The Screaming Staircase [Lockwood and Co, #1] by Jonathan Stroud

The Screaming Staircase [Lockwood and Co, #1]
by Jonathan Stroud

Genre: Middle grade paranormal horror

My Rating: ★★★

Description:

Ever since the Problem began, and the dead started haunting the hallways and shadowed corners of England, teams of ghost hunting agencies have cropped up across the country, all with one purpose: combat the Visitors. Most of these teams have adult supervisors to secure their safety. Not Lockwood and Co.
Lucy Carlyle is used to danger. But when a ghost hunting assignment goes badly wrong and a new contract springs up to investigate one of the most haunted houses in Britain, she and her teammates will be tested to the limit. They have one night to earn their fortune. But first they have to survive it.


Overall Thoughts, aka, It Should Have Been Victorian

I bought this book mainly because it looked like it might be similar to Doctor Who (and I'm a hardcore Whovian, so that's a big plus in my books), and partly because I thought it was a book about Victorian ghost hunters. Well, I got part of it right. It was about ghost hunters for sure, but Victorian ghost hunters? No. I feel betrayed, because that cover screams "Victorian era" at me, okay? But hey, I ended up liking it anyway, so I guess that's a plus.

*note* I will probably be talking about the Victorians a lot in this post, and I want to apologize in advance. I know it's a really small thing to get so worked up over, but I wanted a story about Victorian ghost hunters so bad, so forgive my rantiness. *end of note*

The Characters

The characterization was kind of all over the place. Lockwood is hands down the best character. He acts like he should belong in the Victorian age a lot of the time, so whenever he used a modern word I had to do a double take and remember the time period it's set in. Lucy, the narrator, is okay, but she didn't really stand out to me as being awesome. But she didn't annoy me either, which is something I can't say about the last member of the trio. Let's talk about George for a minute, because he was really annoying! He's the stereotypical middle grade comic relief character, and it rubbed me the wrong way. I kept waiting for the author to turn that stereotype on its head, but by the halfway point I'd given up all hope. I can only wish that the sequels have some better character development for him, but since this is a middle grade series (which usually means fairly static characters) my hopes aren't too high.

Plot/Pacing

As for the plot... it was rather lackluster. The beginning set up something super cool and intriguing, but the introduction of a second plotline halfway through the book messed everything up. The author did try to tie the two plots together at the end, but it ended up not working very well (in my opinion.) I was also disappointed by the way the mystery element was resolved, but I wasn't in it for the mystery, so it didn't bother me as much as lackluster mysteries have done to me in the past. (Looking at you, The Lost Girl of Astor Street.)

Worldbuilding

I think my favorite part of the book was the ghosts. Which were awesomely creepy and... dare I say... fun? That sounds wrong, but hopefully some of you understand what I'm trying to say. There's all these different types of ghosts, with different levels of danger and creepiness. Some look like typical ghosts, some (apparently) like corpses, and some like shadows or blood (which is both "ew!" and "cool!" at the same time.) I also liked how the book explained why adults are sending kids into mortal danger to hunt ghosts. Only children and teens can actually sense ghosts clearly enough to be of any use fighting them. And speaking of fighting them, the kids use rapiers! Honest to goodness rapiers. How does that not scream "Victorian" at you?

However, despite my complaints, The Screaming Staircase was a fun, enjoyable read. Not a new favorite, but I'll definitely be looking at reading the sequels in the future. And would someone please write me a book about Victorian ghost hunters?

Content

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

This is advanced middle grade/early YA, so there's not much in the way of objectionable content. No swearing as I can recall. A few instances of rude humor, which irked me (can't stand it whatsoever.)
A character feels the emotions of a dead woman through a piece of jewelry, through which she gets the impression of bliss and pain. There are no real details, but there's an implication of the woman's relationship with a man.
Some of the ghosts could be disturbing. Scenes of peril. Several descriptions of dead bodies. There's a few descriptions of a severed hand and a skull in a jar. If a person is touched by a ghost, they turn blue and can die without proper treatment. Descriptions of blood. A few horror legends, including one about a man who collected the heads of the people he killed for fun. Mentions of suicide in the context of a story one character tells Lucy and the others.

Book Review: Our Dark Duet [The Monsters of Verity, #2] by Victoria Schwab

This review contains spoilers for This Savage Song. To read my review for This Savage Song, please follow the link here. 

Our Dark Duet [The Monsters of Verity, #2]
by Victoria Schwab

Genre: YA urban fantasy/horror

My Rating: ★★★★★

Description:

Kate Harker is a monster hunter. And she's good at it.
August Flynn once longed to be human. But now, he has stepped into his role as the monster his brother always wanted him to be.
But there's something else stirring in the shadows. There's a new monster stalking the streets of Verity -- one that feeds on chaos itself.
And August and Kate must ally themselves once again before everything they know and love is destroyed. Or is it already too late?

