Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy

Ok, I admit, I approached this book with extreme caution. It was recommended by my younger sister, aged 11, and after raving about it for a day or so after she'd finished it, she thrust it into my hands, ordering me to read it. I approached with caution simply because (and call me prejudiced), it read: '9+' on the back cover, and I'm 18. But I've always enjoyed a good fantasy story so I gave it a go anyway. Wow, I'm glad I did! The story follows a 12 year old girl named Stephanie, who, after her Uncle Gordon dies, meets an old friend of his, a detective called Skulduggery Pleasant. Who is a skeleton. Suddenly she is introduced to a ...  Read the complete review

Right, I have heard soooooooo much about this book, and never thought such a book could be so good, so I gave it a try, and it's BRILLIANT! On the front of mine there is a sticker saying "4 Richard & Judy's Children's books Confident 9+". Now to be totally honest I'm 15 and there were some words and phrases that were a bit hard to understand, and if I was 9 years old I'd probably had scrapped reading this book. But considering I'm almost an adult I didn't scrap the book. What I'm getting at is that this book shouldn't be classed for confident 9 year olds; it should be classed for young adult readers at least. And it should have been up for the adult, ...  Read the complete review

This book was recommended to me by my 12 year old son. This adventure story follows a 13 year old girl Stephanie and her journey into a world of magic and horror. Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer, who dies suddenly leaving her his entire estate. This is when she meets Skulduggery Pleasant a detective who is already dead. He introduces Stephanie to this other world of ancient magic and evil. Together they embark on a quest to retrieve a secret key and uncover the reasons for her uncle's murder, all the while being pursued by evil. The story moves at a fast pace, it's funny and action-packed, with scenes of fighting and torture. The characters are all ...  Read the complete review