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A review by literarystrawberry
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
2019: I'm not sure exactly how many times I've read this now, but the latest re-read was out loud to my entire family (started around Halloween, at my brother's suggestion), and everyone was engaged and commenting on stuff and laughing at the jokes, and I got to try my hand at all the accents, and it was generally just really fun to experience together. We're going to do the Whispering Skull next. (Objections were raised about my attempt at the skull's voice at the end of this one, and Mom's saying she wants us to order two books from the library so she can follow along and read all the skull's lines, so we'll see how that goes.) Overall a good decision. I love this book so much, and I'm really happy my family does too.
Original review:
This isn't the sort of book that I would normally read. Not on my own, anyway. I actually remember seeing this in the new section at my library when it came out a bit more than a year ago; I looked at it, thought "I bet [blank name] would like this" (she does, by the way,) and then put it back on the shelf, because ghosts? Psychic children? Nah. Not my thing, bro.
But man, am I glad I finally read it now.
So London has a Problem. There are ghosts everywhere, and no one knows where they're coming from, and for some reason, only the young people can really see them enough to do anything about it. A lot of different agencies have been formed to deal with things. Lockwood and Co. is one of those agencies.
I found the whole ghost thing really well developed. It isn't explained /why/ the ghosts started randomly popping up (I'm sure we'll learn more about that in the later books), but they also aren't just thrown around for scare value with no real structure. There are rules for the way things work, and the author sticks to them. It makes /sense/.
I liked the way he took familiar ghosty elements (cold air, spiders, feelings of dread, etc.) and had the characters treat them in a scientific way. For instance, when they're investigating a house or area, they take temperature readings; when the air grows colder, they know they're getting close. I also really appreciated the way the characters used simple, practical solutions for things, like Velcro to hold their swords, or a doorstop to keep a ghost from shutting them inside a room. I didn't have any moments of "Well why didn't you just [insert obvious solution here]?". Ghosts are pretty much a run-of-the-mill thing for them now, and they've figured out how to be efficient. That was nice.
The plot was strong enough, and I thought it moved at a fairly good pace. I did sort of solve the main bit of mystery before the big reveal, but the ending was still satisfying.
The characters were fantastic. Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle, and George Cubbins played off each other and balanced each other out very well. Characters can make or break a story for me, and I'm glad to say that I liked all of these.
Lockwood is the leader: calm, collected, and charismatic, he's almost instantly likeable. Some hints to a tragic past. Sees "death-glows", energy traces left at the place where a death took place.
Lucy, the narrator, has a particular talent for hearing the ghosts, though she seems to be developing some other skills as well. Plainspoken, a bit sarcastic, tries to act tougher than she sometimes is. I found her a good choice to guide the reader; she's interesting, but relatable enough to help you feel comfortable in the story world.
George is mostly intelligence: he researches the cases they take and prepares the team with information. He also has some truly wonderful snarky and sarcastic comments, and a fondness for donuts. (George's sass <3)
Content: A few mild swears. There were several scary bits, which is to be expected, but I found it to be more of an exciting, edge-of-your-seat sort of scary than an unpleasant, "crap-now-I-can't-sleep-without-the-light-on" sort of scary. Still, there is some pretty creepy imagery, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a young or sensitive kid. It all depends on what you're used to, I guess. (Me, I tend to be a bit of a wimp when it comes to scary stuff, but nothing in here bothered me too much, and I read quite a bit of it downstairs by the fire while everyone else was asleep. So.)
All in all, I really enjoyed this one, and I'm glad I edged out of my comfort zone enough to give it a try. I'm definitely going to read the next book.
Original review:
This isn't the sort of book that I would normally read. Not on my own, anyway. I actually remember seeing this in the new section at my library when it came out a bit more than a year ago; I looked at it, thought "I bet [blank name] would like this" (she does, by the way,) and then put it back on the shelf, because ghosts? Psychic children? Nah. Not my thing, bro.
But man, am I glad I finally read it now.
So London has a Problem. There are ghosts everywhere, and no one knows where they're coming from, and for some reason, only the young people can really see them enough to do anything about it. A lot of different agencies have been formed to deal with things. Lockwood and Co. is one of those agencies.
I found the whole ghost thing really well developed. It isn't explained /why/ the ghosts started randomly popping up (I'm sure we'll learn more about that in the later books), but they also aren't just thrown around for scare value with no real structure. There are rules for the way things work, and the author sticks to them. It makes /sense/.
I liked the way he took familiar ghosty elements (cold air, spiders, feelings of dread, etc.) and had the characters treat them in a scientific way. For instance, when they're investigating a house or area, they take temperature readings; when the air grows colder, they know they're getting close. I also really appreciated the way the characters used simple, practical solutions for things, like Velcro to hold their swords, or a doorstop to keep a ghost from shutting them inside a room. I didn't have any moments of "Well why didn't you just [insert obvious solution here]?". Ghosts are pretty much a run-of-the-mill thing for them now, and they've figured out how to be efficient. That was nice.
The plot was strong enough, and I thought it moved at a fairly good pace. I did sort of solve the main bit of mystery before the big reveal, but the ending was still satisfying.
The characters were fantastic. Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle, and George Cubbins played off each other and balanced each other out very well. Characters can make or break a story for me, and I'm glad to say that I liked all of these.
Lockwood is the leader: calm, collected, and charismatic, he's almost instantly likeable. Some hints to a tragic past. Sees "death-glows", energy traces left at the place where a death took place.
Lucy, the narrator, has a particular talent for hearing the ghosts, though she seems to be developing some other skills as well. Plainspoken, a bit sarcastic, tries to act tougher than she sometimes is. I found her a good choice to guide the reader; she's interesting, but relatable enough to help you feel comfortable in the story world.
George is mostly intelligence: he researches the cases they take and prepares the team with information. He also has some truly wonderful snarky and sarcastic comments, and a fondness for donuts. (George's sass <3)
Content: A few mild swears. There were several scary bits, which is to be expected, but I found it to be more of an exciting, edge-of-your-seat sort of scary than an unpleasant, "crap-now-I-can't-sleep-without-the-light-on" sort of scary. Still, there is some pretty creepy imagery, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a young or sensitive kid. It all depends on what you're used to, I guess. (Me, I tend to be a bit of a wimp when it comes to scary stuff, but nothing in here bothered me too much, and I read quite a bit of it downstairs by the fire while everyone else was asleep. So.)
All in all, I really enjoyed this one, and I'm glad I edged out of my comfort zone enough to give it a try. I'm definitely going to read the next book.