Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud

3 reviews

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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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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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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