Playing With Fire by Derek Landy (Skulduggery Pleasant Series, Book 2)

From Harper Collins:

Meet Skulduggery Pleasant

Ace Detective
Snappy Dresser
Razor–tongued Wit
Crackerjack Sorcerer
and
Walking, Talking,
Fire-throwing Skeleton

—as well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old.

These two alone must defeat an all-consuming ancient evil.

The end of the world?

Over his dead body.

My Thoughts:

I consider the first book in this series to be one of the best books I read this year, so I was very excited to read the second book in the series. I just love Skulduggery. It is refreshing and fun and I continue to look forward to the future books after reading this one. I didn't like this book quite as much as the first book, but it was still a really good book. I know other people have not been quite as enamoured with this series as me, but to each their own. I think, for me, this series is my 'for fun' series. It doesn't matter how well it is written over all as long as I can enjoy the story and the characters while I am reading it. When it stops being fun, then that will be the end of the series for me.

The two main characters in this series are Skulduggery Pleasant and Stephanie Edgley. Skulduggery is the reason that I read these books, but the dynamic between him and Stephanie is also a good sale. They play off each other really well and both bring a lot to the books. Skulduggery is a walking, talking skeleton. Instead of just being a sleuth, though, Stephanie is very slowly learning his backstory. It adds to the overall picture when you understand why Skulduggery is who he is. He is also really humourous and very concerned with how he dresses, which is entertaining on its own. It's always good when a skeleton is a better dresser than those that are living. Stephanie is a twelve-year-old girl that got drawn into all the excitement when her uncle died in the previous book. Skulduggery thought that their time together was over with, but Stephanie is determined to stick around.

This book was another of their adventures and from what I hear, the series has many more adventures forth-coming. Is this the best young adult series out there? Probably not, but I love it and I think that everyone should give it a try. The third book is out now and I can't wait to read it!

My thanks to Harper Collins Canada for the review copy of this book!