Monday, February 15, 2021

Book Review: The Empty Grave

The Empty Grave 
Series: Lockwood & Co. Book 5 (final)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This just might be my favourite middle grade series... ever!
It beats out Harry Potter for me. It even beats books from my own childhood like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Jonathan Stroud has taken a scary, creepy setting of a major ghost problem and made it just scary enough that kids will get a bit of a shiver (I certainly did at times) but still able to sleep at night. Everything about this series is just wonderful! I cannot wait for my niece to be 9-10 years old so I can get her this series! She just turned 8 and is a great reader but is currently into unicorns, fairies and such. So I don't want to jade her just yet into more gothic things. But I absolutely plan to do so in the coming years! (lol)

It's hard to write reviews for books late in a series without spoilers; but here's a few tidbits for those who know the series:
- We do find out the 'official' reason for the Problem
- We do find out more about the Skull
- We sort of get some resolution to some of the romantic tension present
- Many questions about Fittes and other major players are explained.

The Empty Grave picks up only months after the end of book 4; so it's perfect to just keep on going if you are so inclined. And if, like me, you wait a bit to read the 5th book there is a really well done set of reminders to get you quickly back into the game.
All of our characters are present (of course) and many of them have moments of revelation during this last book. If you've enjoyed the series to date then I guarantee you will love this final piece of the puzzle.

As for the ending...
Not my favourite ending but totally appropriate for a middle grade kids book and definitely will make a beautiful movie/tv series. This whole series (if done right with good effects and acting) will be absolutely stunning. I cannot wait for us to see it on screen! Of course something is always left in the books to discover and so I hope many people will see the (forthcoming) show and proceed to grab the novels as well.
One of my favourite pieces of this series is that it doesn't go on forever and ever. Five books feels perfect in this instance. Stroud does such a great job of leaving the reader feeling satisfied at the end of the series; but still also loving it and wanting to revisit it again.

I will definitely be making this series my top gifted one to kiddos in the right age group. And I know I'll be rereading them in the future. The print books have a proud place in my personal library.

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1 comment:

Leonore Winterer said...

Ah, I really need to get into this some day, it sounds like such a fun (and probably quick) read!