Book Review: The King of Crows by Libba Bray

After all these ghosts, are we ever never haunted?

After the horrifying explosion that claimed one of their own, the Diviners find themselves wanted by the US government, and on the brink of war with the King of Crows.

While Memphis and Isaiah run for their lives from the mysterious Shadow Men, Isaiah receives a startling vision of a girl, Sarah Beth Olson, who could shift the balance in their struggle for peace. Sarah Beth says she knows how to stop the King of Crows-but, she will need the Diviners' help to do it.

Elsewhere, Jericho has returned after his escape from Jake Marlowe's estate, where he has learned the shocking truth behind the King of Crow's plans. Now, the Diviners must travel to Bountiful, Nebraska, in hopes of joining forces with Sarah Beth and to stop the King of Crows and his army of the dead forever.

But as rumors of towns becoming ghost towns and the dead developing unprecedented powers begin to surface, all hope seems to be lost.

In this sweeping finale, The Diviners will be forced to confront their greatest fears and learn to rely on one another if they hope to save the nation, and world from catastrophe...

Back for the fourth and final book of The Diviners series by Libba Bray. I have only reviewed the even number of the series, it was not a conscious decision, just happens to be the ones I have received e-arcs of. I have given each book in the series 4/5 stars, so the average is pretty easy to figure out. In summary, I have liked all the books but had minor issues with them and was excited to see how this series finished. I'm gonna write this review on the basis that you have read the last three books, so expect spoilers for those but as always I will avoid spoilers for the actual book I'm reviewing.

They are a lot of major characters in this series, and Bray does handle the challenge well. This time the characters are forced to split up meaning that we get a lot of new interactions between characters that have not spent a lot of alone time with each other through the series.

Ling is the character I relate to the most being an asexual Disabled character, having a disabled character in a world where she could have been healed, has always been a little weird, but I have always been glad she wasn't magically clued as that is a hurtful trope when comes to disability. I mean I guess if she had been born with a disability instead of gaining one from illness, then she could not have been healed. For some reason, I felt more for her in this book, and I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm just feeling more sensitive than a few months ago when I read the third book. This book series continues to be Diverse and I think done well. I wish more books were like this, a Diverse group of people fighting ghosts; or more likely trying to save the day.

I ended up listening to the audiobook of this book like I consumed the last book in the series. I'm not been doing a lot of physical reading lately (finally getting back to reading my e-arcs) and being really excited for this book I ended up getting the audiobook once I had been missed the released date. The audiobook as read by January LaVoy is great and a good way to consume this book.

My only complaint is that pacing in the middle was a bit slow, but I also understand why it ended up that way. It just seemed very slow re-pacing to the main action.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Black Feathers. A satisfying end for this story and characters. They were things I wish we knew more about but I get that realistically not everything can be explored especially when we have so many major characters. This is a great series about ghosts literal and historical. Honestly, I'm not sure how to review the last book in series.

Read: 10/2/2020 to 8/2/2020
Reviewed: 12/2/2020
Published Date: 4th February 2020
Publisher: Atom
Source: Netgalley/Audible
I received this book as an e-arc from the Publisher for free, my reviews are always honest and my own opinion.
Content Warning for Book: Domestic Abuse; Death; Death of children; racism; hate crimes;

Book Review: The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton

CW: Forced Prostitution mentioned; Threat of Violence; Suspensus Baby Deaths mentioned; Child Abuse; Death of a Parent/s; Accidental Deaths; World War II; Homeness from bombing;

The Attic will keep you safe.

My real name, no one remembers.
The truth about that summer, no one else knows.

In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor in rural Oxfordshire. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins.

Over 150 years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river.

Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?

Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker's Daughter is a story of murder, mystery and thievery, of art, love and loss. And flowing through its pages like a river, is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history, but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker’s daughter.

This book leaps through time all surrounding this house slash the ghost who haunts it. Though, we start with archivist whose marrying someone she clearly doesn't like. Mainly it's the house and the ghost haunting it Birdie, who had a sad life and now has a sad afterlife. The end. Okay, there' s more to it that. This is about the mystery about who Birdie was and how she died.

My library has this as Historical Fiction > Crime & Thriller, I guess because there don't have mystery section in the Historical bit for some reason. It's a mystery. Crimes happened, not thrilling at all. Aren't genres a beautiful weird thing. It's very slow-paced.

No idea why they went for this title. Yes, her father is a clockmaker but it's not really a big deal. He's not really ever in the book. There are no scenes with him, and him being a clockmaker plays a very small part of the book. It would be like if someone called my life story the Taxi Driver's Child despite dealing with my life now when both of my parents are no longer Taxi drivers.

The ending was kinda asinine. Obviously, with Birdie being a ghost you know she has to die at some point but the way it happens feels so forced, especially with no one realising what is going on. It feels like Morton decided how she wanted the book to go, but then half-arsed.

Her name is made to be such a big deal and it's never revealed publically despite one the character discovering it. Instead, it ends with a weak thing about how cheating is complicated. Sure, in the Victorian times where marriages were mostly about power. A lot of characters end up injured with no memory of how they ended up that way. How convenient.

I'm not gonna lie, I kinda got bored during the end of this, during the kinda epilogue bit. They are so many characters of characters and time periods. This is a long book at 17 Hours 3 minutes, so you do spend a big chunk with all of them. The question is why though? There's no meaningful link up. I thought the book would have ended differently, which would have been more satisfying.

I listened to the audiobook as read by Joanne Froggatt. She does a decent job. Googling her lead me to find out there are only 16 episodes of Dinner Ladies. Watching things randomly on Gold sure leads you to think there's more of something than there really is. 

Overall, I gave this book 3/5 stars for Plotful Head-injuries. This book is frustratingly lacklustre at the end. There are questions left in the air that don't make sense at all. 

Released: 1 October 2018

Read 15 January 2020, Reviewed January 2020.

Source: Library

Book Review: The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud

Yeah, that Unicorn thing was a mess.

