Skulduggery Pleasant is a wickedly funny read. The first in an ongoing series, (Book 8 just released!) Skulduggery will appeal to teenagers and their parents. When no-nonsense Stephanie attends the funeral of her uncle, she meets Skulduggery, a charming detective who happens to be a skeleton. Stephanie soon finds herself in the fight of her life, against an evil she never even knew existed.
It is easy to see why Skulduggery Pleasant is an award-winning novel. Author Derek Landy deftly balances the story’s darker scenes with lots of laugh-out-loud humor. While the book isn’t overly frightening, the scenes are action-packed and there are a lot of bad guys lurking around every corner. Skulduggery Pleasant is a perfect read to usher in this Halloween season!
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 6 religious exclamations, 8 mild obscenities.
Violence/Gore: Several verbal threats; implied occurrence of torture by magic; a character recalls how he and his family were killed and/or tortured; there are several extended scenes of fantasy violence that involve mythical creatures killing, shooting, beheading, and physically fighting. Characters are involved in a car crash and fall from a building, which result in injuries. In non-detailed scenes of violent death, fantasy characters turn to dust or dissolve. A few scenes have intense violence (some fantasy) and blood and gore.
Sex/Nudity: A sexual reference is made.
Mature Subject Matter:
Betrayal, greed, war, death of a loved one
Alcohol / Drug Use:
A retelling of when a character was once drunk
