#reynie muldoon feels everything with his whole heart and you have to respect him for that

[llamasofchaos]

Currently rereading tmbs series and I just finished the second book and I have feelings about Reynie's arc in this book.

I saw someone refer to his arc in this book as his emo phase and while I find that a hilarious description I feel like it oversimplified his journey to trusting people especially adults again. In the first book Reynie is very isolated, his only friend/source of comfort or outlet is Ms. Perminal. He is denied being put somewhere he could thrive and fit in because the orphanage gets more money based on how many kids they have.

Reynie doesn't know this but he still doesn't really trust anyone other than Ms. Perminal. But he also looks for the good in people. Once he is at the academy and the kids keep getting surprises thrown in their faces they feel off balance and betrayed. Reynie especially suffers because he has to endure Dr. Curtain's manipulation while also trying to see through it and be a voice of reason for his friends. After they leave the academy Reynie is very wary of people and doubts that the good people outnumber the bad.

Because of this his entire arc throughout the second book is him trying to figure out who he can trust and how to trust people again. He doubts captain Noland (which in his defense does act super strange and shady with him about the diamond) and we see how he is utterly shaken when it comes to be able to trust an adult to help him or his friends.

One moment that stands out to me is when Milligan says that Reynie can trust him. Reynie tells Milligan he knows and in his head think that he is one of few he can trust.

Like poor Reynie, he looks for the good in people but one of his core beliefs has been challenged and he doesn't know how to cope . Like can you imagine how Milligan would have reacted if Reynie had said Milligan was one of the few. Milligan met Reynie before everything happened and I do believe it would shock and sadden him to hear how little Reynie trusts people now.

This book also introduces Reynie's difficulty trusting people with his struggles especially in leadership. Like when he is trying to decide what they need to tell captain Noland and his moment of fear of making the wrong choice. I do love that when he despairs over possibly making the wrong choice he finally has Mr. Benedict (the person who has always told him he can lead) there to help ground and comfort him.

Ugh I just love this series and these characters, especially Reynie and I will always be sad that the show changed the story because the second book is literally so good and it sets up so many different things that happen in the next two books both for the overarching plot and wonderful character development for all of the kids.