I’ve read the second book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series and I’m happy to report it’s only taken me a month or so!

In my review of the first book, I mentioned that the story reads like the final book in the series. Playing with Fire, on the other hand, is an adventure that sets the scene for more stories – quite like the first book in a series, now that I think of it. Valkyrie Cain (née Stephanie) is getting used to her new double life, where she fights magical crime with the talking skeleton detective, Skulduggery Pleasant. But when Baron Vengeous moves to bring back the Faceless Ones by using a monster called the Grostequery, Valkyrie and Skulduggery must once again find a way to save the world.

As with the first book, Playing with Fire was an extremely fun read. Most of the characters which survived the events in Skulduggery Pleasant return in this book, so I got to know the cast of characters a bit better. I really liked that we got to see a bit more of China Sorrows because she is just so cool – her magical powers are very cool and I liked learning more about her past.

Valkyrie and Skulduggery’s banter continues to be humourous and yet still believable (as believable as you can get between a thirteen-year-old and a skeleton), and the action scenes are as violent as ever. It’s a bit hard to believe that this is a book for kids, but here we are. I remember liking this when I was a kid and I’m still really enjoying the books now, so clearly the humour and the story have stood the test of time.

Overall, this was a really fun second book that develops the world of Skulduggery Pleasant even further. Because the ending clearly shows that the story is not over, I’m pretty excited to read the next book and learning more about the magic system and the various magic users that Skulduggery and Valkyrie are going to meet.

Featured Image: Photo from Canva