The Creeping Shadow by Jonathan Stroud

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 542

Publisher: RHCP Digital 

Released: 15th of September 2017 

Lucy has left Lockwood & Co. A freelance operative, she is hiring herself out to other agencies – agencies that might value her ever-improving skills.

But now Lockwood needs her help.

Penelope Fittes, leader of the well-renowned Fittes Agency wants Lockwood & Co. – and only them – to locate and remove the ‘Source’ for the legendary Brixton Cannibal.

It’s a tough assignment. Made worse by the tensions between Lucy and the other agents – even the skull is treating her like a jilted lover!

What will it take to reunite the team? Black marketeers, an informant ghost, a Spirit Cape that transports the wearer, and mysteries involving their closest rivals may just do the trick.

But not all is at it seems. And it’s not long before a shocking revelation rocks Lockwood & Co. to its very core . . .

What I Have to Say 

I love these books. Even though they stop me sleeping sometimes, it's worth a bit of a scare to read the beautiful writing and adventures that Lockwood & co. partake in. I love the relationships between the teammates the best. The way they fit together as an oddball family with their thinking cloth and addiction to cake. They're quirky and work well together and the addition of Holly hasn't changed that. 

I loved the way that Lucy came back to the team as well. The way that she insists that she's not really back while helping them with cases, even though it's obvious right from the start that she's going to go back to them. Because what is Lockwood & Co. without Lucy? 

I also missed the sarcasm of the skull. As much as Lockwood & Co. isn't Lockwood & Co. without Lucy, it also lacks a lot without the skull's sarcasm. The time without it changed the feel of the book a lot. That was really the only downside to this book though. I enjoyed it just as much as the others. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 368 

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books 

Released: 10th of March 2016 

Other Books in the Series: 

                     The Winner's Curse 

                     The Winner's Crime 

War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.

But no one gets what they want just by wishing.

As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

What I Have to Say 

On the Series in General 

As with a lot of people, this series captured me from the first book. I fell in love with the setting, with Kestrel, with the way it was written and of course, with Arin. It just has something. Something that pulls you inside the book and makes it a beautiful, rich and immersive experience. 

On The Winner's Kiss 

The thing I realised when starting to read the Winner's Kiss was how much the book has changed. It has always been a fantasy war book. It has always been very involved with the politics of the countries it is set in, but where the first one was focused on the romance between Arin and Kestrel, the second one became more about the politics of the court. It became about lies and spying and going behind one another's backs. The Winner's Kiss is different again. Eventually it becomes a war book, but I'm not even sure how to categorize the first half. 

What I can say about it, is that it was completely not how I expected the series to go. The drugs and other things that I won't say to avoid spoilers, were a very interesting twist. It's the thing about Rutkoski's writing. You just have no idea what she's going to do next or what direction she's going to take the story in, but it's almost written to make you think that you do. 

I'm really sad that this series is over, but I'm glad of how it ended. It really was a beautiful series. 

Red Witch by Anna McKerrow

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 416

Publisher: Quercus Children's Books 

Released: 10th of March 2016 

Seventeen, heartbroken, powerful; Melz has run away from home, run away from the safety of the Greenworld. In the cities of the Redworld, Melz discovers she's special, desired. And not just for her magical talents. When Melz meets the young but influential Bran, their attraction is instant and electric. In the Redworld, with Bran by her side, unrestrained by the customs of her former life, Melz knows she can reach her true potential. But the world Bran wants to give Melz is ravaged by war and violence. Oil is running out, and people will do anything to gain control of the remaining resources. Melz may be more powerful than ever, but even great power can be a curse when used against you. 

What I Have to Say 

This is another sequel that I think was even better than the first book, even though the first was fantastic. I continue to love the worlds that McKerrow has created, both the already established Greenworld and the way we got to see our first real taste of the cities of the Redworld. 

I think one of the best things about the book was the contrasts that McKerrow was constantly making. The obvious contrasts were between the Redworld and the Greenworld and between the Greenworld's female deity and the strong male god of the Redworld, but also the comparisons made between the Goddess's of the Greenworld and tales of Proserpina. 

I think the best thing about this series is how flawed the Greenworld is. It would have been very easy for McKerrow to show the Greenworld as a Utopia of Paganism and the Redworld as the fuel-chugging darkness of everything that's wrong with society, but she's made sure to show the good side of the Redworld and the slight racism and prejudice of the Greenworld, as well. 

I really like the direction she is going with the Greenworld, trying to find balance with both the female and male aspects of their gods and the paralleling balance that I think they will have to find between the two worlds. I can't wait for the next book!