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A review by zeenovos
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
5.0
So I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by Rupert Degas, and before I get into a summary and my thoughts on the book, I have got to say that his narration was absolutely stellar and I really, really enjoyed his voice for Skulduggery. When I’m listening to audiobooks, the narration and character voices are very important to me and have to feel like they work for the characters and story, otherwise I find myself unable to listen because it just bothers me. But whoa, something about the voice for Skulduggery really works for me and I enjoy listening to him speaking very much. Kind of like how I really liked listening to Bigby in The Wolf Among Us. So when Skulduggery said something really really good I’d just…. rewind it a few times.
Anyway! Gordon Edgeley was a horror writer, and when he died he left a few things to his brothers and their wives and a piece of advice to an old friend, but to his favourite niece? He left his estate and his money. Stephanie Edgeley isn’t sure what she’s going to do with the estate, but she takes the first opportunity to stay there by herself while her mom gets the car fixed. And that’s when things go strange. She gets a phone call from someone demanding a key, and they want to know her name. When she refuses to tell, the man shows up and breaks in and is going to kill her, only the strange man from the funeral and the will reading, Skulduggery Pleasant, blows the door off its hinges and comes to her rescue. And in the process of rescuing her it’s revealed that he is a living skeleton. It turns out he’s also a detective, and he is already certain he knows who sent the man that attacked her. To try and get confirmation they go to a woman named China Sorrows, and I already knew I was enjoying the dialogue of the book but oh man. When they go to see China, Skulduggery tells Stephanie to wait in the car while he goes in. She waits two seconds before unlocking the door and getting out, and Skulduggery says he can’t help but feel she’s undermining his authority. Her simple reply is ‘yes’, and he says ‘okay then’ before they both go inside.
The book is a mixture of horror and comedy and adventure and drama and it’s fantastic – why did I not find this book when I was younger? I’d have been obsessed, it would have been one of my great literary loves of my youth along with Redwall and Warriors and Bartimaeus and Harry Potter and the Abhorsen Trilogy. You want vampires? You’ve got them, they’re night guards for a museum and they can’t be killed with sunlight or a stake, only with a lot of bullets which Skulduggery forgot to bring along for their spot of crime. Secret identities? Absolutely necessary because everyone has three names and if someone knows the second when you don’t have the third, they can influence you. If they’ve got your first? They’ve got total control of you. Witty, hilarious main characters? Refer to the titular character himself. You want strong writing that ensnares you? Look no further. This book was just so full of so many amazing moments and so much good suspense and I love it! And I especially love how Stephanie chooses to continue trusting that Skulduggery would look out for her even when others try to tell her he won’t. Also, I love the tailor and I’m concerned for his future. And Tanith’s wish for a little sister, along with Stephanie’s liking the idea of an older sister, and all of their not-about-to-be-killed moments were just so pure and lovely.
This book got an award for being the Irish book of the decade and I can see why. I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone who likes the worlds of Harry Potter, Bartimaeus, Sabriel, or Miss Peregrine. It’s fantastic and deserves to be given at least a cursory try. 10/10, would give up an extra half hour of sleep to finish it again. It's definitely one of my favourite books of the year so far.
Anyway! Gordon Edgeley was a horror writer, and when he died he left a few things to his brothers and their wives and a piece of advice to an old friend, but to his favourite niece? He left his estate and his money. Stephanie Edgeley isn’t sure what she’s going to do with the estate, but she takes the first opportunity to stay there by herself while her mom gets the car fixed. And that’s when things go strange. She gets a phone call from someone demanding a key, and they want to know her name. When she refuses to tell, the man shows up and breaks in and is going to kill her, only the strange man from the funeral and the will reading, Skulduggery Pleasant, blows the door off its hinges and comes to her rescue. And in the process of rescuing her it’s revealed that he is a living skeleton. It turns out he’s also a detective, and he is already certain he knows who sent the man that attacked her. To try and get confirmation they go to a woman named China Sorrows, and I already knew I was enjoying the dialogue of the book but oh man. When they go to see China, Skulduggery tells Stephanie to wait in the car while he goes in. She waits two seconds before unlocking the door and getting out, and Skulduggery says he can’t help but feel she’s undermining his authority. Her simple reply is ‘yes’, and he says ‘okay then’ before they both go inside.
The book is a mixture of horror and comedy and adventure and drama and it’s fantastic – why did I not find this book when I was younger? I’d have been obsessed, it would have been one of my great literary loves of my youth along with Redwall and Warriors and Bartimaeus and Harry Potter and the Abhorsen Trilogy. You want vampires? You’ve got them, they’re night guards for a museum and they can’t be killed with sunlight or a stake, only with a lot of bullets which Skulduggery forgot to bring along for their spot of crime. Secret identities? Absolutely necessary because everyone has three names and if someone knows the second when you don’t have the third, they can influence you. If they’ve got your first? They’ve got total control of you. Witty, hilarious main characters? Refer to the titular character himself. You want strong writing that ensnares you? Look no further. This book was just so full of so many amazing moments and so much good suspense and I love it! And I especially love how Stephanie chooses to continue trusting that Skulduggery would look out for her even when others try to tell her he won’t. Also, I love the tailor and I’m concerned for his future. And Tanith’s wish for a little sister, along with Stephanie’s liking the idea of an older sister, and all of their not-about-to-be-killed moments were just so pure and lovely.
This book got an award for being the Irish book of the decade and I can see why. I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone who likes the worlds of Harry Potter, Bartimaeus, Sabriel, or Miss Peregrine. It’s fantastic and deserves to be given at least a cursory try. 10/10, would give up an extra half hour of sleep to finish it again. It's definitely one of my favourite books of the year so far.