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Skulduggery Pleasant #17
A Heart Full of Hatred
The bone-shaking new trilogy continues – the latest adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series
Vengeance is a killer.
A killer is stalking and murdering sorcerers, and Valkyrie Cain is next on his list.
While hunting down a cult of magical terrorists intent on taking their revenge on the mortal world, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are drawn into a murder investigation with unsettling similarities to a case they just closed – the case that nearly took the lives of both Valkyrie’s sister and girlfriend.
With the body count rising, a special night approaches – a night where the elite of sorcerer society will gather on a remote island to witness a ceremony that could change that society forever.
Speeches will be made, champagne will be sipped, and two things will become terribly, distressingly clear…
No one is safe. And not everyone will make it out alive.
Vengeance is a killer.
A killer is stalking and murdering sorcerers, and Valkyrie Cain is next on his list.
While hunting down a cult of magical terrorists intent on taking their revenge on the mortal world, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are drawn into a murder investigation with unsettling similarities to a case they just closed – the case that nearly took the lives of both Valkyrie’s sister and girlfriend.
With the body count rising, a special night approaches – a night where the elite of sorcerer society will gather on a remote island to witness a ceremony that could change that society forever.
Speeches will be made, champagne will be sipped, and two things will become terribly, distressingly clear…
No one is safe. And not everyone will make it out alive.
417 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 27, 2025
85 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
Derek Landy
252 books5,282 followersDerek Landy is an Irish writer and screenwriter. In addition to the bestselling children's/YA series of Skulduggery Pleasant books, a supernatural mystery series starring Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton detective, and Valkyrie Cain, a young female magician, he has written two screenplays that have been made into films: the IFTA award winning "Dead Bodies" and the IFTA nominated "Boy Eats Girl". Landy himself was nominated for an IFTA for Best Script.
He doesn’t like to brag about all the awards he’s won, such as the Irish Book of the Decade, or the Red House in the UK, or all the other awards that he humbly displays on his mantelpiece. He is also far too modest to mention things like the first book being a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, but would like to extend an invitation to Oprah to pop around one day for tea, in thanks for selecting his book for the Oprah’s Book Club Kids Reading List.
Derek plays too many video games, reads too many comics, and watches too many movies. He lives in Ireland with too many cats. Occasionally he talks to real people, but only when he absolutely has to.
He doesn’t like to brag about all the awards he’s won, such as the Irish Book of the Decade, or the Red House in the UK, or all the other awards that he humbly displays on his mantelpiece. He is also far too modest to mention things like the first book being a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, but would like to extend an invitation to Oprah to pop around one day for tea, in thanks for selecting his book for the Oprah’s Book Club Kids Reading List.
Derek plays too many video games, reads too many comics, and watches too many movies. He lives in Ireland with too many cats. Occasionally he talks to real people, but only when he absolutely has to.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
April 1, 2025
i also have a heart full of hatred
i need a time travel machine to go and beg my 12-year-old-self to please release me from this hell. i cannot do this anymore. these books keep getting worse and worse each year.
you go back and re-read phase one and it's fun and silly and engaging and fantastic and then you go re-read phase two and it's like uhhhhhhh...okay? and then you read phase three and the drop in quality is so bad, i'm numb to it at this point. also i swear he keeps reusing skulduggery-banter-phrases from the previous books? anyway. i hope by phase 4 he will have killed all the characters off so that it's just blank pages. bet the e-book will still cost 20 bucks even then.
TL;DR: it's pissing me off that goodreads says this is the 18th book. it's not, it's the 17th. stop counting the audiodrama as part of the main series??
i need a time travel machine to go and beg my 12-year-old-self to please release me from this hell. i cannot do this anymore. these books keep getting worse and worse each year.
you go back and re-read phase one and it's fun and silly and engaging and fantastic and then you go re-read phase two and it's like uhhhhhhh...okay? and then you read phase three and the drop in quality is so bad, i'm numb to it at this point. also i swear he keeps reusing skulduggery-banter-phrases from the previous books? anyway. i hope by phase 4 he will have killed all the characters off so that it's just blank pages. bet the e-book will still cost 20 bucks even then.
TL;DR: it's pissing me off that goodreads says this is the 18th book. it's not, it's the 17th. stop counting the audiodrama as part of the main series??
April 15, 2025
Holy crap. This ending, you guys! I've been crying ever since... No, no spoilers! I've been crying for the last 50 pages at least! 😭😭😭😭 Derek Landy, what have you done?!
I mean, I was so happy we had the typical Skulduggery books back. Bantering, saving the world etc. My favorite skeleton was back as sarcastic as ever. And then this books goes and breaks my heart. 💔 I don't know how I'm supposed to wait until the next books are out?!
(I'm still really conflicted about how I am supposed to feel about Winter. I've never been able to built a relationship with her and with everything happening here... We'll see how we will get along in the stories to come.)
I mean, I was so happy we had the typical Skulduggery books back. Bantering, saving the world etc. My favorite skeleton was back as sarcastic as ever. And then this books goes and breaks my heart. 💔 I don't know how I'm supposed to wait until the next books are out?!
