Details:
Publishing date: 2013 by Doubleplay Children's Books
Page Count: 470 (I didn't include the glossary pages)
Author: Jonathan Stroud
Format: Paperback
Series: Lockwood and Co.
Preceder: The Screaming Staircase
The next one: The Hollow Boy
Quick Summary:
In the future the world is plagued by Visitors, who are ghosts. To help combat the ghost agencies have sprang up to help stop Visitors. One of these agencies are called Lockwood and Co. Lockwood and Co. is very small agency with only 3 people; Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle and George Cubbins. This is the squeal from The Screaming Staircase and it's months after and their agency is doing a lot better, but when they have a new case and something goes astray Lockwood and Co. have their hands full with a new case and a bet with their nemesis.
No Spoilers Section:
This book is very well written and just like the first book it is very creepy, but without over doing it (because it is aimed to younger readers). I'm a person who can be really easily scared and in some parts I didn't want to read it in the room alone. I was a very big fan of the first book and I wan't disappointed by this squeal. It had be laugh out loud in some parts and had be very creeped out at other parts. Unlike the first book I was guessing until the end about what was going to happen. The lot was so intricate without making my head hurt and that's really about all i can say without spoiling anything!
SPOILER SECTION!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Can I just start off by saying that Anthony Lockwood had a sister?! What? I didn't see that coming at all. Honestly I don't know what I was expecting to be the room. In the first book I was think maybe his parents old things, but in this book I did't really have any guesses. Well, that's lying since I did have one guess. When the skull in the jar talked about the iron bars I thought maybe it was a room for artefacts/relics and that their were ghost inside them or even a bodies. I know the latter was sort of weird but when Mr Skull said was talking about the iron in the door I was like 'omg there's a body in there' but when I actually thought about it source aren't necessarily bodies. It's cool that Anthony finally showed George and Lucy but I wish that Jonathan Stroud had explained more about what had happened to her, because now I have to wait until the next book comes out. NOOOO!!! (haha, but really, I want to know what happened to her) Also I was really surprised that there was no lock or anything on the door and that Anthony actually trusted George and Lucy that much. That's really sweet and everything, but I doubt that a teenager would be so trusting even if he is a badass agent.
The plot was so much more intricate and longer in this book compared to the first one. If you read my review of the first book then you would know that I guessed how the mystery happened before it was revealed. This time I was pretty oblivious and since there were so many characters I didn't even know where to suspect. In the last book there were two potential suspects and it was easier to figure it out, but this book was honestly so different and had me guessing until the last page.
Once again I need to bring up the question why is Anthony Lockwood on the cover? Lucy is so bad ass and awesome and she is the protagonist, but she doesn't get the cover. :( Don't get me wrong Anthony Lockwood is awesome and he jumped off that super tall building with Lucy and didn't hesitate, but once again Lucy is the protagonist and is one of the coolest female characters ever! I really hope in the next book I can find out more about Anthony's childhood and story, because after reading the last page and knowing that he has a dead sister makes me so curious about him. He always had the mysterious aurora about him and now I just want to know what he's hiding.
Speaking about characters I really wanted to talk about George. In the last book he was sort of rude and had extremely bad manners, and he is pretty much the same in this book a tad bit more cool. In this book the readers (or at least just me) got to see the George in a new light. He seems a like a genuine human being with actual feelings. I felt bad for him when they were raiding that warehouse and Lucy realises that he is upset that he's never the one in the front line. Also after George figures out his mistakes he is so humble and apologetic which was so good to see because usually his manners are so bad. In the last book I felt like George was just there for comedic relief, but in this book I saw in him in a different light which makes me happy. (Also him and Lucy are now friends which is great!)
Let's talk about the name sake of this book. The Whispering Skull is basically that annoying/rude/cool skull in a jar. In the first book I was just like 'what does this skull have to do with anything' and when it spoke to Lucy I was so spoked out. Honestly in this book I thought it was intriguing and it was such a coincidence that he knew the doctor. He was funny at times, but also while reading the book I felt Lucy's frustration when he wouldn't talk or talked to much about things he shouldn't. He had a big role in this book and I'm looking forward to see him in the next book.
Another thing I want to mention is the bet they had with Kipp. I really liked how Anthony let it pass and split the money seventy-thrity. That really flows with what the readers know about him as a person and while reading that it made me feel bad about myself, because I'm such a bad person and would have wanted the article for everyone to read. Kipp was so annoying in the last book and slightly less annoying in this one. At the end though when he talked to Lucy about how it feels to feel your talent fading and then being left unable to see the visitors, only sense them actually made me feel sorry for him. I wonder what Lucy, George and Anthony will do when their talents start getting weaker...
Okay this is a weird post and isn't structured or good. I just finished the book and it's more my thoughts that had randomly came out then an actual review. If you read this thank you so much and I hope you have a good day. :)
I can't wait until the next book! I read the summary on GoodReads and it sounds so good! Apparently there's going to be a new girl and I just hope that she does't do anything to Lucy. I love Lucy so much and don't want any new character to come in and do anything to one of my favourite characters ever. She needs to watch out... Haha, they may be fictional characters, but my love for them is real!
-The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds
aka Kellie ♡♡
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