Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Empty Grave

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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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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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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erebus53's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This is the fifth and (let's hope) final of the Lockwood and Co books. As they were written a year at a time and it's been 6 years I assume they are done and dusted. YAY!

These books are really strange. I find so many of the elements in them displeasing, but yet I like the pace and patter, the amount of dialogue, and the plot flow. The mysterious stuff is cool, and the puzzles interesting. I wish I could like the characters more.

Lockwood himself, is a bit melancholy. He's a rich boy with dead parents so I guess he's really just another Batman. I'd say this is probably the sort of laddo I would go for if I were a teen, but at the same time, the constant swoon and snark that the main character Lucy loads him up with makes the whole attraction fall flat.

Their trusty sidekick, George... who they keep calling a dear friend, but still treating like a sidekick, is a fat nerd... and they keep reminding him of it. The tone is just casually abusive and seriously uncalled for. Yuck.

As the series has continued they added a couple of characters... in a rivals to confidantes move, they picked up one of the guys who they were squabbling with in they first book, and enabled him to become their gofer and emotional punching bag... I mean friend.. They all hate him but he's only as snide as the rest of them (and I think he dresses better). He's my favourite.. but as he's the one who is placed in life-threatening danger and looks to be killed off in this book, I guess he's considered an add-on. Stroud, don't even THINK of killing off my favourite character just because he seems the most disposable.

A turn for the weird.. token brown skinned girl, Holly Munro, openly declares to Lucy that she was never into Lockwood because her affections lie in a different direction. She seems to be the repository of all diversity, as later George says something about her not moving into their spare room because she lives with a woman who works for another agency. This has to be the most roundabout, SOFT serve hint at lesbianism ever nearly mentioned in YA fiction.. .. ok that does it -I'm removing a star from my review.

The wrap up of this book seems to cover a lot of bases in having described the probable cause and solutions for The Problem, the history of the Fitz agency and the Orpheus Society. It's open ended enough that more could yet come.. but really.. can we stop it now?
The Netflix adaptation is miles better and seems to redress a lot of the negative BS and lack of diversity, even making the characters more likeable.. I suggest you go watch that instead... and make us a cup of tea? I'm about due.

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