(I'm still really conflicted about how I am supposed to feel about Winter. I've never been able to built a relationship with her and with everything happening here... We'll see how we will get along in the stories to come.)
March 28, 2025
I have only two words- wow and why
May 25, 2025
this was simply another banger and im ready for the next one to drop asap
May 26, 2025
2.5-3 Stars
Apologies in advance for this obscenely long review.
I think this book did a lot of things well but also had a lot of things that definitely weren't great and some things that were just down right pretty bad in my opinion.
Positives:
Starting off I think that the introduction of a more horror/slasher type of setting was a great choice for this new phase. With the way the plots are and what Derek is seemingly trying to accomplish with them, having this more intense kind of writing is making these new books very engaging and suspenseful in the perfect way for stories like these.
I loved that we got more Tanith and Ghastly in this book. I really enjoyed all the chapters with Cadaver Cain in them and I'm so excited to see more from his character. I've always found him to be such an engaging character.
I think that one of my main critiques of Valkyrie and Militsa's relationship was that we never got to see enough of them together for me to care much about Militsa. I'm really happy this book was more centered around their relationship and made it a lot more solid and believable for me.
I was very surprised by the mention of the Cleavers in this book. I was always curious about how they kept up their numbers and not only did we get an answer but also new information about their training processes and how the Cleaver system and culture works. I was not expecting a theme of humanization for the Cleavers at all, but I was so here for it. The brief exploration of the Cleavers here felt very reminiscent of what was done for the clones in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
I have to mention the amazing cover art. The new art and covers for all of the books are absolutely PHENOMENAL. Matt Taylor has truly outdone himself.
Any small mention of Skulduggery's cats is always going to be a massive positive for me. Not only are they a sign of just how far he has come and his desire to continue becoming better in all ways he can, but, come on, two adorable kittens, you just can't go wrong there. The very first thing I thought when we saw his kittens for the first time was that he finally had a reason to go back home at the end of the day. No longer is his house just that, a house for him to store his belongings and return to whenever the occasion came and otherwise being able to spend his time out nearly always. I remember in the earlier books where Valkyrie is shown to be surprised that he has a house because, unpractical as it would be, Skulduggery really has no need for one other than storage. Now that he has his kittens he has a reason to go home every day because he was able to once again accept the responsibility of having two living things dependent on him for survival. The people in Skulduggery's life have always been what has made him the most vulnerable. People get to him by taking away and hurting the people he loves. This is why him making the choice to adopt to kittens was so impactful. It truly is a testament to his growth.
I think this book also did a much better job exploring the reasoning behind the isolationists and their goals. I had a really big problem in A Mind Full of Murder because they all felt, to be quite honest, really stupid and petty and way too willing to forget about the threat and harm sorcerers have caused mortals for hundreds of years. Sanctuaries were established to give mages an escape from the mortal world and eventually developed to be the government systems we see in the books now, but they also developed to protect mortals from sorcerers as much as themselves from mortals. I was so upset with how they so willingly choose to forget all the multiple sorcerers who aimed to enslave or kill all mortals because they thought themselves as superior and mortals as less deserving of life because of their lack of magic and shorter lives. I think this book did a much better job defending the position of the isolationist, but I still really don't like them. For reasons being my comprehension, I really just can not find it in myself to care about their trauma at all. This may very well be because almost everyone that skulduggery and Valkyrie talk to about this matter comes off as really stupid, as do most minor characters in this series.
I feel like with how many times the topic of mortals gets brought up in terms of the worth of their lives, we would have gotten a more developed theme from this question. I feel like every time it is brought up we get a variation of sorcerers being superior in every way and mortals just being seen as inherently terrible and no better than cattle.
Negatives:
I FUCKING HATE WINTER. I don't have a single shit to give about this girl's trauma. I truly can not tell if Derek intentionally wrote her to be the most irritating character to ever exist and if we are meant to hate her or not. Every time I reach a chapter with her in it I am filled with a visceral RAGE. While I can certainly understand and relate to her feelings about not having any control over her life, I feel like her reactions and the way she perceives events is so selfish. Valkyrie is constantly stepping in and protecting her without her asking it of her sister, but she just seems to completely forget that in the situations where Valkyrie is protecting her, she is also simultaneously trying to save, oh, I don't know, EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET. Winter just completely does not care that in the situations where Valkyrie is kind of overstepping, it isn't JUST for Winter, it tends to be to protect everyone. I don't remember exactly what it was, but in A Mind Full of Murder I remember Winter talking about how Valkyrie took away her choice about becoming Malice, (it is wholly possible I am misremebering this)…
Girl, she did not do that just to oh, you know, SAVE YOU FROM BECOMING A MONSTER, MURDER, AND WORSE, BUT TO ALSO SAVE EVERYONE WHO SUFFERED FROM THE FACELESS ONES’ RULE IN THE FUTURE SHE SAW!! Winter is just so naive and self centered. She doesn't think about anyone else ever and she is so fucking ungrateful. Not to mention that we keep getting told that she's smart, but I swear all I've seen her do is stupid shit. I know that I'm probably forgetting a lot of the earlier things that happened to her, like all of Midnight, but I really didn't care then either. My main character bias for Valkyrie is to strong.
