numerous Resistance operations, computer systems, safe houses, and more. The Resistance is left attempting to keep their men and women safe.

We follow the main characters in the third book as they travel from safe house to safe house in Italy, attempting to find the second Britfield Codex and Tom's parents. They are also trying to reconnect, but a team of assassins and others in the Committee are making that near impossible. The Committee is no longer afraid to operate in the open to some extent, as they are using the police for blockades throughout all of Italy.

A Mom's Quest to Teach: Book Club: Book Review of Britfield & The Return of the Prince; photo of the book

What Places Do We See?

There are many famous locations shared in Britfield & The Return of the Prince. This leaves homeschool parents with the opportunity to dig deeper into European history, especially that of Italy and the Roman Empire.

Some of the cities and locations you can study include:

Lake Como
Genoa
Pisa
Florence
Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo
Rome
Colosseum
The Forum

What Art Is Mentioned?

As many of the famous locations and art pieces are merely mentioned in the story, you could spend time studying them in greater detail with your children. A few of the artworks mentioned include:

Rogier van Der Weyden's Lamentation of Christ
Michelangelo's The Holy Family
Leonardo da Vinci's Adoration of the Magi

My Thoughts

I am going to be completely honest. While I read both the first two books rather quickly – being unable to put them down – I did not feel the same urge to keep reading Britfield & The Return of the Prince. With the three main groups of characters separated for the majority of the book as they ran from the Committee, the chapters jumped back and forth between scenes. And we also meet new characters - both good and bad.

I felt that, at times, the descriptions were too verbose. I did not need to read how each individual fight and skirmish took place especially since the Committee was often on the heels of the Resistance members in each chapter. Another specific example of something that seemed to bog down the speed of the action and adventure was the lengthy discussion of how Kate, the technical/computer expert, was trying to hide the various Resistance members' journeys through Italy.

While I understand that the book is not a work of Christian fiction, I felt that maybe that is what was missing. Perhaps that is why it was difficult to read through the constant struggles of Tom, Sarah, Gowerstone, Henry, and the others. If the good characters had expressed their faith in God, their belief that He would see them through, it might have been easier for me to read Britfield & The Return of the Prince.

Even with my reservations, I do think this was a good addition to the series. Fans of the first two books will want to know what happened to Tom and Sarah. And they will definitely want to meet the new characters introduced. I would recommend parents read at least part of the book prior to handing it over to their children. There are assassins hunting Tom who will stop at nothing to get him. And if the assassins do not succeed, the Committee has no problem executing them. So, there is a lot of violence in the book.