After their recent escapades, Lockwood & Co deserve a well-earned break...so naturally they decide to break into the country's most heavily-guarded crypt.

What they discover will change everything.

So begins a race to uncover the truth behind 'the Problem' 
-igniting an epic battle against the Fittes agency. A battle that will force the team to journey to the Other Side, and pit them against the most terrifying enemy they have ever faced.

Not everyone will make it out alive...

This is the fifth and last book in the Lockwood & Co series. If you're reading the review, I presumed you've read the four other books or don't care if you're spoiled for those books, I am going to spoil past books in this review. I have reviews of all books on here so check them out instead if that's not here for that.

This book takes place five months after the last book, starts with them breaking and entering. Kipps is just here now.

This case of escapist, turned soul sucking ghost was cool. I liked her, it of course gave room for girl hate because she was hot. "Can't find the quote. I must rage without documenting it. Now I can't like Holly either.

The body shaming continues in general. There are constant comments about George's body. Basically George is fat and disgusting, that what we are repeatedly told. We also have Holly being shamed for liking healthy foods. This is just a continued thing, the only "growth" is now Holly will eat donuts if pressured. Banter is definitely a thing, but they're always focused on George. They don't even mock Kipps as much in this book, with him having more page time. Basically, it's mixed messages and it's gets hella stale after 2500 pages of it. Well, 500 pages were definitely enough for it to be stale. The fat shaming continues with Mr Tufnell, this book's customer. Every single customer in this series was terrible if they were for the main case, maybe except for the first one when they burnt down their house. Mr Tufnell is fat and eats all the cake.

There is part in this book where the time gets messed up, so that Lucy can feel sad about her non-existent sisters: "My sister Mary gave me the money to make one go once...'
 'Didn't know you had a sister, the skull said.
'I've got six.' I didn't mention that I hadn't seen any of them for years; that only Mary still wrote to me from the north of England. I tried to ignore the dull pang that accompanied the thought."
Time for A maths game of timelines: The second book is seven months after the first.
I don't think the third book has stated amount of months but it's probably three months, the second book takes place in summer and we at the start of the Black Winter so it could be shorter or longer, but it's between two and four months so let's just with three.  Meaning that the Lucy is 10 months into her time at Lockwood & Co. It's doesn't really matter, but what does matter is this is the book where Holly is hired while Lucy is visiting family.

The fourth book four months after the third, so with the five being five months meaning that Lucy last saw at least some of her sisters nine months ago so not even a single year ago. I guess as we never saw anything from that visit, but I'm certain she mentions her strain relation with her siblings then. There are other thing we count too.

Lucy is fourteen at the start of the series. Lockwood and George are like fifteen. So are like fifteen and sixteen unless years are randomly skipped in the second books, making Holly two years older being 18 years old when she is introduced. Kipps is in his twenties at the start of the series and is  stated to be 22 in this book, meaning that two years is all the time that these books can take place in, meaning that Lucy has has not even lived years years without her sisters. Yes, she could be exaggerating, but she would be exaggerating if she said she hadn't seen any of them in year. Lucy doesn't even mention her sister in the last book or the second, they literally only show up for background and plot, and yet Stroud can't even tract that. Lucy doesn't give care about her sisters. She doesn't even think about them when Lockwood tells her about his dead sister. Anyway, this is just a very long way of saying this bullshit. Obviously, there is also the time the books themselves take place (though the seven months of the first might be Lucy joint date). Let's give two months for the books themselves before the fifth book for case time, and we have twenty-one months a.k.a. a year and nine months. Maybe you want to add another month to that case time, but it's still not even twos years.

This is just a very long way of saying that you have to set up relationships, maybe even name her sisters or family. Or just stick to her being closed to the only named sister she has. I don't own the books, so I'm reliant on my memory and reviews, with some internet checking for this timeline. It's probably best because that was probably too much effect for this bit already.

So now Holly Munro who has darker skin than every other character (it's never more specific, she has smooth hair so it could mean a lot of things), was introduce Three books in, to cause a wedge in the group, cause Lucy be jealous that maybe Lockwood would want an older women, but fear not. Lockwood is not her "type" and there are other options, she also shares a flat with another girl. There is so many things. Well, having diversity is automatically great right? No, not when diversity is literally a single person who never clarified, just ambiguous. Sure, this is a kids book (with Late teens and twenty-somethings characters ), but better rep exists in the same age group. Holly being gay feels like it so she doesn't get in the way of the other ships, because Lockwood and Lucy being endgame.
Also Holly was into Lucy going off the last book, not sure why she would still be at that points since Lucy is a troll, not in appearance, but in soul. Falling in Lust with terrible straight people is totally a thing for gay girls, but come on Holly, Lucy would have to be supermodel hot for that to happen, or Holly needs psychological help. The main issue is Holly Munro is the constant token.

The world building is interesting, but certainly isn't perfect. I mean we did never learn why the evil company decided to have a unicorn for symbol. I guess shitty world building and the whole Great Britain Crest thing. Though, what was with the Lamps as symbol as well.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Deadly Magic. The Plot and the world is still majorly better than the characters. Though, a bit rushed and not fully answered questions that I would have liked. The characters are such major pain and so samely the more time I spent with them, they're be tolerable if they were just bland, instead of Arseholes. Once again this children series where I wouldn't give them to children. I mean if grown arse adult capable of questioning characters' shitty behaviour, why not read this series?

I will be back with a video review of all the whole series. It will be doubtfully be fun.

Quotes:
P11, "Like the rest of us, she was in stealth mode: she had her long dark hair clipped back in a ponytail, and wore a zip-up top, skirt and leggings. I could go on about how well the all-black get-up suited her, but why bother? With Holly, that was a given. If she'd gone around wearing nothing but a dustbin suspended from her shoulders by a pair of spotty braces, she'd have somehow made it look svelte."

