Hell breaks Loose (Skullduggery Plesant) review: still good, but not the greatest.

Derek Landy and his new novel Hell Breaks Loose has a signature flavor to it which I love. However, despite being hooked in the opening act and I could feel the immediacy immediacy the situation, some of the character interactions I love from the mainline series, as this was a standalone' weren't there. With the finish of the series with Until the End last year, this might be the last we see of the series.

The Dead men - a gang of people who do missions 'that would get anyone else killed' - need to stop Melevontant (a reoccurring villain in the series) from opening the portal. This story - especially getting to see character from my youth, and learning more about Ghastly Bespoke was a very compelling part of the narrative for me. Don't get me wrong there are some comical scenes, but I didn't have the same love I did for the book compared to Until the End or the original nine. Saracen and his power being what it is makes literally zero sense and should have been used a little more to make combat more interesting. Even though the fight scene and coaxing enemies into violence so he could fight more than one as a quirk is pretty interesting and makes for dynamic fight scenes that feel real with a dash of Derek humor.

Leaning more about the Sensitives and their quirks are interesting and kept me engaged through some of the duller scenes.

The first scene was incredib8ly good at setting it up and I have to say was one of my favourite scenes in the novel!

That's what I thought anyway with the twist of my favourite character coming back! Of course it is in the alternate dimensions setting; but that shocked me. From what I knew about the story it was set before the main series took place, but Derek always does twists. I wish that there were signs that it might be the case, but knowing Derek, it might not be. The scene between Ghastly and his Mentor was really interesting and the dynamic they had was very cool to read.

Skullduggery has, throughout the series, had an anger problem. I liked seeing where that was going without having much told to us about it - this book states exactly what the issue is and grapples with Skullduggery and the gang as subplots, but I'm anxious for another meaningless relationship between Valkyrie and Ghastley.

Spoiler

Thank god this didn't happen.

I want to make it clear that the more I read the more I loved this book but still it didn't have that same magic. Scenes were overall really good with some of my favourites - the one where skullduggery is trusted and misuses it and Srpine goading him and great, but at the same time, they feel hollow.

Overall, having now finished the book I feel like its wrapped up really well and I didn't know that I'd finished the book and ended up wanting more, even if my enjoyment of the book hasn't gotten me as excited as previous works. With some adult work in the pipeline ofr Derek, I'm very excited to see the types of things that Derek can put toward in the future!