Saturday 30 May 2015

The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1) by Jonathan Stroud

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):
When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .


My Review
This book... Oh my god. I can't even. Wow. A masterpiece...
I absolutely adored this book. I recommend it to everyone. Seriously, this book needs to be more widespread. I even heard that a movie company is working on a film for it. This fandom needs more members!
In this story, London has been plagued for fifty years by the Problem. Ghosts, also known as Visitors, are haunting the streets and households. Psychic agencies have sprung up all over to battle the Visitors and one of them, the smallest, is called Lockwood & Co. Lucy Carlyle, the main protagonist, gets recruited by Anthony Lockwood, the owner of the agency. Together with their sidekick, George, they make a living subduing Visitors. One day Lockwood and Lucy went to the Hope's home to stop the haunting. There they encounter a very dangerous Type Two ghost that really manages to mess up their lives. Lockwood & Co. gets a heavy fine for damaging the client's property. Now they have to somehow pay the fine or Lockwood & Co. will be shut down.
Wow, the plot of this book is amazing. I loved the idea, that they had ghosts and a lot of action in this book. Throughout the entire book, I never got bored. There was action on every page. Rapier fights, mysterious ghosts and an awesome plot. There were always some hints to the next plot twist which I didn't notice at the start and when the plot twist kicked in, I was like "Oh yeah!" I loved everything, but I think that Lucy forgave Lockwood to easily. She was angry and then the next second she was talking about cocoa. I also wished to see Lockwood and George use the tablecloth in the kitchen to write obscene messages to each other. Now that would have been amusing to read about.
The characters were amazingly awesome. Lucy was an immediately likable character. The story is told out of her perspective and she is an awesome main character. She sometimes thought ahead and considered the condition or the dangers carefully. On the other hand, she also does rush into situations without any information about the ghosts along with Lockwood. Lockwood himself was really awesome. He is very mysterious because he doesn't talk about his family and also doesn't talk about his theories, leaving Lucy and George utterly confused. I sometimes wonder what is going on in his head, I wished there would have been occasional chapters told out of his perspective. By the way, I totally ship Lucy and Lockwood together. They are perfect for each other! I'm not alone, the whole fandom also sees signs of Locklyle throughout the entire book. But the author didn't make them have a relationship, agh! Buuut... I still think that George is my favourite character because his off-hand comments are really funny. Even though he did seem annoying at the beginning, I did start to like him more when he kept on arguing with Lucy.
The writing style was amazing. We get thrown into the story and are immediately sucked into the story. I sometimes think that some descriptions seem rather dull in books, but this book literally never got boring. The entire book also had a subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle humour. The way how everything was written was very interesting and makes the reader want to know what is happening next.
Overall, awesome book. I recommend it to everyone in the world. Just give it a try, it is really good! I can't wait to read the next book! 5 out of 5 stars!

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