Page 13, "'You've heard of racism. You've heard of Sexism. Well, this is skullism, pure and simple. You're judging me by my outward appearance. You doing my word solely because I'm a skull lurking in a jar of slime-green plasm. Admit it!'" The skull is meant to be a bad person but someone sat down and wrote this.

Page 75,"[George speaking] 'Holly, you look upset. Crack those doughnuts open.'
'Thanks, I'll have an apple.'
He shook his head sadly. 'You've got to learn that when you're stressed, an apple doesn't cut it... I feel quite shaken myself, come to think of it.' His eyes flitted to the sideboard.
'Yes, grab the plates, George,' Lockwood said. 'We'll all have one.
And we all did, even Holly. George was wise in such matters: a doughnut was a good corrective".

Page 78-79, "Holly met it as she did all obstacles: with brisk efficiency that looked a problem in the eye and didn't blink. Whether it was breaking into the Fittes Mausoleum or standing up to interrogation in the street, she always maintained her trademark Munro cool. It was hard to imagine her ever losing this quality, and somehow, despite everything, that made me confident that nothing really dreadful could or would happen in this world. Her unflappable demeanour used to make me seethe, yet now I found it a source of reassurance. Come what may, I knew Holly's hair would swish like gossamer as she walked; her clothes would flow effortlessly round her curves; her skin would glow with that same coffee-coloured lustre that spoke of close association with mineral water and green-been salads, and contrasted, reprovingly, with my famous burger-and-biscuit complexion. No, Holly would always be the same, and that made me happy." Okay, but she still obsessed with the way Holly looks. She goes on discrible George and "His doughy, featureless face lacked signposts to a personality, let alone a strong opinion." So he looks stupid but isn't, is her whole point.

P169, "My sister Mary gave me the money to make one go once...'
 'Didn't know you had a sister, the skull said.
'I've got six.' I didn't mention that I hadn't seen any of them for years; that only Mary still wrote to me from the north of England. I tried to ignore the dull pang that accompanied the thought." Okay Holly shows up in the third book, and was hired when Lucy had went to visit family including sisters meaning that she has seen some of them less than a year.

P314, "From the expression on her face I expected trade-mark Flo diatribe at this point, but she just went quiet, nodded and slipped away into the garden. When Lockwood really wanted something, it was very hard for anyone to say no."

P318, "The basement had long been our main concern, Again, the front of the house was theoretically vulnerable. It was true that our office window opened directly onto the sunken yard below our front door. Steps led down here from the gate and, though dead plants in big pots filled the space, intruders easily reach the windows. However, after a burglary years before, we had added iron bars to these, and it was hard to see how they could be bypassed. This meant we all focus our attention on the back.
At the rear of the office, past the rapier practice room, the storeroom and the laundry room, you came to back door. It was made of glass, and opened straight onto the grass of the garden. Of all parts of the house, this door was the weakest point. Kipps put a series Of boards across the opening, but we doubted they'd survive."

Page 326, "'Anything would be better than getting chopped into pieces by a group of smelly relic-men,' Kipps said. 'No offence intended there, Flo - you've a girl. Come on, Lockwood - what's the plan?'

Page 354, "'Oh, don't worry about that. We've talked about that before.' She pushed her hair back from her face. 'I'm sure I was an utter pain as well. Anyway, it must have been odd, having me show up.'
'It was a bit, but—'
'But you needn't have worried.' She smiled at me. 'Funnily enough, Lockwood isn't actually my type.'
In my embarrassment, I'm not sure quite what expression was right then, though I doubt the eerie glow in the room made it massively attractive. It was sufficient to make Holly laugh. She moved to look through another spy-hole at the far end of the window, which gave a different angle on the garden.
'Don't look so shocked, Lucy,' she said. 'I know how you feel about him. But, if anything, I had my eye on someone else.'
'Good God, you don't mean George?'
Holly laughed again; her eyes sparkled as she glanced at me sidelong. 'You must know there are other possibilities in this world,' The smile faded, her body tensed. 'Hold it — we've got company out there.' "

"She likes having her own place. Did you know she got a flatmate? A girl who works at the DEPRAC. That was news to me.' Lockwood about Holly.

Book Review:The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud

It's always the stairs.

Phantoms in your Attic? Spectres by your Bed? Never fear - Lockwood & Co. are here!

A terrible new outbreak of ghosts is causing chaos across London. With the authorities baffled, psychic investigators Lockwood, Lucy and George see a fresh chance for fame and glory.

But countless horror await them: bloody footprints on a spiral stair, murderous ambushes in the night - and, waiting at the centre of the outbreak, the most fearful apparition of all.

This the third book in the Lockwood and Co series (reviews of the previous novels here).  This book is told reflectively so we know something is up.

This book was really hard to get through because we had a new girl character introduced and Lucy is toxic piece of shit that needs both a slapping and a talking to about how girls are your friends, not threats and they can be more than one girl in a group. I know Lucy has been established as being Dick to everyone whose not Lockwood, but the girl hate is just the worst. It was there is the past book but it goes up a notion in this one as it becomes part of the plot. Also this written by man, who has dedicated the last two books to pairs of girls, so what are trying to do with this Stroud? Also it awkward especially as Holly is described as having "caramel" skin so is the first person of colour described and her main function is to create a wedge in the dynamics of the company. Also for Lucy to be a dick to her.

Just the way Lucy talks about other girls is terrible, but her fixuation with Holly gives so many gems: "I was fine with Holly. Really I was. So she was well proportioned. So her hair was all glossy. So she looked as if her lips had never been the wrong side of a second doughnut in her life. What was any of that to me? I didn't care one bit. She wasn't perfect by any means. Probably, for example, if I'd thought hard enough about it, I could have found something flawed about the width of her thighs." and "Lockwood remained distinctly chilly towards over sandwiches and biscuits. Holly's presence unsettled me. She was at once submissive and assertive, her inexperience overlapping with her smooth self-confidence. Both these aspects, in different ways, contrived to snare Lockwood's attention. It left me out on a limb, feeling awkward and exposed." There's so much that I gave up quoting this stuff. It's lot of projecting from Lucy, and then there's oddstuff like Holly apparently having small feet which a weird observation when Lucy is avenge height with avenge size feet.