Moving on from my uncontrollable hatred and disdain for Winter, I kind of wish we had gotten more from skulduggery in this book, I understand why we didn't, but I think that it could have been beneficial just to give one more dimension to the thoughts Valkyrie was having regarding responsibility and how the way she processed things when she was younger really screwed her up for many years. Considering how much skulduggery had influenced her in her youth, I feel like there should have been some more of him in this book.
Before starting this I read a few non spoiler reviews and saw the reactions to the last part of the book. This set my expectations so high and I was so disappointed when I finally finished. This is ultimately my fault for letting myself do that. I'm a believer that if you go into a book expecting something very specific to happen because of something you heard and then it didn't, then it's not the book's fault, but your own, and as such, you can't hate the book for not meeting your expectations. Having said that, I was still so upset. To be frank, killing Fletcher just felt so empty to me. I've never really had any thoughts regarding Fletcher, he was just a character who was there. I didn't hate him but I definitely didn't love him. We also just haven't gotten much of him in the last few books. I did NOT care when he died. It was very anticlimactic for me. If not for the time frame of 6 days that we were given at the beginning, then I would've thought that Fletcher's death was a misdirect to make someone else's death more surprising and impactful. Despite not caring much about his death, I do like how Derek made it a point to note that Valkyrie forgot about Myosotis's dying so that when we come to the realization that Fletcher is the only one who would have noticed because of the bracelet she gave him that no one will remember Myosotis and note her missing since he is also dead it hits so much harder. I really liked Myosotis and this made me more upset than Fletcher dying by a long shot.
Not to mention that he was killed by Caelan. I was so mad when I learned that he was Gestalt. I was finding Gestalt to be such an interesting character for this installment of the series, but the minute I learned it was Caelan I was so underwhelmed. Gestalt had so much potential but the second I realized he was the “emo boy” all the build up of his power and the threat he posed felt redundant because we already know this guy is stupid and crazy. I can not understand why he was brought back. I feel like just creating a new character would have been much better for this. I say that knowing full well how hard creating new characters can be, but bringing back Caelan just felt cheap and like it was for no purpose other than temporary shock factor.
My biggest problem with this though, has to be the foreshadowed death. Right at the beginning we hear that Valkyrie is going to lose someone she loves and then the chapter immediately after shows her having a lovely time with her girlfriend, before all of the fighting of course. Then we spent a good portion of the book expanding their relationship more than it ever has been (for me at least). I thought that it was very obviously going to be Militsa who died because spending a lot of the book cementing their relationship and then ripping her away would have been a million times more interesting and heart wrenching than Fletcher dying.
I HATE that Winter is the one that got the power of the faceless ones. I was hoping and praying that Militsa would die and Valkyrie would take the power, consumed by hatred and demanding revenge, then kill Gestalt. We have seen the moral code in which Valkyrie upholds and operates by a million times. Valkyrie. Does. Not. Kill. Seeing this once again in this book and then seeing her morals fall apart and get buried under her need for revenge would have been a thousand times better than seeing her throw away her morals to protect Winter, AGAIN, from doing something stupid. I swear to God if I have to see one more time were Valkyrie is forced to do something for Winter just to show and prove her devotion for her sister, I'm going to lose it. Killing Militsa and doing the revenge thing wouldn't only have been refreshing to the repetitive Winter saving plot, but would have given Valkyrie some very intriguing character development. I think that giving Valkyrie an insanity arc is an amazing idea. Give her more truama, what could possibly go wrong? We know that Valkyrie isn't going to die and we know that no matter what happens, she'll work through it and be fine. No matter what happens, she will be fine, so anytime we see her almost die or something like Xena almost dying, it dones'9t have any impact. That's why I think something so unexpected and unpredictable as an insanity arc would be great for Valkyrie. I don't mean in the give her another alter ego, kind of way. I mean OUR Valkyrie, just completely going off the rails over either Militsa or Winter's deaths, preferably Militsa's from a storytelling perspective. It would also be so interesting to see how Skulduggery reacts to this and how he goes about trying to help her. Reexperiencing the trauma of losing his wife, his downward decent into corruption, and losing all hold if his morals through his best friend after she loses her girlfriend and seeing what he does would be so beyond fascinating and engrossing, especially considering he only begun truly healing from it himself a few years ago.
Also, I am 1000% percent convinced that the empty cell we saw at the end had been containing Skulduggery's father. We saw him start getting set up in the Grimoire and then more in Until the End and nothing has come of it yet. When they brought Abrogate Raze back from The Dire Dimension in exchange for Quietus of Gaunt and information on how to get to the void world they had to have found a new place to put Abogate Raze and its assumable that Skulduggery and his siblings, not including the evil ones of course, would want to keep their father out of their dimention. So... thats my theory. If I'm wrong about this, then I'm going to cry.
Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of this one. I think that it could have been much more interesting and more unique. It felt a bit empty and repetitive of many things we've gotten before. I can't tell if the annoying parts were intentional or not. I'm not rating it low because I think it was awful and hated it for not doing what I was hoping. I don't feel right doing that because I have no idea where the story is going to go from here and this book could very well be a necessary and important set up book. I'd much rather have a set up book I enjoyed less than rushed or poorly done stories in the future. I'm rating it low for my personal enjoyment while reading it. I have faith that it will all pay off in the end and I can't wait for the next one.
Apologies in advance for this obscenely long review.
I think this book did a lot of things well but also had a lot of things that definitely weren't great and some things that were just down right pretty bad in my opinion.
Positives:
Starting off I think that the introduction of a more horror/slasher type of setting was a great choice for this new phase. With the way the plots are and what Derek is seemingly trying to accomplish with them, having this more intense kind of writing is making these new books very engaging and suspenseful in the perfect way for stories like these.
I loved that we got more Tanith and Ghastly in this book. I really enjoyed all the chapters with Cadaver Cain in them and I'm so excited to see more from his character. I've always found him to be such an engaging character.
I think that one of my main critiques of Valkyrie and Militsa's relationship was that we never got to see enough of them together for me to care much about Militsa. I'm really happy this book was more centered around their relationship and made it a lot more solid and believable for me.
I was very surprised by the mention of the Cleavers in this book. I was always curious about how they kept up their numbers and not only did we get an answer but also new information about their training processes and how the Cleaver system and culture works. I was not expecting a theme of humanization for the Cleavers at all, but I was so here for it. The brief exploration of the Cleavers here felt very reminiscent of what was done for the clones in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
I have to mention the amazing cover art. The new art and covers for all of the books are absolutely PHENOMENAL. Matt Taylor has truly outdone himself.
Any small mention of Skulduggery's cats is always going to be a massive positive for me. Not only are they a sign of just how far he has come and his desire to continue becoming better in all ways he can, but, come on, two adorable kittens, you just can't go wrong there. The very first thing I thought when we saw his kittens for the first time was that he finally had a reason to go back home at the end of the day. No longer is his house just that, a house for him to store his belongings and return to whenever the occasion came and otherwise being able to spend his time out nearly always. I remember in the earlier books where Valkyrie is shown to be surprised that he has a house because, unpractical as it would be, Skulduggery really has no need for one other than storage. Now that he has his kittens he has a reason to go home every day because he was able to once again accept the responsibility of having two living things dependent on him for survival. The people in Skulduggery's life have always been what has made him the most vulnerable. People get to him by taking away and hurting the people he loves. This is why him making the choice to adopt to kittens was so impactful. It truly is a testament to his growth.
I think this book also did a much better job exploring the reasoning behind the isolationists and their goals. I had a really big problem in A Mind Full of Murder because they all felt, to be quite honest, really stupid and petty and way too willing to forget about the threat and harm sorcerers have caused mortals for hundreds of years. Sanctuaries were established to give mages an escape from the mortal world and eventually developed to be the government systems we see in the books now, but they also developed to protect mortals from sorcerers as much as themselves from mortals. I was so upset with how they so willingly choose to forget all the multiple sorcerers who aimed to enslave or kill all mortals because they thought themselves as superior and mortals as less deserving of life because of their lack of magic and shorter lives. I think this book did a much better job defending the position of the isolationist, but I still really don't like them. For reasons being my comprehension, I really just can not find it in myself to care about their trauma at all. This may very well be because almost everyone that skulduggery and Valkyrie talk to about this matter comes off as really stupid, as do most minor characters in this series.
I feel like with how many times the topic of mortals gets brought up in terms of the worth of their lives, we would have gotten a more developed theme from this question. I feel like every time it is brought up we get a variation of sorcerers being superior in every way and mortals just being seen as inherently terrible and no better than cattle.
Negatives:
I FUCKING HATE WINTER. I don't have a single shit to give about this girl's trauma. I truly can not tell if Derek intentionally wrote her to be the most irritating character to ever exist and if we are meant to hate her or not. Every time I reach a chapter with her in it I am filled with a visceral RAGE. While I can certainly understand and relate to her feelings about not having any control over her life, I feel like her reactions and the way she perceives events is so selfish. Valkyrie is constantly stepping in and protecting her without her asking it of her sister, but she just seems to completely forget that in the situations where Valkyrie is protecting her, she is also simultaneously trying to save, oh, I don't know, EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET. Winter just completely does not care that in the situations where Valkyrie is kind of overstepping, it isn't JUST for Winter, it tends to be to protect everyone. I don't remember exactly what it was, but in A Mind Full of Murder I remember Winter talking about how Valkyrie took away her choice about becoming Malice, (it is wholly possible I am misremebering this)…
Girl, she did not do that just to oh, you know, SAVE YOU FROM BECOMING A MONSTER, MURDER, AND WORSE, BUT TO ALSO SAVE EVERYONE WHO SUFFERED FROM THE FACELESS ONES’ RULE IN THE FUTURE SHE SAW!! Winter is just so naive and self centered. She doesn't think about anyone else ever and she is so fucking ungrateful. Not to mention that we keep getting told that she's smart, but I swear all I've seen her do is stupid shit. I know that I'm probably forgetting a lot of the earlier things that happened to her, like all of Midnight, but I really didn't care then either. My main character bias for Valkyrie is to strong.
