I picked up this book for free following World Book day, and despite not knowing anything about the series (especially considering how it’s labeled as #5.6 in the series), easily found my footing and enjoying Adedayo’s story. He discovers he is magic at age fourteen, and shortly thereafter his Nigerian grandmother comes to live with his family. She teaches him about magic in the short time before she passes away. Upon her passing, he receives a mysterious magic box that no one can open. Until one night, he wakes in the middle of the night just knowing how to open it.
So he opens it.
And releases the three Apocalypse Kings, who have been waiting millennia in the box to defeat the Faceless Ones (who, by the way, have mostly disappeared from the human world in their absence anyway) by destroying all of their food source: human souls.
With their release comes the appearance of a girl named Valkyrie and an undead skeleton named Skulduggery Pleasant. If the hope of the world for surviving the Apocalypse Kings rests on Valkryie and Skulduggery’s abilities to blend in at Adedayo’s school, let’s just say saving the human race from extinction is not a given. Good thing they have Adedayo to help out! That is, as long as he doesn’t ever have to debate (he’s really quite terrible at debating club).
I started reading this because I wanted something short to read while I waited at the vet for my turtle’s appointment, and this fit the bill perfectly. It’s light, it’s fun, it has a sense of danger, it has magic and magical beings, both god-like and undead, and it was just a nice diversion. I’d happily read more of this series (though I have so many on my TBR as it is, it doesn’t get priority).
Favorite quote:
“History isn’t a list of dates or a collection of events – history is people. It’s the decisions they make, and the consequences of those decisions. History is a jigsaw puzzle, and when you have all the pieces in place you can step back and finally see the whole picture laid out before you. History is a mystery waiting to be solved.” – page 32/77 (chapter 8)