Skulduggery Pleasant: Month 1

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And right now, both my brain and body feel absolutely fried. 

But I promised myself, I would be doing a blog post tonight, and I intend to follow through with that. 

Unfortunately, that means that this Skulduggery Pleasant update will be the bare bones of what I was planning, so sorry in advance. 

Or maybe not- I'll see what I'm able to do. 

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy it. 

(I won't be doing a wrap up up at the end of the month, by the way. Just so you know.)

How things are going...

Surprisingly, not bad. I'm kind of exactly where I thought I'd be. Do I wish I'd read more this weekend? Absolutely. But missing a couple of days isn't the end of the world. 

So, the plan for this update is, I was thinking of going through each of the books I've finished so far, and give a brief description of what I thought, how many pages, and finish dates. 

So far I've finished:

1. Skulduggery Pleasant

Pages: 371

Reading dates: 1st March- 4th March 

What did I think: Book 1 will always be one of my favourites. I love that this first book has the ability to make me forget the page count and lose myself in the story. Every character I love: Stephanie, Skulduggery, Tanith, Ghastly, Mr. Bliss, China, even bloody Serpine. This was the foundation for a now, 17 book series (and extras), and I can't fault it one bit. 

2. Playing with Fire

Pages: 351

Reading dates: 5th March- 12th March 

Yeah, Playing with Fire is always a sore spot for me. It always feels like more of a slog to get through after the first book. Don't get me wrong, it introduces some characters that becoming recurring characters over the next few books, but something about defeating a villain that Skulduggery has history with, and then three, seemingly more dangerous killers show up? That seems a bit off for me. Playing with Fire is basically where the storyline for the next two and a bit books starts off, which is preventing the faceless ones from returning to that dimension. 

I can't really fault the direction that the story takes, but for some reason I've always struggled with this particular book. 

3. The Faceless Ones

Pages: 395

Reading dates: 12th March- 15th March 

If you can't tell by how quickly I finished this book, I like this one. Like, a lot. Nearly 400 pages and I finish it in three days. It all kicks off in this one. Everything that was bubbling in book 2, comes to the surface in this. The stakes are higher. The faceless ones are coming, teleporters are being killed. Necromancers start making an appearance. People get killed, and someone gets pulled into a deadly dimension where he'll likely be tortured to death. It's the first time everything isn't magically fixed, and you're left wondering what's going to happen next. These kinds of books are why I love this series so much. 

4. Dark Days 

Pages: 413

Reading days: 16th March- 19th March 

I read this so quickly because it was on my list to complete before tomorrow night. I was ready to push to finish this book as long as I could, that very first night. 

With Dark Days, we say goodbye to the faceless ones chapter (although some grudges against Valkyrie are very much active, but that's nothing new- a lot of people want her gone). We move on to a whole other threat, one that is consistent throughout the remaining 6 books in this series (phase one). 

That threat is Darquesse. A mysterious person that seemingly destroys the world. It sounds cheesy, but is anything but. Dark Days definitely isn't a filler book, it's more building things up, for something big to happen in book 5. 

Remnants arrive, you get your fair share of psychics, and some of the good guys get hurt quite a bit. The stakes are starting to bubble higher, waiting to spill over in Mortal Coil. 

I enjoyed this one immensely. 

5. Mortal Coil 

Pages: 571

Reading days: 20th March- currently

Currently on page 37. 

After reading Dark Days, I decided not to persist with this for a couple of days. It's not that I didn't want to read it- I happen to think this is the book that changes the direction of the series more than any of it's predecessors- but I didn't want to burn out, especially as I have another 12 books ahead of me before I get to the new release. I'm ready to hit the ground running with this come tomorrow, when I have more time to focus on it. 

Very much anticipating this one. 

Total page count for 1/3- 22/03: 1567

Averaging 72 pages a day. 

Pretty good going for month one, considering. 

I'm expecting next month to be bigger though- the later books in this series reach the high 600 page mark. 