Moving on from my uncontrollable hatred and disdain for Winter, I kind of wish we had gotten more from skulduggery in this book, I understand why we didn't, but I think that it could have been beneficial just to give one more dimension to the thoughts Valkyrie was having regarding responsibility and how the way she processed things when she was younger really screwed her up for many years. Considering how much skulduggery had influenced her in her youth, I feel like there should have been some more of him in this book.
Before starting this I read a few non spoiler reviews and saw the reactions to the last part of the book. This set my expectations so high and I was so disappointed when I finally finished. This is ultimately my fault for letting myself do that. I'm a believer that if you go into a book expecting something very specific to happen because of something you heard and then it didn't, then it's not the book's fault, but your own, and as such, you can't hate the book for not meeting your expectations. Having said that, I was still so upset. To be frank, killing Fletcher just felt so empty to me. I've never really had any thoughts regarding Fletcher, he was just a character who was there. I didn't hate him but I definitely didn't love him. We also just haven't gotten much of him in the last few books. I did NOT care when he died. It was very anticlimactic for me. If not for the time frame of 6 days that we were given at the beginning, then I would've thought that Fletcher's death was a misdirect to make someone else's death more surprising and impactful. Despite not caring much about his death, I do like how Derek made it a point to note that Valkyrie forgot about Myosotis's dying so that when we come to the realization that Fletcher is the only one who would have noticed because of the bracelet she gave him that no one will remember Myosotis and note her missing since he is also dead it hits so much harder. I really liked Myosotis and this made me more upset than Fletcher dying by a long shot.
Not to mention that he was killed by Caelan. I was so mad when I learned that he was Gestalt. I was finding Gestalt to be such an interesting character for this installment of the series, but the minute I learned it was Caelan I was so underwhelmed. Gestalt had so much potential but the second I realized he was the “emo boy” all the build up of his power and the threat he posed felt redundant because we already know this guy is stupid and crazy. I can not understand why he was brought back. I feel like just creating a new character would have been much better for this. I say that knowing full well how hard creating new characters can be, but bringing back Caelan just felt cheap and like it was for no purpose other than temporary shock factor.
My biggest problem with this though, has to be the foreshadowed death. Right at the beginning we hear that Valkyrie is going to lose someone she loves and then the chapter immediately after shows her having a lovely time with her girlfriend, before all of the fighting of course. Then we spent a good portion of the book expanding their relationship more than it ever has been (for me at least). I thought that it was very obviously going to be Militsa who died because spending a lot of the book cementing their relationship and then ripping her away would have been a million times more interesting and heart wrenching than Fletcher dying.
I HATE that Winter is the one that got the power of the faceless ones. I was hoping and praying that Militsa would die and Valkyrie would take the power, consumed by hatred and demanding revenge, then kill Gestalt. We have seen the moral code in which Valkyrie upholds and operates by a million times. Valkyrie. Does. Not. Kill. Seeing this once again in this book and then seeing her morals fall apart and get buried under her need for revenge would have been a thousand times better than seeing her throw away her morals to protect Winter, AGAIN, from doing something stupid. I swear to God if I have to see one more time were Valkyrie is forced to do something for Winter just to show and prove her devotion for her sister, I'm going to lose it. Killing Militsa and doing the revenge thing wouldn't only have been refreshing to the repetitive Winter saving plot, but would have given Valkyrie some very intriguing character development. I think that giving Valkyrie an insanity arc is an amazing idea. Give her more truama, what could possibly go wrong? We know that Valkyrie isn't going to die and we know that no matter what happens, she'll work through it and be fine. No matter what happens, she will be fine, so anytime we see her almost die or something like Xena almost dying, it dones'9t have any impact. That's why I think something so unexpected and unpredictable as an insanity arc would be great for Valkyrie. I don't mean in the give her another alter ego, kind of way. I mean OUR Valkyrie, just completely going off the rails over either Militsa or Winter's deaths, preferably Militsa's from a storytelling perspective. It would also be so interesting to see how Skulduggery reacts to this and how he goes about trying to help her. Reexperiencing the trauma of losing his wife, his downward decent into corruption, and losing all hold if his morals through his best friend after she loses her girlfriend and seeing what he does would be so beyond fascinating and engrossing, especially considering he only begun truly healing from it himself a few years ago.
Also, I am 1000% percent convinced that the empty cell we saw at the end had been containing Skulduggery's father. We saw him start getting set up in the Grimoire and then more in Until the End and nothing has come of it yet. When they brought Abrogate Raze back from The Dire Dimension in exchange for Quietus of Gaunt and information on how to get to the void world they had to have found a new place to put Abogate Raze and its assumable that Skulduggery and his siblings, not including the evil ones of course, would want to keep their father out of their dimention. So... thats my theory. If I'm wrong about this, then I'm going to cry.
Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of this one. I think that it could have been much more interesting and more unique. It felt a bit empty and repetitive of many things we've gotten before. I can't tell if the annoying parts were intentional or not. I'm not rating it low because I think it was awful and hated it for not doing what I was hoping. I don't feel right doing that because I have no idea where the story is going to go from here and this book could very well be a necessary and important set up book. I'd much rather have a set up book I enjoyed less than rushed or poorly done stories in the future. I'm rating it low for my personal enjoyment while reading it. I have faith that it will all pay off in the end and I can't wait for the next one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2025
A non-stop, rip-roaring, thrill-a-minute adventure! We are well and truly back in the world of Skulduggery Pleasant, and it feels like the good old days of solving crimes. The gang is back together, an unstoppable killer is on the loose, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie have another impossible mystery to solve. With equal parts heart, horror, and humour, A Heart Full Of Hatred is a thrill ride of a novel.
Read
April 17, 2025I was gonna write a review being like, y'know I just love checking back in with all these characters every couple of years when new books come out, characters I grew up with and love, that feel familiar like old friends, and the humour's still there, it makes me laugh, it's fun. But then I finished the book and now I'm traumatized. The reveal of Gestalt's true identity felt silly, and then became vastly less silly to me when he proceeded to kill everyone I love. I am 24 years old God I need to get a life these feelings are too big for a children's book
March 27, 2025
Seems like Landy has (mostly) shaken off the bad habits of phase 2 and remembered how to craft individually satisfying stories without descending into overwhelming lore wankery. He’s even made some of the stupid Phase 2 leftovers feel actually cool and interesting in this new, more focused context. I’m also a fan of how he seems to be using specific genres as the bases for each book - last one (and the podcast) were murder mysteries, now this is a full-blown slasher. Pretty good book.
April 1, 2025
We are so BACK.
May 25, 2025
one thing about Derek Landy is he will hit you with a twist that will leave you gagged jesus christ
April 11, 2025
Тази книга ми видя сметката...
April 17, 2025
(4☆'s) rip my heart out why don't you, derek 🙄
April 16, 2025
teil 17 und ich liebs noch immer 🥹
April 21, 2025
fuck you derek
May 2, 2025
What — and I can’t stress this enough — THE FUCK
April 5, 2025
At this point in time I am now 100% sure Derek is beating the dead horse that is this series.
In my previous review I was actually happy with the start of this new phase. It actually made sense, had structure, and was well paced.
Book 2? Dear god.
We are back to the garbage of phase 2.
Two bit characters that we are “apparently” suppose to remember from previous books having a bigger book time. A plot that doesn’t make sense to the set up. Side bits that leave you asking “why” but not in a good way.
Since phase 2 Derek has been trying to make little statements in his books that just come out cringy. Now that focus seems to be on a religious and political front with The Devil now making an appearance, as well as “The Child of the Faceless” coming back? Really?
When he’s not trying to make a statement he’s going for “shock value” instead of telling a story. Dramatic fight sequences where Valkyrie barely walks away alive but somehow manages to get away to be fully healed for the next near death experience. Oh and the classic of killing characters. But as far as that’s concerned, said fan fav character that died here already suffered a character development death when he got thrown into a love triangle in phase 1.
I hope, HOPE, this is the actual final phase. I hope he ends this and just leaves it alone to go off and write something different. It’s sad that he’s killing his series by fumbling through it as he is.
In my previous review I was actually happy with the start of this new phase. It actually made sense, had structure, and was well paced.
Book 2? Dear god.
We are back to the garbage of phase 2.
Two bit characters that we are “apparently” suppose to remember from previous books having a bigger book time. A plot that doesn’t make sense to the set up. Side bits that leave you asking “why” but not in a good way.
Since phase 2 Derek has been trying to make little statements in his books that just come out cringy. Now that focus seems to be on a religious and political front with The Devil now making an appearance, as well as “The Child of the Faceless” coming back? Really?
When he’s not trying to make a statement he’s going for “shock value” instead of telling a story. Dramatic fight sequences where Valkyrie barely walks away alive but somehow manages to get away to be fully healed for the next near death experience. Oh and the classic of killing characters. But as far as that’s concerned, said fan fav character that died here already suffered a character development death when he got thrown into a love triangle in phase 1.
I hope, HOPE, this is the actual final phase. I hope he ends this and just leaves it alone to go off and write something different. It’s sad that he’s killing his series by fumbling through it as he is.
April 10, 2025
My comfort series! I will always love these books, but it doesn’t leave itself vulnerable from some critiquing.
The first half of the book started out solid, we were so back to the good old days. The latter half, I could feel the drop off in enthusiasm. I can understand where Derek’s inspirations are coming from with horror movie tropes, but unfortunately for all horror movie tropes, they’re what make the horror genre bad.
The end chapters where we are constantly running, fighting, running, fighting are just so annoying. They’ve always been one of my pet dislikes of Derek’s writing. It harkened back to the Midnight book which is, imho, the worst of the skullduggery books. Where we constantly have to slug through it to get to a mediocre and rushed ending. It did leave me feeling a bit meh.
I will always have a nostalgic love for these books, but I do feel like I needed to vent that this one wasn’t that good story and plot wise. But they are my favourite book characters and I will always love them… Even when they’re stupid.
