Skulduggery Pleasant, Resurrection: Review
I have been reading the Skulduggery Pleasant book series since I was nine and immediately fell in love. Derek Landy's writing style is so smooth an intoxicating and his characters are so well written that the Skulduggery Pleasant series is by far my favourite book series ever- yes, it even beats Harry Potter. Landy's style is packed full of humour and little quirks and he easily creates characters that are raw and feel so real that you forget that they are literally words on a page. Resurrection is no exception.
It is set five years after the events of the ninth book, The Dying of The Light, where the main character Valkyrie Cain has detached herself from the world of sorcerers. She is suffering from depression and PTSD, though it is never stated, and blames herself for previous happenings. (writing this without spoilers is very, very difficult. I just want to gush out everything I love about it but I can't without ruining the entire book!)
When she is finally coaxed back into joining the world by Skulduggery Pleasant, her long term partner in saving-the-world-
and-trying-their-very-best-not-to-die-in-the-process persuades her to help him for 24 hours to stop the bad guys. It is then revealed that absolutely everything has changed and it is both parts heartbreaking and exciting. Old characters are reintroduced and others weren't and I was left a very happy girl.
The story, in usual Landy style, makes fun of nearly every film/book cliché used in this day and age as well as insulting everyone in the most tasteful fashion. It also contains unpredictable twists that leave your heart hammering and sometimes you are sobbing violently. Derek Landy may be a writing genius but he is also a cruel and sadistic man- he would also think I had just complimented him.
Resurrection also weaves modern day events into the plot line with things like an American president who is an arrogant fool and a sexist piece of garbage. I wonder who that's paying homage to. Landy also introduced gay and genderfluid characters without focusing on it like it is some major thing which I find very refreshing.
Whenever I read Landy's writing, I am amazed of the ideas he is able to come up with like a skeleton detective and a person's true name becoming a separate entity that is a mass murderer. He has managed to create a unique world with amazing and incredibly realistic characters. You know the saying that everything is a rip off of everything else, well Skulduggery Pleasant is not. It is so refreshingly different and magical and it is literally my life- someone please send help.
Overall, you need to read it. I don't care if you don't want to, read it anyway. You will thank me.
