Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Hollow Boy

I want to like these books more than I do. The plot with the ghosts is always interesting, but Stroud writes Lucy with such vitriol towards any other girl that it's hard to read. From the first moment Holly is introduced, Lucy takes everything she does in the worst possible way. The fatphobia towards George from the previous two books is scaled back a lot, but it's just replaced with more of Lucy's "not like other girls" attitude.

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happilyeveralli's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

LOCKLYLE FANS WE HAVE MADE GAINS!

Spoiler
“Come off it,” Lockwood said. “You know I’d die for you.” He chuckled. “Heaven knows, I’ve come near it often enough. Scrambling down a crack in the ground is nothing…”

Coming off lots of angriness about the adaption's cancelation, it was nice to get back to reading the source material. I became a fan of Lockwood & Co because of the series. From reading the first two books, though there are some major deviations, it is a respectful and good adaption that takes its own form whilst showing love for its origins. Now, onto the contents of the book:
Wowie, THE HOLLOW BOY is a whirlwind (pun somewhat intended). Though, that's what makes it special. I loved that we got a lot of character development. The introduction of Holly sort of forces Lucy to grow and take accountability for her mistakes whether she wants to or not. I hope their relationship is as well-explored in the next two books. I also hope that George and Kipps' team are more featured.

Spoiler

I must say rest in peace to Ned Shaw. I'm beginning to grow to love Kipps. He's wonderfully sarcastic. I need more banter between him, his team, and George. I loved the way the team-up was introduced as well. The whole Chelsea Outbreak situation was so well-done. The world of this series is just so wonderfully thought out. I wonder if the Orpheus Society is more involved with the suspicious happenings at the King's Prison. Super upset that Lucy has resigned. Though, I am trusting that in the end, she'll end up back where she belongs with the boys and Holly!

I might end up taking a break from the series for a bit in order to get through some other books on my physical TBR (I've been reading the series with the audiobooks on Libby and due to my library not having the final two books in the series, I'll have to buy them physically). Though, all in all, THE HOLLOW BOY has been my favorite installment of the Lockwood and Co series yet!

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erebus53's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Book #3 of the Lockwood & Co series sees the introduction of a new member of the team. Holly is the first character to be introduced to the series and described as brown skinned(!). So far the books have been not very diverse in their cast, which is why I still prefer the Netflix TV series.

Lucy is starting to really warm up to her powers of communication with spirits, and although this seems to be able to take their investigations in new directions, placating and releasing spirits, rather than waging war upon them, it does open her up to the emotions and influences of some powerful and messed up other-beings, that could end up endangering her and those she cares about.

Much as I like the direction of the story and the plot points, there are a lot of things about this series that are starting to drive me up the wall. The constant fatphobia is doubled down on in this book with Holly being ridiculed for enjoying health foods and skipping sugary treats, and George being situated firmly in the "pro-cake" column. Lucy is still a mean and insecure piece of work, who rips into people with sarcasm, seems entitled to know everyone's secrets, and seems to sulk rather than trying to resolve conflict. She basically seems to hate anyone without a Y chromosome.

I don't know why it has to be so, but the most endearing character is the comedic buddy Skull who (like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) spends the entire time dreaming up insults or ways to kill the party members, in gleeful asides. "Egg-whisk!" I guess it's the character that's ALLOWED to be evil, and I'm sick of the heroes being secretive, snarky and malign.

I think I'll keep future episodes for when I am needing something not too challenging because I find it a bit hard to get invested in a story with such an irritating main character.

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growintogardens's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

*sigh* Lucy's so judgemental of other people and it's really annoying and, in this case, ruined a lot of this book for me.

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annie_2's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It really bothers me tha way Lucy criticices everyone but Lockwood, even herself. And that all the girls that appear are "competition" to her. The plot is really enterraining though

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luna_anne's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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chris_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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librarymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I disliked the first half of the book. Having the only two female characters be pitted against each other, possibly over the conventionally attractive main male character felt like a sharp turn away from the style and plot of the last two books. It got far better in the second half, but having the two be catty with one another and so judgmental was sad. The book was written in the peak of the "I'm not like other girls" YA era, and I think that's one of its main flaws. I really enjoyed how the story progressed and how the tension was broken between Lucy and Holly. The characters are all dynamic and round, and in the first two books they were far more adults than they were in this book. Even though I didn't quite like how the interactions were written, I do think that this book is more human. They are just teenagers, no matter how professional they are or how dangerous their jobs are. They're young, and I think this novel did a good job reminding the readers about that. I do have some theories about who was working in that underground mass grave. The cigarette is a good clue, but may be a red herring.

Spoiler

Mr Rockwell coming up with the ideas for the parade, his adept swordsmanship, and his habit of smoking point at him and/or the organization of rich people trying to find the source of the problem being the ones who caused the Chelsea outbreak. I'm interested to see how Lucy resigning is going to play out in book 4. Her being traumatized by what the ghost showed her is really well written written and I think that's an interesting move for her character to make.

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