Technically it’s the Thea Stilton series but since she only figures about a 1/4th of page time than her proteges, I’m just calling it the Thea Sisters series of which has spawned as many spin-offs as the Geronimo series. Seriously, there’s like 4 spin-off series ontop of the original one which is still going so it’s no wonder it took me six months to get through it all.

Now that I have, let’s start with the main series.

The main series does have a fair amount of Thea Stilton in it until book 22, then that framing device sort of phases out and forgotten. But we are introduced with Thea heading back to her alma mater, Mouseford Academy to be a guest lecturer. It’s there she bonds with five bright mouselings, Nicky, Colette, Paulina, Violet and Pamela who are inspired by her advice in investigative journalism and use it to solve a mystery. Bonded for life, they name themselves after their mentor and start solving mysteries all around the world which Thea writes into the books we readers have in our hands.

As with most series, the characters are more interesting in the beginning before it becomes formulaic, the protagonists have more flaws like Nicky’s clustraphobia and Violet’s fear of heights, Colette’s prissiness. Their strengths are shown off more too as Pamela is a major wrench-motor mouse but that becomes less relevant as her running gag of being constantly hungry. The girls fight less and become more a hive-mind as the series go on.

But it is quite enjoyable. I think it jump=started my love of traveling as the girl’s copious amount of vacation has them going from Australia to India to Russia. All the continents including both poles. However, the educational aspect of sidebars also gets sidelined as the series continues. Maybe it’s me being biased by the too stylistic art shift, but it felt more sanitized after book 16.

It’s probably a sign that I aged out of it but the lack of continuity bothers me. They make new friends on every continent but said ‘friends’ never appear beyond that book. I know, I know it’s because it has a formula but it irks me. Same with how there’s hint to a major mystery like whatever happened to Paulina’s parents? Nope. Never going to look into it at all. Not even during the super specials.

Or like when they went to Tanzania where Pamela was supposedly born, no mention about her heritage or having extended family members helping, missed opportunity there.

And since it’s a long-running series, it’s inevitable that some plots feel like repeats like The Missing Myth with the Phantom of the Orchestra having theater pieces being sabotoged plus love triangles. The American Dream and Chocolate Sabotoge both involve childhood friends betraying their friend in the present out of miscommunication and love. There’s others, but those two stood out the most.

Which is another thing that the series gets a lot more romance-focused from book 19 onward. Before, there was always a mouse with interest in one of the girls (Violet, Paulina and Colette get the most. Nicky and Pam the least. Is there some sort of unconcious bias toward the more athletic ones? Hmmmm), not that it mattered because formula. But from 19-36, there is always some supporting romance in whatever locale they are in. The g-rated one with hugs and special feelings, of course.

So yeah, nostalgia glasses off, the main series doesn’t hold up much in my opinion. Or at least, not if you binge-read it because of its repetitiveness.

Next up is the Super Specials.

Much like Geronimo has his super specials in the Kingdom of Fantasy, when the Prince of Atlantis washes up on the shores of Whale Island, the girls get involved in the Nine Roses Unit and help save magical kingdoms and their mythical inhibitants. Thea joins the first five adventures while the last four pretend she doesn’t really exist.

Actually, the first book feels like an outlier to the series because it introduces the Nine Roses Unit but it doesn’t really figure into the plot as much as a guide for the Thea Sisters to solve riddles in the real world and provide super-futuristic technology so they can communicate with the prince.

The other books specifically take place in Other-Worlds not related to Earth along the legends inspire the world or vice versa. The world of Minwa is all Japanese legends, another one is inspired by Celtic. . . Actually, that’s it. The other worlds are more basic like one is just for colors, one is flowers, one is stars. I felt less interested in those because it didn’t have the creative interpretations of real-world legends.

The power of friendship is in full-force in this series, and not gonna lie, it gets annoying. Same with the constant romance at the root of each trouble in the Other-Worlds. Someone is always cursed, causing the king or ruler of that world to cease ruling properly or some nonsense.

I’ll admit, the illustrations are beautiful and unique in each one. The color palette is vibrant and it does add to the magical feel. Plus the last book has the girls going through all nine worlds for a big full circle moment.