Overall Thoughts

So, this duology has become my latest obsession. And for a good reason! It really is amazing, and totally deserves a place among my ever-expanding list of favorite books. Our Dark Duet took my expectations, threw them out the window, then took my emotions and shredded them. The last chapter destroyed me. All of that meaning, I really, really loved this book, and now the series is over and nothing will be the same. I did originally give a five star rating on Goodreads for this book, but now that I've had a chance to think about it, it probably deserves a four. I did really enjoy it, but there were some significant issues with it that, while they didn't bother me, still impacted the quality of the book.

The Characters

The characters were, again, phenomenal. August's character arc throughout the book was excellent, and while I hated to see him give up his longing to be human, it was so well-written, and was resolved so well that I really can't say anything negative about it.
Kate was still amazing, and I loved her a lot. She's got a lot of strength and resolve, and her character voice is so strong. Both her POV and August's were both equally gripping, and I liked that, since a lot of multi-POV books usually have that one character you just can't stand. You know what I've mean. You've read books like that before. Fortunately, that's not the case with Our Dark Duet. 
Also, we get villain POVs! At the end of This Savage Song, we learned that Sloan was still alive, and we also witnessed the birth of Kate's Malchai, Alice (who is terrifying, guys. Terrifying.) The villains are actual characters in both this book and This Savage Song, which makes them more lifelike, and raises the stakes that much more for me.

Plot/Pacing

The plot was good, well-paced and hard to stop reading. The reason I gave the plot only 4 stars was because certain elements of it were not explained by the end of the book -- none of the unexplained plot points bothered me, as I thought the entirety was handled really well, but it could be annoying to some readers who like to have everything neatly wrapped up and resolved at the end. Just know that there are dropped and unexplained plot threads, but that it wasn't enough to make me hate the book. It's really hard for me to talk about the plot without spoilers, so I'll leave it at that. I will say this, though -- if you enjoyed the plot for This Savage Song, you will also enjoy the plot in Our Dark Duet. 

Alright, and let me take a moment to fangirl about the themes! This duology honestly tackled its themes so well. The themes of good and evil, right and wrong, that were introduced in the first book are continued here, and I was really satisfied by the entire thing.

Everything else I liked about this book is, sadly, in spoiler territory. So what are you waiting for? Go read it!

Content

Recommended for ages 15 and up.

Violence is similar in descriptiveness and frequency with the violence in This Savage Song. There are several descriptions of murders and people dying; these could be disturbing for anyone sensitive to violence. It's treated as a horrible thing, and is not gratuitous (in my opinion.) One villain character finds joy in killing and violence. Several hand to hand fight scenes, including descriptions of blood.
Several instances of strong language, including several counts of the f-bomb. Again, this didn't really bother me, as it wasn't used for shock value.
Sexual content is limited to kissing. A minor character is gay. Another side character is non-binary.

City of Ghosts [Cassidy Blake, #1] by Victoria Schwab

City of Ghosts [Cassidy Blake, #1]
by Victoria Schwab

Genre: Middle Grade horror

My Rating: ★★★★

Description:

Cassidy Blake's parents are the Inspecters, paranormal investigators and authors whose latest project -- a TV show documentary -- will take them to some of the most haunted cities in the world.
Which would be just fine with Cassidy -- only she can actually see the ghosts. Since her near-drowning a year ago, she's been able to cross over the Veil between her world and the world of the dead. Her best friend is even a ghost.
When she arrives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and meets a girl like her -- someone who can also cross the Veil -- Cassidy realizes she has a lot to learn. About herself. About her strange powers. And about the Veil itself.
And she has to learn fast. Because the city of ghosts is far more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Overall Thoughts

City of Ghosts is a middle-grade horror novel by the author of The Monsters of Verity duology. I picked this up soon after reading Our Dark Duet, and while I didn't find it quite as good as The Monsters of Verity, it was still fun and enjoyable, and I will definitely be reading the sequel.

The Characters

The characters in this book were strong and honestly made the book for me. Cassidy, the main character, is spunky and also smart, and her character voice throughout the novel (it's written in first person point of view) was excellent and kept me engaged. 

Jacob, her ghost friend, was probably my favorite character. He's got a great sense of humor, but thankfully isn't delegated to the role of comic relief, as so many friends in middle grade tend to be. I actually really enjoyed the friendships portrayed in these books, and I'm excited to see them develop more in future installments. 

I also want to talk a bit about Cassidy's parents, because they were such a breath of fresh air. In so many middle grade and teen novels, the parents are totally out of the picture -- either dead, or abusive, or absent -- which serves as an excuse for why the main character is free to explore the story goal in sometimes unsafe ways. Cassidy's parents felt like real people, and I liked that they actually cared about their daughter and were just overall good, caring people?

Plot/Pacing

The plot was well-paced, but was also one of the weaker aspects of the novel. For a good portion of the book (I would say 60% or so), Cassidy is reacting: it's only when we hit the third act or so that we really see her acting towards a goal. It didn't really bother me, because the plot before that point was still good and engaging, but from a purely objective standpoint, not having a real goal for much of the book definitely weakened the overall structure.

