The Creeping Shadow by Jonathan Stroud: Lucy why did you leave?

The Creeping Shadow 

by 

Jonathan Stroud

London has a ghost problem. The recently dead and even the ancient dead began to rise from the grave several generations ago and haunt the streets. Scaring some, killing others and creating more ghosts in an endless increasing wave. The biggest problem? Children are the only people who can see the ghosts.

I love these books so much! Stroud is rather talented and his world building is top notch. There are entire companies devoted to finding new ways to repel or destroy ghosts and armies of small children and their adult supervisors patrol the streets of London at night. 

Or they make their own business out of it, like our protagonist who work at Lockwood and Co. They are hired to take care of the cold maidens, shinning boys, and poltergeist that threaten everyday people. It’s such a clever way to have teenage protagonists! It’s awesome.

This book was fabulous. In the last one (Spoilers for third book, The Hollow Boy) Lucy left Lockwood and co. which was absolutely devastating. So along with the increasingly scary ghosts and increasingly numerous political plots we also have the awkwardness of working together with previous teammates. 

I loved it!

Characters

Lucy: I’ve said it before I’ll say it again! Lucy is an awesome protagonist. Yeah, she’s got a lot of petty moments in the third book but frankly I blame Stroud for that. However, she’s smart, capable, completely sassy yet she didn’t feel like the everyday ‘super tough’ heroine that overpopulate most YA novels. 

Lockwood: I am deathly worried about Lockwood. 

I mean it's like the fourth book guys what did you expect?

 In the final chapters of the Hollow Boy Lucy met, and chatted, with a ghost who took the form of a speared and very dead Lockwood. It warned her that Lockwood would die because of her. 

Lockwood does not deserve this! Sure, he’s not so good at that whole sharing thing (secretive little git) but please no.

George: I believe in my last review I referred to him as ‘the person that reminds Lucy and Lockwood that research and snacks save lives’ and that is still very accurate. But in this book, he got some really great action. In fact, he’s basically the reason Lucy and Lockwood are still alive.

Holly: Holly is so much better in this one. Honestly, I think it’s because Stroud actually considered her as a character instead of as a emotion strife causing device. She was precise, fabulous, and managed to make half-dead look good. 

Not fair I have to admit.

Skull-in-Jar: best comic relief character ever! I mean it’s a Skull! In a jar! The only thing he can do is make sarcastic commentary on people’s faces, clothes, relative quality of their imminent death.

 He started out as a totally untrustworthy possibly antagonistic hint giver who had to be threatened in order to be helpful. Now he’s one of the team! If a dead and still potentially antagonistic part of the team.

Likes

Holly and Lucy are friends now yay: their rivalry was one of my main complaints of the third book. It was rather silly. They get along much better this time around and they even have some girl bonding time which was super funny. Though I doubt they’ll ever really understand each other. But at least they get along well.

The ghosts were perfectly disturbing: Holy crap I thought the crawling chick with the spiders was creepy. This time around we had a Victorian witch, a lady with no eyeballs, a tiny child in a blue dress, a GIANT ghost who riots other ghosts! And a fat, despicable cannibal. There was much ‘yuck!’ in the general direction of that last one.

Spoilers

 Lucy came Back! Color me very pleased. I’m sure most of you remember my utter agony at her Firefly-esque ‘I’m leaving line’. Mostly because that freaking glossary played me for a fool. But thankfully that didn’t last to long so I will dance happily for the rest of the week. Because Lockwood and co. weren’t the same without Lucy.

The skull got kidnapped and it was probably the funniest thing ever

So this group of people were buying up powerful sources to do something sufficiently sinister and the Skull go caught up in it. He was completely devastated when Lucy lost him which was hilarious and adorable. Yet at the same time he got super offended when his kidnappers discarded him. They clearly didn’t know how ‘important’ he was. But that leads me my only (completely spurious) complaint.

Dislikes

The Skull got kidnapped and I missed his salty narration: what can I say he’s hilarious. I missed his winning and gleeful proclamations of death. I might be a little bit messed up.

I love these books and this one was as hilarious as all the others that came before it. When is the next one coming out? I need more Lockwood and co.