You can have characters that have flaws and are unlikable, that doesn't make a bad book, but this book about actual ghost hunting. What is the point? I think Lucy is meant to have a growth during this novel, but I'm not completely sure what it's meant to be. There is one thing Holly does is kinda messed up: "She may have made great sandwiches, she may have had small feet, but at least I could console myself that Holly Munro was desk-bound. She didn't wear a rapier. She didn't do what I did, going out nightly and risking her life to save London. This knowledge enabled me to hold it together when I got home to discover she'd been into my bedroom and, in a spasm of brisk officiousness, tidied all my clothes." Lucy being annoyed at Holly being in her room without permission and her stuff is the only thing that Holly does, to justify pages of hate towards her but the pages started as soon as Lucy sees Holly. Her annoyance at Holly being hired without her being present is also justified but she never annoyed at Lockwood or George who did it.

I went to GoodReads to see what other people were saying, it was mainly that they don't want Holly to get between Lucy and Lockwood because they're shipped them together where as I hope everyone in Lockwood & Co all get ghost touched except Holly. Holly can go join a girl gang of agencies. Or get a job that will last her into adulthood. Basically, it's cermets that this bad for humans as it only enforces bad thoughts. This is so far into the series as well by this point and it's just not done well even Lucy is meant to be learning not to be a dick.

So the plot, besides the characters being bland and mean to each other, was fine. Conspiracy and Privilege. There's been unusually extreme activity in a Chelsea so all the other agencies are dealing with that while Lockwood moans about having ton of business while not being in the news which is Lockwood's defining trait. Always. Not the mysterious aspect that meant to be it, there's also plot stuff about that too.

Wanting to be in the news to drummed up customers makes senses but just dickish when have more business than you can safely handle. Okay, I'll stop talking about the characters now. There's is actually an interesting idea/story going on underneath this all, which is why it's such a shame.

I like the world building for the most part but there's this weird, probably ill-informed choice of what the main agency in this world use as their symbols: "At head of line the out in red and silver, the of Above it, bobbing gently against the darkened sky, hung vast helium balloons, firmly cabled — a unicorn and a rampant lion, the symbols of Fittes and Rotwell respectively." An example of shitty world building where someone doesn't know what the lion and the unicorn from the royal crest means: The Unicorn equals Scotland; the Lion equals England. Going off what's hinted in this book, this could get hella problematic. It meant not be thing, but I still think it's pretty lazy and gives association to two specific countries without much thought or intention. Rotwell who use the lion, also use the colour red so hella English representation there. Gold might have been a better colour choice or yellow. A lion is also on the Royal flag of Scotland, but still using the national animals of two countries that have a fought history is not the best choice. Basically, Stroud this is something you should have googled.

Overall, 3/5 stars for GirlHate Trash. The characters are all trash. That's the defining thing in this novel of the series. It's true for the whole of the series so far. Maybe we're have some magical growth but who knows. I still like the world, and the writing is decent. The characters choices are the worst. The main thing is that it's not fun. Some of the book relays on you caring about the characters and I just really don't. Also I would officially not let a children read this because not enough is done to show that Lucy is being a unreasonable dick and we're three books in a five book series (Pretty sure it's finished now), there's so media that enforcing this toxic mentality and I'm not here for it.
 
Quotes
(I even have the ones that don't make Lucy as complete dick, but then she goes there afterwards.)

Page 16, "I'm just under five foot six inches tall, have hair the colour of a walnut coffin, and wear size six ectoplasm-proof boots."

 Page 19, "Inside it, floating in green liquid, was a leering face. And I don't mean nicely leering." What do you think 'Leering' means Lucy? Just looking at someone.

Page 121, "I was fine with Holly. Really I was. So she was well proportioned. So her hair was all glossy. So she looked as if her lips had never been the wrong side of a second doughnut in her life. What was any of that to me? I didn't care one bit. She wasn't perfect by any means. Probably, for example, if I'd thought hard enough about it, I could have found something flawed about the width of her thighs. But I didn't need to. None of that was important. I was an agent. I had other things to do."

Page ?, "I mean, they're servants. Servants and children. I don't pay to indulge in squealing hysterics. She glared around, as if daring any of us to disagree. As I met her glaze, I took away the impression of a humourless, rather unintelligent person, for whom only prim correctness and snobbery kept of world at bay. That's what I picked up from a quick look in her eyes, anyhow. No doubt she thought I was great.
Lockwood wore his gentle, placatory face, which he often used on Whitechapel housewives. 'I entirely understand,' he said. 'Perhaps you had better tell us all about it from the beginning.' He lifted his hand as if to pat her reassuringly on 'the knee, but then thought better of it.
'Very well,' Miss Wintergarden said."

Page 160, "Lockwood shook his head. 'Actually, we don't really know one way or the other. We've got to be careful with all Visitors. I don't care if a ghost's friendly, or needy, or just wants a big cuddle, We keep it at a safe distance. All the big agencies follow that policy, Holly says.' I didn't intend to be angry. Basically I knew that Lockwood was right. But my emotions felt stretched right then; it had been a long night - and, back at Portland Row, a long few days. 'This ghost is a serving boy- a lad being chased to his death!' I snapped, 'l saw him as he passed; he running for life, I don't shrug at me like that! He was so desperate. We've got to feel sympathy for him.' That was a mistake - I knew it at once.
A light in Lockwood's eyes flicked out,his voice was cold. 'Lucy, I don't have sympathy for any of them.'
Which, lets face it, was a bit of a conversation killer."

Page 161, "She may have made great sandwiches, she may have had small feet, but at least I could console myself that Holly Munro was desk-bound. She didn't wear a rapier. She didn't do what I did, going out nightly and risking her life to save London. This knowledge enabled me to hold it together when I got home to discover she'd been into my bedroom and, in a spasm of brisk officiousness, tidied all my clothes.
I meant to mention it to her (calmly, politely, in that way we had) the following morning, but it slipped my mind."

