Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Empty Grave

After suspicions that Marissa Fittes, leader of the biggest Psychic Investigation Agency in London, is not dead, has Lockwood, Lucy, George, Holly and Kipps breaking into the Fittes mausoleum to investigate. It's the start of yet another dangerous adventure for Lockwood & Co!

It feels a bit sad to now have read the last book in the series and to know that we don't get to see these young, lovely characters again. But I think we get a deserving ending, and all questions from previous books are answered. Even though this is a middlegrade the author doesn't shy away from heavy subjects. Here we have both death, physical abuse and suicidal tendencies. The books are also rather hefty, and demands quite a lot from the reader. That's why I think they suit adults as well!

Content Warnings

andrew_corduroy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is such a great ending to a great series. It was so fun to see the characters grow even more, even the skull.
So much depth to the characters, even the side ones, but the main crew really are so well written and even though some parts of their personalities and lives are just hinted at, Stroud’s writing really lends itself to loveable characters. Definitely gonna be a reread in my future.

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slavicjedi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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jackiepreston's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A great ending to the series that wrapped up the major questions and gave hope for the future of The Problem. I would have given this five stars if not for all of the terrible fat-shaming of George.

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gingerbooknerd3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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starlitpage's review

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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lokes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

3.5

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

“Who says I’m dying? Did you see the amount of sheer effort it took me to escape the land of the dead? I’m not going back in now!”

➽ The Empty Grave was the finale of the Lockwood & Co. series and I was so sad to see it ending! The stakes are high as five months after the events of The Creeping Shadow, Lucy and her friends are digging into the secrets of the Fittes agency. Ever since the Skull told them that Penelope Fittes might actually be her grandmother Marissa - the legendary Listener who held conversations with Type Three spirits - Lockwood & Co. has been trying to find proof. There's something strange going on with Fittes and the problem, but it's still the most powerful agency in London, so they have to tread lightly. With DEPRAC's regulations getting tighter and Fittes and Rotwell intimidating smaller agencies, things are getting more complicated. I liked seeing the tensions between Lockwood & Co. and the Fittes agency rising, as they have much less power and Penelope Fittes has powerful allies.

➽ I liked that Lucy, George, Lockwood, Holly, Kipps and even Flo Bones all come together in order to uncover the true heart of the Problem! It was great seeing all of them together again and how they supported each other, as they had no one else to rely on. It was a relief that Lucy and Holly have finally found some common ground in the end and sort of become friends after all. I wasn't a big fan of Kipps when he was first introduced, but he had grown on me as the series went on! As an adult, he has now lost his sight and is standing against his former employer, the Fittes agency! Lockwood and him used to be at each other's throats, but now have a common enemy. The book was suspenseful from start to finish and definitely left me emotional!

I liked the reveal that the Problem was man-made after all and Marissa's greed caused everything. By keeping the spirits from moving on and using their power to keep herself young, she created a world overrun by ghosts. It was also interesting that she connected with her own Type Three spirit when she was very young. It made me wonder if teens could always see ghosts pre-Problem and it wasn't talked about much because it didn't happen as often (as most spirits would have naturally moved on). In the end, it's the Skull that sacrifices itself and not Lockwood, a nice subversion of the signs Lucy was getting and how they didn't apply to who she thought. I liked how things ended, but if you were looking for any romantic resolutions between Lockwood and Lucy, you'd be disappointed. In that way, the ending is more of a cliffhanger, as nothing concrete happens.

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