The first half of the book started out solid, we were so back to the good old days. The latter half, I could feel the drop off in enthusiasm. I can understand where Derek’s inspirations are coming from with horror movie tropes, but unfortunately for all horror movie tropes, they’re what make the horror genre bad.
The end chapters where we are constantly running, fighting, running, fighting are just so annoying. They’ve always been one of my pet dislikes of Derek’s writing. It harkened back to the Midnight book which is, imho, the worst of the skullduggery books. Where we constantly have to slug through it to get to a mediocre and rushed ending. It did leave me feeling a bit meh.
I will always have a nostalgic love for these books, but I do feel like I needed to vent that this one wasn’t that good story and plot wise. But they are my favourite book characters and I will always love them… Even when they’re stupid.
April 6, 2025
i read this in one sitting freezing my tits off in eltham library and i think i am going to kill someone
May 11, 2025
i, too, have a heart full of hatred ... for winter. i am so sick and tired of her and her selfish little chapters ruining the books. bitch has zero perspective
August 2, 2025
Chapters 48 and 49 are literal crimes against the audience. How could you, Mr Landy? How very dare you.
April 12, 2025
This was a Valikeyre story—a great story, if there ever was one. I like how Phase 3 takes the slasher horror vibe from the past two books (this book and A Mind Full of Murder). One thing I say is that it feels a bit lazy to have the same look as the last slasher villain, but then again, Ghost Face did it, too. Anyway, even though this book is filled with dread and thrills, I felt the book's pace was a little slow. It felt like some scenes dragged a little longer than I wanted, but that's just me.
How was Skulduggery Pleasant? Awesome and dashing as usual! Though there was a lot less Skulduggery this time around. Like I said, it was a Valikeryre story after all. But when he is present, it is always filled with laughs and lights. Yeah, literally, he felt like an uplifting angel when he showed up.
But you know what really grinds my gears in Phase 3? Winter! Ever since her reintroduction into Phase 3, I haven't liked her. Her attitude and presence make me feel like she is ungrateful for everything that has happened so she can live. I get the kind of reputation of the new generation of sorcerers, but she is unbearable! I cannot stand her; I immediately don't like it whenever she shows up. I know she tries to be witty, but it doesn't come off that way. It comes off way too arrogant and privileged. And yet she resents her family and Val's sacrifices so she can live! Talking about "Oh this is my burden to carry, not you to save me." Yeah, I don't like her.
Now that ending though! HOLY CRAP! That death! I wasn't expecting it; I was very sad about it. It felt a little too fast, but I understand the situation. The reveal of the slasher, I guess if you look at all the hidden details Val said throughout the story, you might have a pretty good guess, even if it felt a little out of left field. But that moral and Winter felt out of place. There wasn't a build-up to it (or maybe that was the point). I felt like that was too out of left field.
But again, the ending was shocking, another sacrifice was made, and it left it in something I wasn't expecting the series to go. But, here we go, what else do you have in store for us? Because the next book cannot come soon enough.
How was Skulduggery Pleasant? Awesome and dashing as usual! Though there was a lot less Skulduggery this time around. Like I said, it was a Valikeryre story after all. But when he is present, it is always filled with laughs and lights. Yeah, literally, he felt like an uplifting angel when he showed up.
But you know what really grinds my gears in Phase 3? Winter! Ever since her reintroduction into Phase 3, I haven't liked her. Her attitude and presence make me feel like she is ungrateful for everything that has happened so she can live. I get the kind of reputation of the new generation of sorcerers, but she is unbearable! I cannot stand her; I immediately don't like it whenever she shows up. I know she tries to be witty, but it doesn't come off that way. It comes off way too arrogant and privileged. And yet she resents her family and Val's sacrifices so she can live! Talking about "Oh this is my burden to carry, not you to save me." Yeah, I don't like her.
Now that ending though! HOLY CRAP! That death! I wasn't expecting it; I was very sad about it. It felt a little too fast, but I understand the situation. The reveal of the slasher, I guess if you look at all the hidden details Val said throughout the story, you might have a pretty good guess, even if it felt a little out of left field. But that moral and Winter felt out of place. There wasn't a build-up to it (or maybe that was the point). I felt like that was too out of left field.
But again, the ending was shocking, another sacrifice was made, and it left it in something I wasn't expecting the series to go. But, here we go, what else do you have in store for us? Because the next book cannot come soon enough.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2025
OMG. First we get that prologue and I just knew I was going to be crying then Winter describes her humanity ( can’t remember exact line) as a veil that can be easily removed and it is like oh no .Then it starts to get into full horror theme. Then Xena nearly dies and Valkyrie starts having mental breakdowns that is totally understandable. Then I am crying because myosotis dies and Valkyrie doesn’t even remember. But the biggest plot twist everrrr happens and the killer is Caelan. And the saddest thing of all he killed off Fletcher .
MY LIFE IS OVER.
Moving past all these shocking events this was an absolutely incredible book and Derek Landy will forever be my favourite author and I cannot wait for the next one in the trilogy.
