Lockwood & Co.: The Hollow Boy (Lockwood & Co., 3)

I love the vibe of this book series so much. This alternate England with a fantasy flair and spooky vibes. It's so fun being in this world. It's not a large group we follow around but The Problem certainly feels large.It feels like things are really ramping up in the world. I'm incredibly excited for the last two books. So many tantalizing questions left!

_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.

Hard to improve on such greatness as the previous two novels, but Mr Stroud did it! I enjoy these books so much, and have read them to each of my three kids as they've gotten old enough to appreciate them. Fabulous series!

I watched the show and got hooked, so now I’m reading the books. This is one of the few instances when I think the character depiction in the show is better than the book, so I’ll just mentally imagine them looking as they do in the show.I really enjoy this series. Spooky but not like “keep you up at night and give you nightmares” scary. Definitely written at a middle grade level, so quick reading if you’re older. I like the characters a lot.My one question is, why does no one in this series use the metric system if they are in England? Maybe in this alternate reality they never used the metric system? All the temperature and distance measurements are in imperial units. Perhaps he did it for the American readers ?

Jonathan Stroud continues to deliver the very best in storytelling and Lockwood & Co Book Three: The Hollow Boy is no exception. It's no secret that Stroud is one of my favorite writers and for very good reason. He can spin an amazing tale that will capture and delight the imagination of readers of all ages, and the trademark wry sense of humor made famous in his wildly successful Bartimaeus series is still going strong in the Lockwood & Co. series (with the help of a certain talking skull in a ghost jar).In book three, Lockwood, George, and Lucy (and our favorite talking skull) seem closer than ever and continue to be a highly effective ghost hunting team. But all the success from their previous adventures has brought much more business their way, and with a sudden supernatural outbreak in Chelsea, their time and resources are stretched very thin. Lockwood decides that he needs to bring in additional help, yet George and Lucy are insistent that they can continue to handle things fine with just the three of them, like they always have. Lucy takes a short vacation to go home to visit the family she hasn't seen in many months, and after failing to emotionally reconnect with her family, she returns back to London a little early, anxious to get back to her friends and her "real home" with the team...only to find another girl sitting in her chair - at her desk...a very cheery, delicately pretty, super-efficient new girl who's there just to "help out", a lovely young girl who is perfect in every way and seems to have the Lockwood and George completely under her spell. Suddenly Lucy is left feeling awkward, resentful, and left out. It doesn't help that the new girl, Holly, seems to rather enjoy making Lucy feel inadequate without actually appearing that way to the others (we all know THAT passive-aggressive type) and that she tries to imply a growing closeness with Lockwood, a closeness that Lucy has secretly always wished for. It also doesn't help that things having to do with the business and the house actually are becoming more efficient with Holly around, which makes it difficult for Lucy to justify her resentful feelings. Unfortunately, the ever-insightful skull in the jar finds wicked delight in her sticky situation, and is never short on playful, sarcastic commentary, much to Lucy's embarrassment. As the team prepares to take on more dangerous and high-profile jobs, their strange, new dynamics - along with Lucy's quickly growing and uncontrollable abilities to communicate with the dead - could lead the team into greater danger than they have ever faced. Loyalties and friendships will be tested, and it could cost the team everything. And boy, what a cliffhanger!If you or members of your family are big fans of Harry Potter, Lockwood & Co. is the perfect series to treat yourselves with. It's everything your whole family will love and enjoy. 5 stars and highly recommend.

I first watched the Netflix show and loved the story. When I read the books they were so close but gave more details the show overlooked. This author is great for young readers or a quick getaway.

This is probably my favorite so far. Bigger isn't always better but in this book it's amazing. Really starting to get into some of the bigger more mysterious aspect of the larger story too. I loved it!

I ordered this book and received it timely and in a very good estate. This is the third book of the saga Lookwood & Co., so I would recommend to read the previous ones to understand the main story. The author does constant, small synthesis of important parts of the stories that appear in the previous books, but it's cooler to read them! Very good written (UK English).

El producto llego en tiempo y forma y tal cual la descripción del mismo y en excelente estado de calidad.

Brilliant spooky books with lots of clever ideas.

good book

Letto in inglese, velocemente, grande suspence