“Of the first few hauntings I investigated with Lockwood & Co. I intend to say little, in part to protect the identity of the victims, in part because of the gruesome nature of the incidents, but mainly because, in a variety of ingenious ways, we succeeded in messing them all up.”

This is a 2019 revised review! Bold = old Normal = new.

So it was time for Halloween, and I decided that I wanted to re-read this one again. Not sure if I will read the whole series, but my gut says YYYYESSS, so I probably will. It kind of depends on if I can find the second book in time. I got book 3 to 5 myself, but I don’t have the earlier books yet. Maybe I will just buy it. 😛
I was eager to get started on this book, and I am happy that I can say that, despite having read this one only 2 years ago, it wasn’t a problem to re-read it. cheers

I loved how the author first starts with the now, a case taking place in a house, a person who died, is he the one haunting the place, or is it something more? It is all terribly exciting and I was huddling in my bed, yes, it might not have been the exact right moment to read about a haunting, especially one so creepy as this one is.

Still delighted that the author started with the now, that we get right to the nittygritty instead of showing us things chronologically. I loved the haunting, it was just really creepy and spooky and I was eager to see how our team was doing as we are left during quite an exciting time. I loved the dynamics between Lockwood and Lucy. Bickering at times, but you could see that they are a good team. This time I wasn’t reading this in bed, this time I was reading it whenever I had a chance to read. While baking some delicious foods, relaxing, and sure, also at times in bed. 😛

That story ends, or at least we take a break and we roll back to the Before. Before this happened. We see what happened to Lucy in the past, how she became a ghost hunter/agent, how her Talent was discovered, and also several tragic things that happened to her when she just started. We then see her try to find a new place to work, and land at Lockwood & Co..

I loved going back to the past and see how Lucy started seeing (or most specifically hearing) things, seeing her home-situation and how she got a job. I was very sad about the reason why she went to London. Dang, that was just horrific to read about it again. The poor girl. I also didn’t quite understand why no one of the more important companies wanted her, she seems to have quite an extra-ordinary talent (and others as well) and I can’t remember if it was ever mentioned why she wasn’t accepted. Then again, if she was accepted she would have never met Lockwood and she wouldn’t have all these amazing and well, sure, also horrifying things happening.

Lockwood I loved from the start of the book (though I had thought he was older, considering how he acted around Lucy and how he took the case), but George? Eh. Eh. When I read about him in the beginning (before we meet him) I was interested, curious, I wanted to know more about this guy. But then we meet him, and I was quite agreeing to Lucy’s sentiments about him. Even as the story passes by I just never really got to like him. He had some good points, but that was all. He had this attitude that just annoyed me. Like he always knew better. Then there were several other things. Even though I didn’t like him, I have to say I didn’t hate him, and he didn’t ruin the story for me. He was just there.

Yep, same feelings this time round. Though having read the series now I can appreciate George more. Later on he gets a bit better, but yes, in the beginning he was just meh. But he is an important asset to the team. With his smarts, his talent for researching, and always finding things about a case that the other two would probably not have discovered. And yes, I loved Lockwood to bits. He was an idiot at times, made rash decisions that cause some problems, but still I really liked him. Same as the first time, I still think of him much older than he probably is.

Lucy was a wonderful girl, and I love her talent. I also love how strong she was and how steady. She didn’t let the boys run over her, she stood her ground. She helped out, and of course, like any human, made mistakes. But she wasn’t one to cover them up, she was honest.
I loved her from the beginning, and when we found out what happened to her in the past my love grew further. Such an awesome girl. Kick-ass to the max!

Same feelings here, though I would like to add that I wasn’t too much of a fan of her constant down-putting of girls, especially if they were prettier than her. It is something that is noticeable in this one, but it gets worse in the later books and I think that definitely amplified how I felt about her in this re-read. She still kick-ass, she is still awesome and doesn’t let the boys run over her, but yeah, it is a shame that she acts like that around other girls. We should support each other. Not hate.