MY LIFE IS OVER.
Moving past all these shocking events this was an absolutely incredible book and Derek Landy will forever be my favourite author and I cannot wait for the next one in the trilogy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2025
Yeah so Imma just pretend those last 20 minutes didn't happen until the next one is out and I can breathe again
AHHHHHHH
AHHHHHHH
July 22, 2025
fletchers death broke my heart, especially since this goddam toxic bitch vampire caelan killed him :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2025
Oh. My. God. I have just out this book down and my jaw won't close and my eyes won't stop crying.
Some of the Skulduggery Pleasant books have left me broken but this has shattered me.
Fletcher. I always thought Fletcher was safe. He was a school teacher! Why did people keep insisting on him joining the sanctury operations.
Caelan you...there are no words for the amount of hatred I have for you.
Winter and Valkyrie and the story about Winter during the deletion.
What did this book do to me.
And how is it being left there for another year.
Oh. My. God.
I can't stop crying
Some of the Skulduggery Pleasant books have left me broken but this has shattered me.
Fletcher. I always thought Fletcher was safe. He was a school teacher! Why did people keep insisting on him joining the sanctury operations.
Caelan you...there are no words for the amount of hatred I have for you.
Winter and Valkyrie and the story about Winter during the deletion.
What did this book do to me.
And how is it being left there for another year.
Oh. My. God.
I can't stop crying
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2025
The twists and turns of of this book are incredible
I feel that they should have done more with mystosis instead of just leaving her in the cubical fleture unaliving made me cry I will miss him
All in all the plot made sense and it came to a satisfying ending it was a good book
Can’t wait for the next
I think that derek giving val sense of mortality allows readers to connect with val on a deeper level the dark elements of this book have made me think
All in all 6/5 stars it was brilliant
I feel that they should have done more with mystosis instead of just leaving her in the cubical fleture unaliving made me cry I will miss him
All in all the plot made sense and it came to a satisfying ending it was a good book
Can’t wait for the next
I think that derek giving val sense of mortality allows readers to connect with val on a deeper level the dark elements of this book have made me think
All in all 6/5 stars it was brilliant
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2025
Brilliant as always! so many shocks though 😭
June 28, 2025
WHY FLETCHER WHY
at least it wasn't Militsa
at least it wasn't Militsa
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2025
i dont even have something funny to say. what the fuck was all that
November 14, 2025
Valkyrie is investigating a terrorist group activity. She lost some of her power. She got hurt.
Then she got a call to investigate the murder of one of their own. Skudduggery is there, and they investigate the murder. The strange part is that the sorcerer didn't use magic to defend herself.
It is a fun investigation with lawyers involved. Lawyers are usually for the human legal system. But when Valkyrie uncovered that one of the sensitives was faking it. He cannot really read minds and give false reports when interviewing suspects. It breaks the system. The aftermath created a legal loophole for the lawyer to get involved and prevent the suspect from being interviewed by sensitive.
The mysterious murderer has a mask on. And it seems to create a force field that negates the use of magic.
It is a fun read. Valkyrie is working through her fear and insecurity.
The different churches that hold very different views on mortal are at work here. In the last Deletion, a lot of people got killed. Many sorcerers are killed by humans out of fear and hatred. Mortals have a long history of killing people who are different, usually by people who go to church. During the last Deletion, when mortals found out that there were sorcerers living among them, they murdered the sorcerers. When the Reset happens, the mortals have forgotten the event, but the sorcerers didn't forget. They have memories that they have been murdered, or their family and friends murdered by mortals.
There is also the sale of a mysterious island that only appears in the dimension that Valkyrie is in, every 50 years. There will be a big party with nice dresses. Valkyrie is going to this part, and so is Skudguggery.
The stage is now set. And it is a fun ride.
4.5 stars read.
Then she got a call to investigate the murder of one of their own. Skudduggery is there, and they investigate the murder. The strange part is that the sorcerer didn't use magic to defend herself.
It is a fun investigation with lawyers involved. Lawyers are usually for the human legal system. But when Valkyrie uncovered that one of the sensitives was faking it. He cannot really read minds and give false reports when interviewing suspects. It breaks the system. The aftermath created a legal loophole for the lawyer to get involved and prevent the suspect from being interviewed by sensitive.
The mysterious murderer has a mask on. And it seems to create a force field that negates the use of magic.
It is a fun read. Valkyrie is working through her fear and insecurity.
The different churches that hold very different views on mortal are at work here. In the last Deletion, a lot of people got killed. Many sorcerers are killed by humans out of fear and hatred. Mortals have a long history of killing people who are different, usually by people who go to church. During the last Deletion, when mortals found out that there were sorcerers living among them, they murdered the sorcerers. When the Reset happens, the mortals have forgotten the event, but the sorcerers didn't forget. They have memories that they have been murdered, or their family and friends murdered by mortals.
There is also the sale of a mysterious island that only appears in the dimension that Valkyrie is in, every 50 years. There will be a big party with nice dresses. Valkyrie is going to this part, and so is Skudguggery.
The stage is now set. And it is a fun ride.
4.5 stars read.
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