Originally written: 21/11/19. Contains spoilers.
Finally reading this series’ part two! I plan to dive right into Midnight afterwards. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, when the previous series had been wrapped up so nicely and when so many of the characters I had loved from it were dead – I kept waiting for Ghastly to reappear despite knowing full well that he wouldn’t.
I was glad to see China though, and Fletcher. Tanith is alive, just not featured, and the same goes for Valkyrie’s family, though I can’t say this was a disappointment. I’m sure that it’s just me, but I never really cared for the Edgley family outside of brief, early installment moments. I also don’t really care about little sister Alice yet. She’s on the front cover of Midnight, I know, so I hope Landy does a good job with her.
So, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are back in action. This was a fun book and a good re-introduction to the world. Omen Darkly was a little sweetheart and I liked Temper Frey a lot too. Hoping that they’re going to be recurring characters. Abyssinia sounds like a great villain and I can’t wait to meet her for realsies.
Never, Omen’s non-binary BFF, was a bit annoying in truth, because excuse me, you do not speak to Valkyrie Cain like that. Okay, I know this is just my teenage heart shrieking with outrage at the idea of someone being rude to her after everything she went through in the first series –
Ahem. Inevitably, after Darquesse, we were going to see her victims being bitter towards the monster’s host, but I just –
I think that because I went through the whole previous war from Valkyrie’s perspective, because I remember her pain, that outsiders chipping in their two cents after all is said and done, even outsiders who were affected by the war, comes across as ignorant, unwanted commentary. I am not sure whether we were supposed to sympathise with Never, and with other characters like them, but I didn’t.
Leave Val alone, you cretins.
The relentless one-liners felt seriously dialed back this time, something for which I am infinitely grateful. In some of the previous series’ books I felt like it could get too much, but the humour in Resurrection was just right.
So yes. Excited to crack on with Midnight!
The Tea Room 