Writing

The writing style was good -- not my favorite, by any means, but good. I don't really enjoy narrators who speak directly to the reader, and Cassidy was definitely one of those narrators, but I didn't mind it nearly as much as I usually do when reading this kind of narration. So, mostly my problems with the writing stem from my own individual preference, not from any objective issues.

Worldbuilding

The last thing I want to talk about is the setting and worldbuilding. I loved the descriptions of Edinburgh, and the descriptions of both the real world and the world beyond the Veil. They were vaguely creepy, and the whole book felt... grey and misty. I know that probably doesn't make much sense, so let me rephrase: this novel is atmospheric. Wonderfully so. 

I also found the whole "Ghost world" easy to follow along with; it never confused me even when new information about it was revealed. We're also left with a sense at the end that there is more about the Veil and the ghosts that Cassidy doesn't know yet, and I'm excited to see what new things will be revealed in Tunnel of Bones. 

Also, side-note: the ghost stories sprinkled throughout this book are so spooky. I'd really love to know if they were made up for the book, or if they are real ghost stories from the Edinburgh area. 

Content

Recommended for ages 11 and up.

I don't recall any specific instances of swearing, but I believe there may have been a few times when characters used the Lord's Name in vain. 

Violence is not described; this is a middle grade book, after all. A boy is trapped in a burning theater. Cassidy recalls her near-drowning before the beginning of the book. Several ghost stories are told and could be disturbing for some readers. One story recounts how a ghostly woman spirits children away from their homes. 

Brief description of a corpse. 

This Savage Song [The Monsters of Verity, #1] by Victoria Schwab

This Savage Song [The Monsters of Verity, #1]
by Victoria Schwab

Genre: YA urban fantasy/horror

My Rating: ★★★★★

Description:

In Verity, there's no such thing as safe. 
Once, shadows stayed shadows. But since the Phenomenon, the violence in Verity spawns actual monsters -- and no one is safe.
Kate Harker wants to prove herself as ruthless as her father -- the man who lets his monsters roam the streets and offers protection...  to those who can afford it.
August Flynn wants to be human. But he isn't. He's a monster, born of violence, who can steal a soul with a single song.
When August and Kate's worlds collide, they are forced to ally themselves against a threat that could tear their city apart.

Overall Thoughts

Excuse me while I go and scream at the sky, because this book is amazing and nobody talks about it! I would honestly give it 300/5 stars if I could. I know I didn't do it any justice in the blurb, but guys. Guys. Do yourself a favor and go read this book!

Okay, now to the actual review. :P

The Characters

The characters were well-developed and sympathetic. August was hands-down my favorite character. He's so desperate not to be a monster, even while he's forced to steal souls for... reasons. (We're straying into spoiler territory now.)

It took me a little longer to warm up to Kate, but when I did, I loved her too. She's got two faces -- the fierce, ruthless, version of herself she presents to the public, and then the face she doesn't show anyone else. I won't say any more, because I feel like the less you know about the book before you start reading it, the better. This is one of those books where it's better to go in blind. 

The other characters were excellently developed, too, but I can't devote a separate paragraph to each of them for the sake of keeping this review a decent length. So suffice it to say that cardboard characters are not a thing in this book. And Ilsa is amazing. That's important as well.

Plot/Pacing

The plot was perfectly paced and riveting. Victoria Schwab did an amazing job with the tension in this book; sometimes it was hard to put down and I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next and how the characters were going to get out of this one. I'm finding immensely difficult to discuss the plot without getting into spoilers, but honestly, it was perfect and engrossing and there was never a boring moment. There were some really good plot twists as well, but those were never the highlight of the story for me -- I think my favorite parts of the book are a toss-up between the characters and the beautiful writing. (Okay, probably the characters.)

Worldbuilding

And the setting! The idea behind this book is kind of post-apocalyptic urban fantasy, and it was so dark and creepy and just perfectly atmospheric. I'm not a huge horror fan, but I did enjoy this book, even though it technically works in some horror elements. It wasn't scary enough to keep me awake at night, but just scary enough to keep me turning pages, which I loved.

Writing

But speaking of the writing! It was beautiful. Victoria Schwab has a way with words that paints a picture in my mind, and every sentence flows so smoothly into the next one, it's easy to forget you're reading at all. The writing really played into the overall feel of the book.

The themes also really impressed me. This book is about good and evil, what makes a person good or evil, what makes a monster. Each of the themes were beautifully handled.

Overall, I loved this book so much, along with its sequel, Our Dark Duet. I'm so glad I took a chance reading it, because this is now one of my new favorite book series.

Content

Recommended for ages 15 and up.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: References to a mass suicide, flashbacks to a school shooting.

Swearing is infrequent, but does include some very strong language. It wasn't enough to bother me, personally, and wasn't used gratuitously or for shock value, which I appreciated. 

No sexual content (you heard me right, not even kissing.)

There's quite a bit of violence, including some descriptions of blood and gore. Several descriptions of the bodies of people who have been attacked by monsters. Characters are wounded. At least one torture scene, with some details. Descriptions of monsters.