Playing With Fire (Skulduggery Pleasant #2) by Derek Landy

On the Back of the Book

You know how it is - you think you've saved the world, and then ANOTHER evil villain turns yp with an unbeatable monster and starts breaking things.

Oh yes, and you've got a skull for a head. A thirteen-year-old girl for a sidekick. And no clue what to do.

Pre Read Thoughts

I really liked book one so I decided it was worth stealing I mean borrowing book two off my brother. I don't have a clue what he paid for it but the RRP is £6.99. I think he got it off Amazon though so he will have paid a couple of pounds less. This cover isn't as colourful as the previous one and that saddens me. This is a kid's book but it feels really plain. There's an actual synopsis for this one though, and that can only be a good thing.

Post Read Thoughts


***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS AS THIS IS BOOK 2***

The synopsis is misleading. It makes it sound like this book is written from Skulduggery's POV, when it's actually from Valkyrie's That really frustrated me as I like  a synopsis to be an accurate representation of the book. Anyway, I'll move on to the actual story now, once again I liked it. It had a speedy pace that never slowed down but sometimes I found myself wishing it would, I was exhausted by the time I'd finished! The writing was good, it didn't annoy me in anyway but it didn't blow me away either. At least I ended this book able to speak. There have been some were I haven't.

Valkyrie Cain is a good leading lady, I approve of her. She lives for the adventure and is slowly learning to think on her feet and that saving the world might not be everything. She doesn't sit around moping all the time, even when she misses her family life. Overall she's a pretty fun character to be with. Skulduggery Pleasant is her mentor and I love him. I love his humour, his disguise, his quick thinking but most of all I love his car. I want it, no, I need it, I am going to find a way into the books so I can steal it. (Not that I condone stealing. Don't do it kids!) Finally I quickly want to mention Tanith Low, she was in the previous book as well. I hope her role gets even bigger as the series goes on as I like her and she's pretty darn handy with a sword.

Overall an enjoyable book though it's missing a lull in action which would allow the reader to gather thoughts but I doubt the target audience cares about that. I would've loved a few chapters from either the reflection's POV or Valkyrie being Stephanie I feel that it could've added the dimension of seeing the contrast of worlds between Valkyrie and Stephanie. I want to see her interact with her family more as they're rarely mentioned unless they're used in a way to move the plot forward. I love the fact the the MC is a girl though as it makes these books more likely to appeal to girls as well as boys. I think this is better suited for kids as they will love the constant action.


My Rating

 3 stars - it's good. It's not brilliant though and it could've been. It's definitely worth a read around this time of year though, a skeleton detective, it's nearly Halloween. I think I may have just sorted out some Trick or Treat costume issues... anyway back to the book. I think you should let your kids read this and the first book. I hope they enjoy them in fact.