The idea that people can have various Talents also seems fun, I do remember that I have read other books with similar ideas. Some people can see the ghosts, others can only hear them, some can pick up emotions and flashes from items, some just feel that there is something there.
I am not entirely sure if the others had it too, but in this one the older you get the more you seem to lose your talent. Which kind of coincides with turning an adult and how adults generally don’t believe in such things any more. At least that is my feeling with it.

Same in this re-read. It was great fun seeing all the different talents come to play. How George was just a mingle of things, Lockwood could see things bright as day (and had to carry sunglasses to protect his eyes), and how Lucy could see a bit but hear even more and also had a dash of Touch. I wonder what my talent would have been had I lived in this world. It seems all talents have their up and downsides. Hearing can be quite scary, touch you may not like what you see and well seeing do you really want to see all the creepy crawlers? Eh.

I also loved how everything in this book turns out to be connected. At first I was wondering, but then I saw the little hints here and there, even then it took me a while to really see all the connections. For which I am thankful, I love it when a mystery keeps me on my toes, and keeps me guessing. I don’t like easy mysteries.

Yep! Same feelings here. And since I read the other books and still remember them, knowing that this is just the beginning. That this book is just the set-up for all the things still to come is just amazing. I am happy with the mystery, and I had fun re-guessing the whodunnit.

I am a bit confused as to the time this one takes place in. It seems to be around now, but then there are things that don’t match with that. They have phones, television sets, dishwasher, everyone has electricity, and seemingly other things too, but then there were things that made it seem like we were back in the early 1900s. It was a tad bit confusing, and at times it distracted me from the story, I just wanted to know when it took place.

Again, same. I still was thoroughly confused at times. They had dishwashers and tvs and phones, yet then at other times it seemed like that was just a mix-up. I wish it was a bit clearer on when this is taking place, make it more consistent.

The hauntings are terrifying, well, OK, the first one (with Annie Ward) and the second one (with the Screaming Staircase). Really, you will get goosebumps all over you because of how creepy they are. When the book talks about it becoming cold you really feel yourself getting cold, and I even noticed myself keeping an eye on corners and other parts while reading. Even when I read it today, during the day. I just LOVE it when books make me scared, or give me goosebumps. Those are definitely the best books, and I can’t wait to see what other hauntings this series will bring. Hopefully they will get creepier with each book.

Yep! Agree with my 2017 self here. It was plenty of creepy. The first haunting was spooky, especially when Annie got her appearance, but I have to say that this time round I loved the second one even more. It was just so creepy, so spooky, and I was reading this part just before sleeping… soooooo. 😛 I had plenty of goosebumps while reading.

I am still curious about the Problem, aka the sudden appearance of ghosts everywhere, and the fact people have to protect themselves so much, put iron and other stuff on their houses, stay inside during the night. I guess we will be slowly finding out, as not only the readers, but also the people in this world have no clue what happened. Ghosts always existed, but suddenly there was a whole burst of them. That ghost touch is absolutely terrifying by the way. Just the thought that you can die due to a ghost touching you? shivers

By now I know what has happened as I read the whole series as it came out, but yep, I can understand me from 2017 and how she felt. I love how the author gives minimal information, just bit and hints here, making you curious about things and that you want to know more about how this Problem started. I also love the classifications of the ghosts and reading about the different agencies.

There are also enough funny, light-hearted parts that brought a moment of reprieve before the scariness starts again. It also gave more depth to the characters. It showed they were just humans and also made clumsy/hilarious mistakes. Plus it made them more dimensional. They are not always serious. At times there is time for a bit of a laugh.

Yep! I love how it is a nice blend of creepy and horror but with dashes of humour in between. Seeing the team bicker at times over silly things was just hilarious and brought a fresh breath of air to the spooky things. And no, it didn’t make it less creepy, it just gave one a bit of a pause. Just a dash of laughter before heading straight back in to the NOPE.

All in all, this was quite a re-read, and I have to say that thanks to having read the whole series I can appreciate the story even further. Now I can see the subtle hints even more, and understands how everything will be connected in the end. The author really set a great first stage, wrote fabulous characters. 400+ pages, but just like the previous time I just flew through it. I needed more.

I can’t wait to read the next book, and I hope to get it soon so I can continue. I would highly recommend this one to everyone looking for a spooky and fun read.