A review by merrrry
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

adventurous fast-paced

4.0

Started reading this immediately after bingeing the show so I went in already liking the world and characters. Due to primacy bias, I actually liked the show more than this first book. I definitely liked the second half of the show a lot more than the first half though, so I’ll have to read the second book to really say. I was surprised how different the characterizations of Lockwood and George going from the show to the book. Lockwood’s main flaw that we focused on in the show was his desire to gain notoriety for his company. Taking on risky cases recklessly. I really liked how that played off his confidence in his team though, and it is a great plot device for getting the crew into dire situations. Most of this trait was missing from the novel. Lockwood is a lot more considerate and mature, which was nice, but a little boring. George is also very different. He comes off as reserved and endearing in the show, whereas in the book makes him a lot more abrasive and less nerdy somehow. They also call George fat a lot which was… a choice. It gave me lowkey Dudley vibes. I’d also say that I prefer Detective Barnes in the show so far — he hasn’t gotten much screen time in the first book though so we’ll see. Characterizations aside, I enjoyed everything else that was going on in the book. Despite knowing the plot from the show, it was still fun to follow the squad through the investigation again in written form. The descriptions were fun and some of the banter was cute. I also did have a lot of fun just seeing what changes the show made, so I will definitely be continuing the series :)