However, I do feel there was a missed opportunity. As I said above the first book, Journey to Atlantis feels like an outlier as it is in the real world and the Nine Roses Unit isn’t a central figure. The book also introduced a potential reoccuring villain in Professor Beta, a disgraced founder to the Unit who sought to use their technologies and creatures for his own financial gain/celebrity. It set the seed that he’ll return to cause trouble for the Nine Roses Unit and exposes the mythical world so close to their own.

He never appears, and he is never mentioned again. So much for that opportunity.

Also, one thing that really bugs me is Paulina’s potential romance with Will Mystery, head of the Nine Roses Unit. He’s Thea’s age. Paulina’s still in the Academy (seems to be a high scool-college? ? ?) Maybe things are different in Italy, but I felt the age gap is weird. Not only that Paulina already has the Prince of Atlantis to fall in love with and pine for her. Give someone else a chance.
Next up is Mouseford Academy.

Unlike the other books, these are set exclusively while the girls are in school. Less mystery, more slice-of-life adventures from auditioning to the school musical to science fairs to wilderness obstacle course. Their main antagonist is Ruby Flashyfur. As one can guess by her name, she is a rich brat obssessed with fame and her own social clout and hates how the Thea Sisters upstage her by being good students and good people. . . mice.

These stories involve more conflict among the Thea Sisters. Not too much but they do have less hive-mind. They actually get into a fight! And have to have an adult advise them to communicate. They’re not so perfect after all which is a relief. Also it’s nice to see them use their investigative journalism skills some work in real time.

There’s also more humor. Not just from Ruby’s antics but reoccurring students like Ruby’s laidback brother, Ryder, Shen, a nerdy boy with a huge crush on Pamela, Alicia, the Karen to Ruby’s Regina George and so on. It’s a wholesome and fun and has more mix-ups in different characters playing off one another.

Which leads me to confessing that I only read the first 8 books in the series. It seems that #9-17 are not available in the US. Even online, I can only find French versions of the series. So if anyone knows where I can read the read, please comment. I”d like to be a completist.

Thea Sisters comic book series

Continuing on the Mouseford Academy vein, these graphic novels featuring more adventures on Whale Island in the style of a Hanna-Barbara cartoon. I say that because Ruby and her mother are the primary anatgonists of the series again, and with their cartoonishly rich resources, they constantly come up with schemes to end up on tv at the expense of the enviroment.

It feels much like Josie and the Pussycats (only with mice) with the girls stumbling on another thoughtless plot to get fame and hurt sea turtles and saving the day.

The interesting thing is how the Flashyfurs still technically get away with it. I mean, the Thea Sisters manage to get them to put things to right but it always gives the family good publicity rather than going to jail for their numerous crimes. I almost want to applaud the realism that rich people just get different punishment than the poor. Also the Thea Sisters are a lot less of a pushover when it comes to Ruby, actually wishing for her to get her comuppence instead of just being naieve that maybe she’s a good person underneath.

Another interesting tidbit is that this is a more direct translation of the original Italian so the Flashyfurs aren’t Flashyfur. Ruby is actually Vanilla de Vissen. Ryder is Vic. Their mom, Rebecca is Vissia. I prefer the English. Who names their child after Vanilla?

Finally, there’s the Treasure Seekers trilogy.

This is a combination of ther Super Specials (in length and travel) and their original. It has a narrower focus is what I’m saying. During another trip to Scotland, the girls meet and defend an old woman when her precious family tapestry is stolen.

It’s stolen because it’s the map to ancient treasure hidden by the woman’s great-aunt, Aurora Beatrix Lane (sort of an archeologist version of Amelia Earhart) who discovered and hid the Seven Treasures of the Ancient World from unscrupulous grave robbers.

Inspired by Aurora’s diary, the girls decide to fulfill her wish in finding the treasures so it can be shared with the world, not hoarded in a personal collection. But they’re up against the great grandson of Aurora’s ex-mentor, the Klawitz family.

Within one book, the girls travel to as much as 3-4 different locales, following the riddles that Aurora left in her travels. It’s fun. Not only is there more detail about each place like the original series used to do but the riddles involve real guess-work and guile in figuring it out. It kinda reminded me of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? Or I suppose Aurora Lane? There’s only three in the series, and there seems to be no mention of another one which is too bad. There are still four more treasures to find and I enjoyed it as much as the Mouseford Academy ones.

So overall, the first 19 of the main series, Mouseford Academy and Treasure Seekers hold up. The others just give me mice fatigue.