I am very much enjoying this re-read. It's so nice to get re-acquainted with the series, and all of it's wonderful characters. 

Can't wait to get to the rest of them. 

Okay! That is my present Skulduggery Pleasant update! I hope you enjoyed it, I hope you're enjoying whatever book you're reading at the moment too! 

That is all that I have for you today! I will be back soon with my anticipated releases (probably Saturday- must admit, I completely forgot). 

I hope you have a lovely evening, and I will see you all soon! 

Byeeeee! 

-Abi xxxxx

Watermelon (Walsh Family #1), by Marian Keyes

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And I'm back with a surprise review- from a book I finished a month ago, no less. 

Don't worry, it's still fresh in my mind, and I have a lot of thoughts on it! 

So much so, that I had to share them with you! 

So without further ado, I hope you enjoy my thoughts on Watermelon, by Marian Keyes! 

Title: Watermelon 

Author: Marian Keyes

Genre: Contemporary 

Status: Book 1 in a 7 book series

Release date: 01/09/1995

Pages: 520

Blurb: "Meet Claire Walsh. 

On the day she gives birth to her first child, 

Claire's husband James tells her he's been having an 

affair, and that now's the right time to leave her. 

Right for who exactly?

Exhausted, tearful and a little bit furious, Claire

doesn't know what to do. So she decides to go back to 

basics... and runs home to Mum and Dad. 

But it's not the sanctuary she'd been hoping for. 

Juggling her sister's drama, her parents' pity and the 

demands of a baby, Claire desperately misses the way 

things were. So when James gets back in touch, eager 

to put things right, Claire faces a choice. 

Will she forgive and forget? Or can she find the courage 

to take a chance on herself, and start a life of her own?"

My Thoughts

Even if I hadn't read Rachel's Holiday before this, I still think I would have fallen in love with this series from this. 

There are a number of reasons why I loved this book as much as I did. 

1. Marian Keyes knows how to write a story that is engaging, realistic, empowering, gripping and overall, emotional. 

I laughed, I cried, I blushed,  I clenched my teeth in frustration at some points in this story- sometimes in the same chapter. 

2. Watermelon is a situation that could happen to anyone- which made it easier to relate to Claire. 

3. The story is spun together perfectly. There was always something going on, something that made it hard to put the book down. 

The whole dynamic of Watermelon, truly, is amazing. The series is called Walsh Family, and that's exactly what you get with this. Her whole world turned upside down, Claire escapes her desperate situation, returning home- to Dublin. Once there, she realises that her family home isn't the secluded place she thought it would be. She has to deal with crazy sister energy, pitying parents, whilst figuring out her next move. You get an insight into the younger Walsh sisters' characters, Helen and Anna, at this point in the series. 

Honestly, I quite liked getting to meet some other characters. In Rachel's Holiday, it's just her, the odd friend at the start, and then everyone else in the rehab centre. There wasn't a huge cast of characters in Watermelon, but everyone played their part, and I knew the majority of them I'd be meeting again at some other point in the series. 

The best part by far was Claire's character arc. Desperate, alone, and completely heartbroken, she has no clue what to do at the start of the book. I mean, what are you meant to do, when the love of your life, husband, and father of newborn daughter, up and walks out, saying he has been having an affair, and no longer loves you? Get through it in any way you can. 

I'll tell you, my heart really wept for Claire at that point, about 100 pages in, when she's at her family home in Dublin, and she's completely lost. She's drinking more and more, missing James, despite his betrayal, and she doesn't know what way's up. 

But somehow, little by little, she picks herself up, she begins to meet more people (hint hint), she begins to see that there's more to live for than her crappy ex, and looks towards the future. Then what happens? Her stupid ex-husband shows up! 

I don't want to spoil what happens next, because I want you all to read the book yourself, honestly, the range of emotions I felt from that point onwards was so varied, from one chapter to the next, it's a wonder I didn't pass out exhausted. 

