Review: #242
Title: Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant - 4th book
Author: Derek Landy
Read Before: no
My Comments: You can see the writing style improve with every book. Most of the humour and one-liners worked in this book, and this made the book much more interesting than its predecessors. However, the story still leaves some to be desired. I’m not saying that it’s bad, but there is a lot of untapped potential. The book stays very level throughout; the climax doesn't feel like a climax at all. One thing I was very surprised was that a lot of characters die, characters that you have grown attached to, even if they just appeared a few chapters so. You don’t expect them to die, but they do, and it shocks you, and makes you feel sorry for them. In this regard, it was well-played. The chemistry between Valkyrie and Fletcher is somewhat weak and superficial, so when they became a pair at the end of book, it felt kind of sudden and forced. I would hazard a guess that there is a whole lot of foreshadowing in the book, which, while good, but there is too much, making it feel like filler. You know that it’s going to be relevant, but it just happens so much when you want the story to move along. That said, the ending was good, especially with the revelation, and it makes sense, but I can't help but feel that it’s an overused plot device. I enjoyed reading this book a lot more than the first two Skulduggery Pleasant books.
Rating: 6.5/10