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aa_wilkerson 's review for:
Skulduggery Pleasant
by Derek Landy
When 12-year-old Stephanie's famous uncle dies, she is shocked to find that he has left his fortune and his house to her. But trouble ensues when she stays at the house by herself, and she soon finds herself plunged into a magical underworld she never knew existed. Luckily, her uncle's good friend Skulduggery Pleasant--a witty detective and walking skeleton--is there to help her find the answers she seeks.
Skulduggery Pleasant is a horror story, but also a story with a new and refreshing take on the age-old plotline of a hidden magical world beneath our own. Landy doesn't mess around here--the violence is scary, people get hurt, and magic is serious business. But the whole thing keeps from getting too heavy because it's all accompanied by a fairly large dose of humor. Stephanie and Skulduggery are an excellent buddy cop pair.
The only real issue that I had with this book was that while Stephanie is smart, independent, and brave (all while still being believable! Hooray!), every time you turn around she's in mortal danger and in desperate need of saving. At first this makes sense, since magic and the dangers of the magical world are new to her. But after a while, I started to get a little irritated. I was hoping that at least by the end of the story she'd prove capable of taking care of herself, but she doesn't quite get there by the end of this one(maybe in the sequels?).I almost started to feel like maybe Stephanie was just a walking liability for Skulduggery....almost, but not quite.
Over all, I found this to be a very enjoyable read. I would recommend it to people who like Percy Jackson (Riordan), The Graveyard Book (Gaiman), and Ghost Knight (Funke).
Skulduggery Pleasant is a horror story, but also a story with a new and refreshing take on the age-old plotline of a hidden magical world beneath our own. Landy doesn't mess around here--the violence is scary, people get hurt, and magic is serious business. But the whole thing keeps from getting too heavy because it's all accompanied by a fairly large dose of humor. Stephanie and Skulduggery are an excellent buddy cop pair.
The only real issue that I had with this book was that while Stephanie is smart, independent, and brave (all while still being believable! Hooray!), every time you turn around she's in mortal danger and in desperate need of saving. At first this makes sense, since magic and the dangers of the magical world are new to her. But after a while, I started to get a little irritated. I was hoping that at least by the end of the story she'd prove capable of taking care of herself, but she doesn't quite get there by the end of this one(maybe in the sequels?).I almost started to feel like maybe Stephanie was just a walking liability for Skulduggery....almost, but not quite.
Over all, I found this to be a very enjoyable read. I would recommend it to people who like Percy Jackson (Riordan), The Graveyard Book (Gaiman), and Ghost Knight (Funke).