Page 177, " Holly and I stood facing each other down the hall. She had that little smile on; the default one that might mean anything or nothing."

Page 177 to 178, "Where had she got the gloves from? They looked suspiciously like the spare ones that I kept in my weapons locker. I recognized the sword for sure: it was one of the old blades we used for practice in the rapier room.[reasonable explanation] I offered to come along and he's found a few things to make sure I'm protected and warm. I hope you don't mind this, Lucy.'
'No, not at all,' I said. Why should I mind? It was just like her to assume that I had some problem with it.'"

Page 183, "Lockwood remained distinctly chilly towards over sandwiches and biscuits. Holly's presence unsettled me. She was at once submissive and assertive, her inexperience overlapping with her smooth self-confidence. Both these aspects, in different ways, contrived to snare Lockwood's attention. It left me out on a limb, feeling awkward and exposed."
"Part of me knew that I was being unreasonable. Nothing Lockwood was doing was essentially wrong. But the rightful pattern of events — of him and me working side by side had been disrupted and my disapproval chafed at my belly, as if I'd swallowed a bucketful of sharp stones."

Page 184, " Oh, sure, he was charming enough when he wanted to be. But it meant nothing. You could see it in his behaviour now, the ease with which he mollycoddled his new assistant, while turning his back on me. [No George or Skull.] There was nobody here to talk too I was entirely alone... I shook the self-pity away. No, I was being stupid. Lockwood's behaviour didn't mean anything. I turned the lantern up a notch and opened the book. I didn't care. Even so, black thoughts lingered over me as I began to read."

Page 193, " My fingers were too numb, the wood too smooth. I began to slip...
Then my wrists were firmly caught, and there was Holly Munro bracing herself against the banister and calling out, and here was George flinging himself alongside her, grabbing at my arms and pulling; and together, not gently, like fishermen dragging in a catch, they scooped and gathered me in slow, ignominious stages, up and over onto the landing.
Where I saw Lockwood lying face down on the boards." This is Holly saving Lucy's life. Lockwood is dead and forever a ghost that haunts them.

Page 208, "'Wrong!' The voice spoke with sudden passion. 'She's a cuckoo in your nest! She's an interloper in the nice little kingdom you've made your own. And she knows it. She loves the effect she's having on you. That kind always does.'
'Yeah, well.' I groaned and rolled into a sitting position on the side of the bed, 'She saved my life last night.'
It chuckled again. 'Big deal. We've all done that. Lockwood. Cubbins. There's me, of course; I've saved you lots of times.' 
'I was talking to a ghost. I got so obsessed with it I threw away my defences. Holly saved me. And that means,' I went on doggedly, 'that I'm OK with her now. Understand? You don't need to go on about her. It's not a problem any more.'
'In fact, who hasn't saved your bacon ? I expect even old Arif at the corner shop's done it once or twice, you're that hapless.'
I threw a sock at the jar. 'Shut up!'

Page 226? "At head of line the out in red and silver, the of Above it, bobbing gently against the darkened sky, hung vast helium balloons, firmly cabled — a unicorn and a rampant lion, the symbols of Fittes and Rotwell respectively."

Page 289, "Kate Godwin was just as stiff as I'd been when I first meeting Holly; our assistant seemed to affect girls that way."

I give up quoting the girlhate bull.

Book Review: The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

"Problem is: you're stupid, Lucy." I can't help but agree.


Ghosts and Ghouls beware!
The Smallest, shabbiest, most talented
phychic detection agency is back. 

There are strange things happening at one of  London's biggest cemeteries. A sinister coffin has been opened and a terrible phantom set free. 

When Lockwood & Co. investigate, they discover a dangerous relic has been stolen - and it's a race against time before its full power is unleashed...

This is the second book in the Lockwood & Co series and takes place seven months after the first, which I was surprised by considering they is a limited time where they will be able to fight ghosts.

Okay, Lucy becomes real unlikable right at the start of the book with the amount of girl hate she has, this was in the first book, but it's worst in this one: on page 20 she says this about a "She was Blonde, slim and pouty, which would have given me three reasons to dislike her even if she'd been a sweet lass who spent her free time tending poorly hedgehogs." So Lucy doesn't like stereotypical good looking girls, though "She was good-looking, though her jaw was a bit too sharp. If she’d repeatedly fallen over while crossing soft ground, you could have sewn a crop of beans in the chin-holes she left behind." Now this isn't the only description that Lucy gives about someone of her gender: "I also noted a posse of teenage girls, whose shapeless floaty dresses, black eyeliner, outsize bangles and lank armpit-length hair marked them out as Sensitives, Sensitives do psychic work, but refuse to ever actually fight ghosts for pacifist principle. They generally as dippy as summer cold and as irritating as nettle rash. We don't normally get on."

I have issues with the idea of the Sensitives as well, but this tops it off for me: "You miss'- he turned to the Senstive - 'you've clearly had a terrible experience. Are you able to tell me about it?'
This was classic Lockwood. Friendly, considerate, empathetic. My personal impulse would have been to slap the girl soundly around the face and boot her moaning backside out into the night. Which is why he's the leader, and I'm not. Also why I have no female friends". So you're saying all girls are like this. Is Lucy not a girl? I'm mean she could be Trans Boy and not realised, but I don't think that where this series is going. Still hella sexist either way.

You can be a tom-boy without hating on other girls. The thing is Stroud is not a woman, therefore it's not him accidentality giving a character the same trait he has, I guess he could hate stereotypical pretty feminine girls, which if so he should work on that. This is him choosing for Lucy to be against her own gender. This is kinda Society is bullshit where girls are encouraged abandoned feminine quality to fit in with boys, instead of just liking what you like. Everyone is socialised to dislike stereotypical feminine qualities, it's bullshit but it's also hella damaging because it's leads to people denying who they are. So not great for children to be reading.

