Dark Days, a review

We’re onto the second trilogy within the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy! Dark Days is where the violence, the gore, and the death all start to ramp up

As per usual, this is a difficult series to talk about in a spoiler free review because there’s so much going on and I don’t want to accidentally mention something!

For what I can say, I like the development of Skulduggery and Valkyrie separately to each other. I think this is done really well with the circumstances and shows the events of the books well in terms of the mental impact on them. I also like how Val’s separation from her parents is handled more within this book and how it’s shown.

Of course, I adored the sharp wit, the stupid banter, and the fight scenes. As well as references to other nerdy things littered throughout!

I also like how the magic within the series is delved into more here. We learn more about the different uses if elemental magic, as well as the other branches and what advantages they hold. It fleshes out the world more and provides more depth for the other non-elemental characters actions (as Skulduggery and therefore Valkyrie have focused mainly on elemental magic).

On CAWPILE I rated this book:

Characters: 9

Atmosphere: 8

Writing: 9

Plot: 9

Intrigue: 8

Logic: 9

Enjoyment: 8

Which gives me an overall 8.57 rating which is a really good 4 stars! Is anyone really surprised at that??

Highlight here for trigger warnings: violence, death, bombing attempt and event, attempted murder, wrongful incarceration, torture, PTSD, lack of bodily autonomy, severe burn injuries

This is a series that I adore and it’s so much fun to be reading through them again! We’ve only got one book left to come in the series overall now so it’s nice that I’m “delaying” that ending by rereading through all of the books! Have you read any books in the Skulduggery Pleasant series? What do you think of it?!?!

The Faceless Ones, a review

Skulduggery is back and just as mad as ever!

As always when reviewing series (and keeping the review spoiler free) this is gunna be a difficult one! This is the third book in the series and so much has happened since book one!

There’s so much depth to this middle grade series. Even at this point there are so many characters whose morals and choices are in a very grey area, the violence and gore has gone up a notch too. I don’t remember being phased by it at the time I read it as a kid… but maybe that’s just me?

The sarcasm and wit doesn’t slow down at all in this book, and the punches and fight scenes just keep coming. I’m still loving the character development of Valkyrie and seeing her both blossom in the magical world whilst pulling away from the “real” world.

The ending of this one is a cliffhanger of epic proportions, so make sure you’ve got book four handy for when you finish! As always I’m loving this series and loving this reread!!!

On CAWPILE I rated this:

Characters: 10

Atmosphere: 8

Writing: 8

Plot: 9

Intrigue: 8

Logic: 9

Enjoyment: 9

Which gives me a total of 8.71 rating which is a 4 star! Is anyone surprised? We all know I adore this series and I’m loving doing this reread along with everyone!

If you didn’t know, I’m actually quite a bit further ahead than this. I’m just behind on my reviews lol. And I’m still loving all of the books!! Can’t wait to delve into my reviews of them for you guys!

Highlight here for trigger warnings: loss of a friend, violence, death, kidnapping

Seasons of War – a review

I’m gunna be blunt, this will be a short review. This is book THIRTEEN in the series and with the fact that I don’t want to do a spoiler filled review? Well there isn’t that much that can be said.

I will say, I really enjoy this. It was a lot of fun, I flew through it as expected and if you’ve read any of the other books in this surprisingly dark for a middle grade series then you know exactly what you’re getting into. Or more accurately, you know you’ve got no real clue.

In this book we encounter another dimension (again) and Landy utilises characters with glee that’ve been blocked off from him for years. There were a few moments where I was confused, one of which I gave up and tweeted Landy about because the cogs in my tiny brain just were not aligning, but despite this wee confusion I was still engrossed and really enjoying the book. There was so many new concepts delved into here, and some old ones brought back too.

A couple of points were shaky, I wasn’t so keen on the treatment of one longstanding character, and for one of our series-long villains… what on earth are they doing? Why Landy? That’s so odd! (I’m aware this is cryptic, this is why I said it’d be a short review. What on earth am I supposed to say??) but overall I still really enjoyed the book and I’m very excited to get to book 14! By the time you’ve read this I should hopefully have my grubby hands on the latest release, as my pre-order has been delayed by Waterstones due to manufacturing errors, and I might have even read it! You’ll just have to keep an eye out on my blog for the next ridiculously useless review of book 14!