I should really consider just picking up the next Skulduggery Pleasant book whenever I feel like I’m not reading enough because the books are so fun that I somehow find time to read them (as soon as I start. If it’s just on my bookshelf, it can sit for a while. Funny how spare time works).

According to my research, The Faceless Ones wraps up the first trilogy in the Skulduggery Pleasant series. It’s about 2 years after the first book, Valkyrie is now 14, and the Faceless Ones are still a threat. I know right? How many times must a girl and a skeleton save the world from the same threat?

This time, however, the stakes are raised. Someone is killing teleporters and Valkyrie and Skulduggery are not involved. Actually, they’re not only not-involved, they’re being hindered in their unofficial investigations by the detective in charge of the case. But as usual, when there’s a threat to existence, there’s a way and Skulduggery and Valkyrie are soon preparing for another showdown.

As with the first two books, the story moved quickly. I really liked how the continued threat of the Faceless Ones was brought to a conclusion here – hints of the truth that were dropped in the first two books are finally connected to reveal who the traitor and mastermind is. We even get a very funny section where Valkyrie meets Scapegrace, a wanna-be serial killer, again. That was the part of the book that made me laugh out loud.

And as always, the characters here are delightful. I wish we saw a little bit more of China; she’s in the book, but she’s not a major character in this book, if you know what I mean. But I enjoy seeing her on the page and I’m glad that she’s a stable part of the world by now. Another favourite side-character of mine is Kenspeckle, who always fixes Valkyrie when she’s injured and shows absolutely no fear of Skulduggery. We also get to see a few old friends, and I was really happy to see one of them.

All in all, this was another really fun book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series. It is definitely much darker and more violent than most books starring 14 year olds, but I had a lot of fun reading it and I look forward to the next book!