Also this book is aimed at children, where they not at a stage necessary to question Society's bullshit and I think Lucy is meant to be relatable with this trait, instead of it being a major character flaw. This is the second book and it's only reinforced instead of questioned. Also they no other girl character to really go against this trait. There is no Buffy or Phryne Fisher. You can be a girly girl, nice and a bad arse. There are other female characters introduced, one is her own issue and the other is an adult that's being set up for future books. The main thing is it's not fun to read about a character who hates her own gender. Sexism isn't fun.

While on the Sexist aspect of the book, The Senstives are only presented as girls, and never mentioned again in the book that introduces the idea of them. Literally, just there for Lucy to hate on. The idea that makes them bad as idea is that they don't fight ghost but still help with the destroying of the sources and if they were pacifist they probably see this as helping to kill ghosts. Maybe they see it as them just warning living people of danger, for money. But they presented as girls that don't want to fight. If there was boy Senstives that were introduced with them, then this wouldn't be as much of a problem or even if at any time was spent with them besides this one conversation then we could have something. I guess they could appear in future books but introductions are everything. The idea of Senstives could be interesting, because the lack of information on ghosts and pre-problem ideas would suggest that not all ghosts are bad. Just some ghost want to attack you because they are dicks. Though, all ghosts can kill you in this world so it still seems kinda dumb. We're see.

I really don't like Lucy now. I know she's in her early teens so a dick as a rule, but she especially one with her girl hate and general attitude. The other characters are the same as the first book, there's more of an effect to explore how they work as term now that they've been together for a year. It works well for the plot. Except even I still don't like Cubbins, even with my dislike for Lucy and Lockwood feels like a plot point more than a person. I guess I wouldn't recommend this series for the characters.

This book is more quicker to start going somewhere than the first, which is good, a mystery with a deadline and a race aspect, though didn't have a lot of tension for me. Perhaps if I was more invested in Lockwood & Co. except they are the underdog.I figure out the mystery aspect half way through, but it not stupidly obvious. Still more complicated than some of the adult thrillers I've read. It also has dark magic and cults, digging up bodies in a graveyard so it's good.

I still like this world and want to know what's going on, outweighing the characters. The ghosts are interesting, with horrifying descriptions without just being gore galore with no rhythm or reason. This book felt more now, with alternative tech due to what went down. I'm waiting to know what happened to founding members of the agency because it's only been 50 years and they lived to have children so.. but I guess they're dead.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Smart Skulls. I like the world and the story, the characters are lacking. The thing is this is a kids books and I would hesitate to give this to a child, I would have to give them a lecture about how feminine quality are not bad and that girls that say they have no girl friends tend to be the issue and not the other girls. Girls are cool. These books are clearly aimed at boys, going off the covers, so I was down for tricking them into reading a book with bad arse female protagonist as the narrator, except she not a bad arse, she's a sexist loser. Thanks, Stroud. It's just really disappointing. I will be reading the sequel, hopefully, we'll get some character growth so Lucy stops being such a loser.

Quotes

Page 20, "Kat Godwin, Kippe's right-hand operative, was a listener like me, but that was about all we had in common. She was Blonde, slim and pouty, which would have given me three reasons to dislike her even if she'd been a sweet lass who spent her free time tending poorly hedgehogs."

Page 21, "She was good-looking, though her jaw was a bit too sharp. If she’d repeatedly fallen over while crossing soft ground, you could have sewn a crop of beans in the chin-holes she left behind."

Page 79, "I also noted a posse of teenage girls, whose shapeless floaty dresses, black eyeliner, outsize bangles and lank armpit-length hair marked them out as Sensitives, Sensitives do psychic work, but refuse to ever actually fight ghosts for pacifist principle. They generally as dippy as summer cold and as irritating as nettle rash. We don't normally get on."

Page 80, "With a clatter of bangles, the floatiest and wettest-looking of the Sensitives stepped forward. 'Mr Sanders! Miranda, Tricia and I refuse to work in any sector near that grave until it's been made safe! I wish to make that clear.'"

"'You miss'- he turned to the Sensitive - 'you've clearly had a terrible experience. Are you able to tell me about it?
 This was classic Lockwood. Friendly, considerate, empathetic. My personal impulse would have been to slap the girl soundly around the face and boot her moaning backside out into the night. Which is why he's the leader, and I'm not. Also why I have no female friends."-Sexist to presume all girls are like that, are you like that Lucy.

Page 111, "Problem is: you're stupid, Lucy."

Page 198, "There was a curiously feminine quality to his eyes and mouth that sat oddly with his hirsute frame."

Book Review: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

I too hunted Ghosts when I was Young.

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

A group of Twelve Year olds (Okay, I think they might be slightly older than that, but I forget, they roughly that age. Update 29/11/2018, they actually meant to be 15/16) are the only Ghost Fighting Company that has no adults. In this world Ghosts are dangerous, can kill you if they touch you but Children are the only one who can see/sense them fully, meaning adults are basically useless when fighting them. It's not made clear how old you are when you lose your ability to sense ghosts fully (adults can feel them, but can't hear or see them. The powers vary between the kids). I imagine it will come up in the future books. 

The Premise alone is pretty good. The kids only being able to see them is a bit kid-ful but this is children's book and they has to be a reason why the government would be chill with kids fighting ghosts in this world.The feel that there's something else going with that. It's also a kids book with a Murder Mystery which always fun.

The mystery side is done pretty well and is on a higher level than some of the thrillers that I have read aimed at an older audiences (there are adult mystery books that don't even try). It has quite similarity to popular mystery tropes and urban legends (also real life cases with something similar have happened. Also an Angel Episode), but this is aimed at kids and someone has to introduce them to the stapes. Also it's done really well.

This book is told in first person by Lucy Carlyle, the newbie to the organisation which works fine. It is kinda slow getting into this book. There is a lot to introduce and there is a lot flashbacks. It someone what expective when you're setting up 50 years of history and a made up industrial. I think it set now but there's also something old fashioned about this world. I guess ghosts and different technology developments and maybe I don't play enough attention to remember.

