***Review*** Dark Days (Skulduggery Pleasant #4) by Derek Landy

On the Back of the Book

 “Valkyrie turned to the portal. The wind whipped her hair. She ran, straight into the yellow...”

Skulduggery Pleasant is gone, sucked into a parallel dimension. There is no official Sanctuary-approved plan to save him.

But Valkyrie’s never had much time for plans...

Pre Read Thoughts

Yes, that’s right folks, I’ve finally got my grubby little mitts on my brother’s copy of Skulduggery Pleasant 4. Now all I have to do is read it. I’m looking forward to delving back into the world of the skeleton detective as I’m suffering quite badly from Skulduggery withdrawal. As I have just said I have nabbed this off my wonderful brother (cheers dude!), I paid nothing but he bought it off Amazon for a couple of pounds less than the £6.99 RRP. (What can I say? He’s evidently a cheapskate.) The cover is very bright and colourful and it stands out even at a distance. The synopsis is short and to the point. I’m off to read this now. I can’t wait to finish it.

Post Read Thoughts

***THIS IS BOOK 4 IN THE SERIES! THIS MEANS THERE MAY BE SPOILERS ABOUT THIS AND PREVIOUS BOOKS!***

Wow! This is easily my favourite Skulduggery pleasant book so far. There was just something about this that the other books lacked. The pace just felt right whereas in the previous 2 books especially, I felt that there hadn’t been time for me to take a breath and analyse the goings on. The writing is improving with every book, although I still find that the fight scenes can still get jumbled. I liked knowing more about the evil plot and yet I didn’t know enough to scream at the book what they had to do to save the day. It made me appreciate how complex the story is and how many plotlines that the author is weaving  together.

Some really interesting things happen with the main characters because Skulduggery isn’t in the first ¼ of this book because of how book 3 ended. This means we get to see Valkyrie step up to the plate and be the leader instead of the sidekick. I am so pleased she got the chance as it made me love her even more. I’ve been wondering if she was capable of taking responsibility for her actions and she is which is definitely a good thing. Both Tanith and Fletcher Renn have bigger roles in this book due to Skulduggery being unable to help with their first mission. Fletcher in particular is a god addition as he’s so funny and has memorable hair. As a character he’s a grower, but once he’s done that you won’t be able to hate him.

Overall this is the book that has truly convinced me that books like Skulduggery Pleasant are the way forward for kids nowadays. It blends together lots of different elements and that  really adds depth to the book and makes it more widely accessible to girls and boys. The cliff hanger at the end just had me in shock. I hadn’t seen it coming and now I have to persuade my brother to hand over book five so I can find out what happens next. If you’ve only read the first three books because the flow was off then I recommend you carry on. This book really hots up the series.

My Rating

4 stars – I can’t say enough good things about this book. I think people should read it regardless of age or gender. It’s just a fun way to waste a few hours. The whole series is in fact, now I just have to go persuade my brother to allow me the pleasure of reading book 5. Wish me luck!