A Heart Full of Hatred by Derek Landy.
A review by Kate O’Brien.
Landy has brought us back to the world of Skulduggery Pleasant yet again. In this latest book, Valkyrie Cain learns that she is the next target of a killer. Skulduggery and Valkyrie find themselves wrapped up in another murder investigation, but the most unsettling part is that this case feels all too much like a case they just closed.
For the first time, Valkyrie reflects on the dangers of what she does as the last case nearly took the lives of both her sister and her girlfriend, and now the same pattern seems to be emerging. Are those whom she loves in danger again? The killer is working hard as more bodies are piling up and the clock is ticking. The elites of the sorcerer world are planning to gather on a remote island to witness a special ceremony that might change the society forevermore. As expected, nobody is safe. If you’re a fan of Landy, you know that you’re in for a book of twists and turns.
The Skulduggery Pleasant series continues to evolve, and those who know Landy’s style to be action-packed and very funny due to his sarcastic wit and sharp, fast, and very dry humour, will be glad to see that A Heart Full of Hatred remains true to that known and loved writing style.
I will say that I feel as though this book is more character focused than some of the previous books. It does feel more mature in tone, especially as Valkyrie is beginning to reflect more on her feelings, and notably, on her fears. I’ve often said that I think that readers who grew up loving the Skulduggery Pleasant series will definitely enjoy these books, perhaps a bit more than readers who are just discovering the series now. That’s not to say that new readers would not or could not enjoy the series now, but there is a special sense of nostalgia that accompanies a series when you started reading it as a child and you continue reading into adulthood. How we feel about the characters, and how we relate to them evolves as we age, and I think the fact that this series has been in the world for so long is part of why some of the arcs are so impressive.
I do think that I would be recommending the books now to older teens because they do feel darker now, especially because of how the tone has begun to shift. There is always a political and social awareness that can be identified in Landy’s writing, and in terms of viewing things through a lens of childhood and YA reading, there is absolutely a notable shift in Valkyrie specifically, because this person who was once quite cocky and believed they were indestructible now understands that they very well could be killed, but Valkyrie looks danger in the face anyways. She will not be deterred from investigating these murders. In this shift though, I would argue that readers can relate to this arc because as we get older, we do become more aware of our own limits and how things can threaten us, and we don’t have the same fearless abandon that we had as children when we didn’t understand that there are threats that are very real. So, I do think that this idea of feeling fear but going forward anyways really appeals to long-term fans of this series, because although the world of Skulduggery Pleasant is filled with magic, mystery, and wonder, the personal arcs we get to see are still very relatable outside of the fiction.
I think it is quite obvious that Landy is leaning into horror genres that he loves when writing these newer books. Based on Landy’s dedication alone, in which he dedicates A Heart Full of Hatred to Freddy, to Michael, to Ghostface, “to all of the slasher movie killers…to all of the wonderful ways they’ve thought of to kill somebody …also to those who survived their rampages, who stopped running, turned around and kicked their asses,” I do think it is fair to say that this book feels very much like a nod to all the slasher movies that Landy himself must love. The book could almost be a great way to introduce a teenage reader to the slasher genre, but beyond all of this, I do think that resilience is the key theme of this latest book.
There will always be things to fear, dangers will lurk more often than not, and sometimes we will fear for the ones we love most, but we cannot hide from those dangers. We must face them head on and always find the light in the dark.
I would recommend A Heart Full of Hatred to any long-term Landy fan and to readers 14+
Thank you to HarperCollins Ireland for sending me an advanced copy. Please note this is not a paid review, not an ad, not PR etc. I was not asked to write anything, but I wanted to share my thoughts and as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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