The world building is decent. The rules of the ghosts are set up pretty quickly and we get different level of ghosts so there's stakes. It's an alternative time line thing where ghosts made themselves known 50 years ago, so basically everyone has grown up with ghosts being a dangerous thing and the things to deal with them have been established, like special street lights and building water cannels because ghosts are vampires apparently.

There's three main characters: Lockwood, Lucy and the fat one. That's not his name, but that his characterisation with being obsessed with food and being described as chubby, so not great on Plus Size representation. I need to look up his name, it was George Cubbins...great last name choice. He's also would rather do research than jump into danger so he spends a lot time inactive too. Of course, research is skill that will last into adult hood and will always be usefully for hunting ghosts so jokes on the others. George is also unlikable, as our POV Lucy and him do not get along. It was the only thing that puts me off this series. Hopefully, the characters will all show more depth. Lockwood has some mysterious past and I remember nothing being said about George's background so I guess we're see. Being in Lucy's head mean we know the most about her, she works pretty well as our narrator and action hero.Though, something I don't quite love is that she hates on "Pretty girls", she straight says she doesn't like girls based on her looks, one of these was the victim. Maybe she'll grow as person, but this is a kids book and it's not resolved in this one, a kid might never get their hands on more of the series. Lucy knows she doesn't like girl who are "prettier" than her, but she fine with this as if not a bad trait to be prejudice against someone, and she is the audience replacement character in terms of being introduced into the company, in a book aimed at children. This such a toxic thing that girls are socialised to do, so if not going to be character development moment in the book it's introduced, then just don't. Especially, as Lucy has no girl friends and the other girls in the books are either dead or an antagonist. Stroud is a man (and as always socialise as one to my knowledge) so this is especially not a great look for him. Yes, woman writers do this as well but that's their own society bullshit to deal with. I know men do the same thing to other men. It's just an odd and dangerous trait to give as one of the defining characterisation of your main character.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for ghost touching. I am going to continue with the series, if the plot sounds like your jam then you should definitely pick this book up.

 So I read this book over a month ago so not the best way to write reviews and I read like 20 books since reading this so I've not been great with details.

I also read the novelle The Dagger in the Desk, it's a bit weak, but it was written I think in a tight deadline and was written as pact of a thing where fans/children picked out the elements of the story. It's just a short thing and a audio version of it is currently online for free so worth listening to if you like the first book which you should definitely read before the novelle. 

Book Review: The Creeper Man by Dawn Kurtagich

 nn

There's a man in the trees, a man with no eyes, but still he watches, that's the surprise. Stay away from the woods, it couldn't be clearer, but the trees are creeping nearer and nearer...

Beware the creeper man.

This is Kurtagich's second novel, her first being The Dead House (which I have reviewed). With both titles of this book, you get what it's about: The Creeper Man, The Trees Creep In. Trees are spooky, the woods have something in them or do they?

This one also plays with formatting. Having different perspectives being written on different things, and in different ways.  Also creepy poetry which everyone loves. The narrative is done well and it pretty clear who writing from text alone.

There's only four characters that appear in the actual novel, other characters are mentioned or appeared sort of flashbacks (though, those are more fairy tales, than actually placing the reader in the past). We also have a Silent Character in the sister of the protagonist, while we do hear from Nori's POV, the story is definitely Silla's story, so no there will be no Silent Protagonist Review of this book. Maybe in a bonus round. It never made clear why Nori can't physically talk, can sign and write, and I can't decide if the implication is enough or not. Aunt Cath is also there. The thing I don't think I can really discuss the characters or their relationships with each other without spoilers. There's interesting stuff there.

This is set in the future, something about War. Not really sure why, especially when technology is so not in this book that it could be set in before World War II and no difference. Maybe life is a circle. Probably meant to keep the reader off-balance. Also all horror books must at one point takes place in the 80s. It's the current law.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Rotten Apples. This a creepy book with a cool concept and you will definitely ponder on The Creeper Man.

Dance Hall: Chapter 7, Brownstones to Death

Hey, sticking with this odd terrible novel thing I'm doing here. Is the chapter clickbaiting? Yes. In terms of other stuff. I went to see Wrinkle in Time with much of famale film students. We agree it could have been better. Too close cameras and bad editing choices. What was the point of Calvin, other than to fuck shit up? To be the love interest. I want us to move past this as society. Some ideas were good.We ended up bitching about our bad teacher experinces due to it so we went something.

So here's the my novel where I've decided to skip school.

Start & Last Chapter

Chapter 7, Brownstones to Death

I’m in luck and have gotten out of an education till after summer, despite they still being three weeks left of school. Exam results will decide my classes anyway. Though, that just meant by the time summer came I would already be a bored phrase in a town where I knew no one.

Well, I half knew people. But someone who moved the summer before high school is not really a friend. I had been at the same Primary school three times once. I had probably been to every Primary that was in the high school catchment area. I had bumped into people, but I didn’t even remember names, so it would be more awkward than anything if they remember me.

My mother had been changed the locks and was now organising the workmen necessary to fix her hotel dreams. She was hiring a project manager to get it done as fast as possible to a liveable state and to get away from the freaky neighbours. The woman who had “greeted” us, likes to stand at her window looking at us. I haven’t seen her son again.

I was alone in the house, so I was having a staring contest. I had no books, WIFI or TV. I was already at the bored phrase. I was going to find the library which could provide me with all three as I owned a DVD player. I took my crappy phone with me; haunted smart phones were not something you found, and I could not convince mum to get me a new one. It was slow, but worked I guess.

The library was in the centre of town and was an hour walk away. Well, I had nothing to do anyway. We live in a housing scheme that boarded onto fields at one side and the town on the other. The houses were all the same till they were a completely different decade and did not blend at all together, which was better than councils choosing to build houses with attic roofs. Attic roofs were stupid and should not be a thing in new buildings.

