Lockwood & Co.: The Hollow Boy Paperback – Illustrated, August 16, 2016

Ever since Harry Potter ended, I’ve been searching for a middle-grade series to capture my enthusiasm and interest, but nothing has really grabbed me until I stumbled upon Lockwood & Co. I adore this series!! Stroud has created a rich and eerily atmospheric alternate version of London—full of ghosts and the child agents whose jobs are to track them down and put them to rest for good. It’s a world full of intrigue and politics between rival agencies, of dangerous missions and sinister specters that do much more than go bump in the night. But what really makes this series stand out for me are the characters. Lucy is a wonderful protagonist—feisty, sarcastic, brave. Yet at times she is endearingly sympathetic, with enough doubts and vulnerabilities to remind you that in spite of her tough-as-nails exterior, she is all too human. Lockwood is mysterious and more than a little self-absorbed, and George is fumbling and often distracted but always well-meaning. They are characters that feel very real and dimensional to me, and I enjoy them all. I’m also impressed by Mr. Stroud’s ability to keep the series so fresh and exciting. Often with series you find that some of the books can start to falter and lose pace. Not so with Lockwood & Co. Every single book in this series has felt new and exciting to me and brings along such unexpected developments in the plot and the characters (even some of the antagonists!) that I can’t help staying up late at night to turn the next page. I read somewhere online that Stroud has at least four but maybe five books planned for this series, but hadn’t quite made up his mind yet. I, for one, am desperately hoping he goes on to write that fifth book. The world and characters he has created are more than rich enough for a five-book series, and since series of this caliber don’t come along very often, I want as much time with Lucy, Lockwood, and George as I can get!!

Great read, love the characters and hope there are more where this came from. Need more history of the problem though.

_The Hallow Boy_ was pretty good and I enjoyed it, for the most part. In terms of plot and pacing, the story really does well. Some of the descriptions, particularly of the "battles" are really rich and show what the author is capable of in terms of description. Some of the passages have a great sense of tension that really keep the pages turning and really do make this one hard to put down. I though the addition of some of the Skull's smart-ass comments were nice laugh-out-loud tension-breaking moments. I hate to admit it, but yes, the skull in the jar amused me. I saw most of the major plot-twists coming, but I am a young-at-heart reader and not of the intended age bracket. I did, however, think that the greater plot arcs were put together in mostly interesting ways, even though I saw most of the bits coming.There were still a few weak points, in my opinion. I still think the overall world-building here was a bit weak, especially given Stroud's very rich descriptive capabilities on other fronts, like ghost-hunting and battling. Once again, the world-building seemed to me to mostly a bunch of names dropped, and having never been to London, it all meant very little.I found myself annoyed with Lucy as narrator quite often in this one. Between her mooning over Lockwood entirely too much and feeling sorry for herself, I started to get a little fed up. When the subject of the narration isn't Lockwood, Lucy can be a bit mean-spirited and ungracious. Aside from changes in her abilities, I didn't really think she gained much depth as a character. I really dislike how she runs George down so much, even after three installments (and the short story). When she did put her foot down with Lockwood and defend George's research findings, and the need to investigate in light of them, it was more to do with her having sore feelings toward Lockwood than any sort of charity-of-feelings towards George and his abilities. While I think Lucy, as a character has humility, she doesn't have much a charitable spirit (towards others, with the exception of Lockwood) and that needs to start changing, if she's going to remain likable enough for me to continue reading this series. Lockwood, aside from being mysteriously aloof--sometimes arrogant--fails to listen to others again and again (even his own team) and doesn't gain much depth until near the end of this one, yet again. I was disappointed that the relationship between Lucy and Holly remained so turbulently cliche throughout most of the book. The YA teen-angsty girl vs. girl (somewhat due to involvement of boy that they both may like) thing just... cliche... It's not that I'm defending Holly as a character. I didn't care for her much myself--and I think snarky allusions to Lucy's looks and body-type were out of order--but it would have been a refreshing thing to have them get along a bit better, at least part of the time. I feel like an opportunity was missed to develop George as a character a bit. He had a moment of chivalry when Lucy encountered Winkman's son at the carnival that I thought really a nice plot turn. While I don't think the Lucy likes Lockwood, but George likes Lucy thing would thrill me as a future development, I thought it was a bit of a nice moment that brought him out of Lucy's and Lockwood's shadows--just a tad--that sadly lasted just for an instant. Lucy, George, and Lockwood are all a bit young for real romance anyway, so I hope it doesn't turn into a big love triangle within the series (unless the kids do age naturally and aren't perpetually "Simpsonized" and remain roughly the same age forever). Time does seem to pass within the story, so I guess time will tell on that score... Let's face it, as agents, they lead precarious lives. Putting their lives in each others' hands again and again is going to create emotional complications, but it may be a very good reason not to "date" (regardless of couple combination) if they're going to work together if everyone wants to stay alive.This book, once again, ends on a cliff-hanger with quite a few loose ends. Will we ever find out what exactly happened to Lockwood's parents? I bit of teaser was dropped in near the end of this book about them. What about the Orpheus Society? Does this mysterious society work for the "good" or is there some shade of villainy afoot in it's name (maybe with the excuse of "for the greater good"?)? So many questions remain. I will probably read onward, assuming there is going to be a fourth book. Book four, however, may be the decision-maker on whether I read on through any subsequent books in the series.