Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

54 reviews

zoeelora's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An absolute and utter treasure of a book. #SaveLockwoodandCo 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Recommended by a friend, I enjoyed The Screaming Staircase quite a lot. The setting of this alternate London is similar to our own, but coloured by the supernatural in a way familiar to fans of the Bartimaeus trilogy - which I read ages ago but remember fondly. Not only do the trio of Lockwood & Co. have to deal with the unquiet (and often grotesque and violent) dead, but also the political machinations of the British gentry and the attempts of rivals to close down their agency. The story progresses like a horror-filled Sherlock-esque mystery, and the ending is incredibly satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Bullying, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Blood, Mental illness, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Misogyny, Abandonment, Classism, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

aleshag's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I loved reading this! The books emphasizes a lot on the importance of preparation, patience, and planning ahead of time. If you like mystery/supernatural stories, this is a great book to check out! I was hooked from the beginning, I love the detail in the ghost encounters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Suicide and Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent

lawbooks600's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Representation: N/A
Score: Seven out of ten.

I wanted to read this for a while but I put it off for a while. Months back, I added it to my TBR. Months later, it was finally time to read The Screaming Staircase. I glanced at the blurb, making it seem intriguing, even though I don't read that many horror books. When I closed the final page, it was enjoyable.

It starts with the first person I see, Lucy, living her life until she has to work for a company known as Lockwood and Co. Its purpose is to try and stop the problem that plagues the United Kingdom for 50 years now: an infestation of ghosts. Other organisations already exist to combat the issue, but Lucy landed in one of the smallest ones. There's even a governing body who oversees everyone who tries to stop the ghost epidemic, which the narrative mentions. The first ghost operation didn't go as planned, so the small group have only one chance to prove themselves with their next mission, which is to reside in a haunted house for a lengthy time to show their capabilities. 

The Screaming Staircase is the first in a five instalment series, but no one has the other four. It's not clear what happens next, which is a problem, as some questions remain unanswered. Those questions concern the worldbuilding, and the most important one of them all is where did the ghosts come from? When was the first ghost-busting group established? I need answers. The glossary helps a little, but not a lot. The characters are likable, but not the most relatable. The pacing is okay as it's a slow burn, spanning 400 pages. At least there was an exciting beginning and ending, finishing The Screaming Staircase on a cliffhanger. Perhaps I might be wrong and the other four parts are out there. In that case, I'd be glad to read them as this creation from the author impressed me, and I want to read more from him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

Full trigger warnings: Death of people in the past and suicide mentioned, dead bodies, fire, explosions, blood depiction, physical injury

atalea's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

jasminehere's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Child death, and Death

rae42's review against another edition

adventurous dark

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Really liked the book however the writer is clearly fatphobic, Seriously dude you don't need to continually call a character pudgy or pugley 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Fatphobia

evueimeimei's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Murder

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Blood, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Death, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Classism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Violence

abigailhaagen's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious

5.0

I watched the tv show before reading the book, and they are both incredibly good. I love the characters (Lockwood's my favorite) and the worldbuilding and the mystery... it's all so good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Gore and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicidal thoughts