I wasn’t wearing the best shoes or clothes for this. Skinny jeans with no bend and tennis shoes that had no padding. I could lie in bed for a week starting tomorrow anyway. An IPod that I had to keep deleting stuff to get the latest hits on to it. It ended up taking me an album and half to get to the library. The town was still the town.

Not much had changed since I was last there. The fences were more run down but that was it. The library was an old brownstone like so many other libraries. I currently had access to eight online library services. Most libraries don’t bother to make sure you’re still a member.

In this case, I wasn’t sure if my library card was still good as it didn’t have an online system when I was a member and I hadn’t thought to check before losing access to reliable internet. My phone was junk. I walked up it woven down steps into the grand hall and now had automatically opening door. In front of me was a closed off stairs that held a sign that sign staff only. The non-fiction to the left and the fiction to the right. I held for the fiction. I didn’t feel like using my brain.

The teen section was now titled YA to be cool like those Americans and was on the other side of the massive room. I scanned the shelves for something new. The books were different. Weeding had taken place. Some were still the exact same copies. I pick up the ex-popular supernatural romance to see it hadn’t been checked out from before I moved. I put it back on the shelve to never be read again.

I picked up few other books that promised the undead. There was even one with necromancer as the villain. I took it out because as reading terrible depictions of Death Contractors. was my guilty pleasure. I watched the shows and read the cheesy books. My mother did not approve of this. Especially the paranormal romances. Falling in love with a dead person was something my mother did not approve of.

Some were actually written pretty well as works of fiction and some of got stuff eerily accurate. Perhaps another death contractor writing from her own experience or they just got luckily. The ones I picked up, I did not expect to be good. I wander to the adult side of the library which I found harder to navigate. Despite, the handy genre sorting of Fiction, Crime, Romance and Western. Western was section I had never read from despite multiple libraries having this as a section. Maybe if they had ghost cowboys.

I grabbed randoms with interesting titles. I kind of wish they sorted by title instead of author. Perhaps by buzzwords like “Amazing” and “Best Book of the Year”. I go the desk.

“I would like these out,” I say handing the 8-year-old library card to her. She scans it and hands it back without much ado. Well, that was anti-climactic. No, this card is too old, or you have 6 years of library fines that now total a ridiculous price to ask of someone not entitled to minimal wage.

I shove the books in my backpack and leave. I’m not that interested in the internet and it would probably best to be out of town before the schools got out. I did not want to wait for the lollypop lady.

I wandered away from the library in the opposite direction. What is a two hour walk really?  I fancied a look at my favourite building in this old town. The Dance hall was a street back from the library. Both had been built during this big expansion of the town. I had gone through a phase of researching the building, to not learning much at all. No recorded deaths to the building.

A ghost didn’t need to die in a building to haunt it. Sometimes an emotional link is enough to drag someone back there. I’ve never had that with a building. More of the windows had been boarded up on the ground level since the last time I stood next to it. The For Sale sign is still there, now discoloured. I wonder if still up for Sale.  I glance in the direction of the antiques and junk shops that my mother like to peruse. No signs of her ridiculous car.

I had only gain a slight obsession with this building due to my mother habit of taking hours to actually buy what she came for in any shop she goes in. I had noticed a ghost once and follow them up into the building. I had never seen it again. My mother doesn’t like this building, due to my mild obsession.

The door is slightly open once again. I guess it’s never locked. I pushed it open it more. It’s dark, with sunbeams lighting the wood panelling. Going into a derelict building at any age is stupid. I slowly edge into the building. The wooden floor looks study, though probably isn’t with unheated winters and water seeping in through broken windows.

I hear a creek. It was from above me. It could be ghosts, homeless or the ferial cats. Ferial cats can be deadly. You can lose limbs and I watch too much daytime TV.

“What are you doing?” I jump and turn around to see Junior Creep in the High School uniform.

“Why ain’t you in school?” I ask right back.

“Free Period,” she enters the building. Scanning around. Probably wondering if the roof will fall on her.

 “So not stalking me?”

“Only on the weekends,” she settles her eyes on me. “I wouldn’t hang around here. People go missing.”

There was literally not a single record of that happening. Even when it was still a functioning Dance Hall.

“That’s never been in the papers.”

“A lot of things have never been in the papers.” True that. Mortals by accident or chance, magic on purpose. Even dark magic must be hidden because it could bring us all down.  I probably would have been safe now, but we brunt with everyone else.

“Well, I guess I should be going now.” I say and shove past her back into the street. I start in the direction of my house. I still might be able to avoid the kids.

I hear Aytia walking behind me. I turn around to go away, when I catch a figure in the upper window. I stare at the ghost I saw when I was eight years old and never age in all these years.

“What are you looking at?” I look at Aytia for a second and jump back to the window. Gone. Typical ghost. I want to know the story, but probably best not to. That place is a death trap, probably.

“Nothing,” I start walking again. I don’t want to get into it with Aytia. She continues to walk with me.

“I thought you weren’t stalking me.”

“I’m not, my house is this way.”

We walk in silence before bumping into her first lollypop man. Damn it. I quicken my pace after crossing the road.

“What’s your hurry?”

“I’m being followed.”

I slow down once we’re on the outskirts of the main of town, houses instead of business. Aytia is still there.

“Where is your house anyway?”

“We’re almost there. Where’s yours?”

Going off last time, I still have an hour to go. My feet were starting to hurt.

Aytia’s house was obvious on the approach. It was obviously a witch’s house if you knew the signs. The front Gardens was full of plants that could be used in potions and some doubled as protection. There was also a Barbie doll, with a badly protection symbol craved into naked stomach, lying on one of the bushes. The garden was well cared for, but the paint was chipped.  Also, their minivan was in the drive.

“Wanna come in?” Aytia doesn’t wait for and is already though the door. Witches are interesting creatures and my feet really hurt so I follow her up the stairs. Maybe I can steal some herbs.

Chapter 8, Witches and Witches