Now, what would you do if the love of your life comes back, tries to cancel divorse, tells you about the problems they had, were mostly because of you, but wants to try again? If you truly loved them before all of this happened? If it was for the sake of the daughter you shared? Would it still be easy to stick to your morals? 

Anyway, you can understand why I was clenching my teeth in frustration at some points in this book. 

But anyway, after that, you can't help but feel genuine pride for the character that had her head lower than her heels, but in the end, picked herself up, and took her life in her own hands. Truly empowering. 

Just read the book, then you'll know what I'm talking about, if you haven't figured it out already. 

Overall, an absolute gem. I know I'm not alone in loving this series, because they recently released a tv series based off of these books. (I really want to read them, but I think I'm going to read the books first- best get a move on.) But honestly, Watermelon is a serious contendor for my Favourite Books of 2026 at the moment. 

The third book, Angels, gives us a new protagonist- Margaret, or 'Maggie'. I haven't met her yet, but I know that she leaves everything behind for sunny LA, so I'm intrigued to see what she's like. I'm thinking I'll look for a second-hand copy on Ebay at some point- don't want to wait for too long before continuing on with this series. 

Okay! Those are all of my thoughts on Watermelon! I know it's a lot, but please comment down below if you've read the book, enjoyed it, hated it, and why! 

Also, should I watch the show now, instead of reading the books first? Let me know in the comments! 

I hope you have a wonderful afternoon, or morning, wherever you are, and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeeee! 

-Abi xxxxxx

March TBR (2026)

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

Back with my March TBR. Except, it's not really a TBR. It's more of a head's up. 

So, I've mentioned this a couple of times on here, briefly, about where my reading is headed, in anticipation for a release at the end of the month. 

But I wanted to take the time to let you all know how I'm going to do it. 

If you didn't know, I'm talking about the release of the final Skulduggery Pleasant book- which is out 26th March. 

~The epic Skulduggery Pleasant re-read~

Since it is the final release for the Skulduggery Pleasant series (I seriously doubt they'll be any more main stories after a nine book series, then a six book series, and now finally the trilogy), I have mentioned that I will, from now, be re-reading the entire series, and then get to the final book afterwards. 

Obviously, I'm not going to finish 17 books in March, (some of these novels are in the 700 page count) which means that this re-read will be longer than a month. 

However, I won't just be going radio silent on my progress with this series. I plan to document, monthly, perhaps fortnightly, if I'm able to, what my progress is. Maybe I'll do individual posts, dating through the calender, or maybe it'll just be a paragraph at the end of my other blog posts. I haven't really decided yet. 

I have an idea of how far I'd like to be by the end of this month, but we'll see. I'd like to at least start Death Bringer, which means I'll be finishing:

1. Skulduggery Pleasant

2. Playing with Fire

3. The Faceless Ones 

4. Dark Days

5. Mortal Coil 

Skulduggery Pleasant has always been a constant in my life. It doesn't matter what was happening, where I was at, the Skulduggery Pleasant series has always been something to go back to, a new book to look forward to, or a re-read I knew I could always pick up when in danger of falling into a reading slump. 

I don't want to say that I took it for granted, that it would always be continuing, but it was always nice to know it was there. A home in reading. 

I have been following this series since I was twelve years old. I have loved each and every book, getting to see Valkyrie Cain grow as I did, and now, as an adult, having suffered loss of friends, and being faced with the final battle, I'm nowhere near ready for it all to end. Which is why I thought this was a good idea. A send off, for an old friend, if you will. 

It feels right. 

Okay! I hope you enjoyed reading about that little reveal (though not really, if you've read some of my other posts). Oops. 

So, that is all I have for you guys tonight. This was always going to be a short post, I just wanted to let you all know what I was planning on reading for the next couple of months. 

With that, I'm going to leave it there. I hope you have a wonderful evening and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeeeee!

Abi xxxxxxx