Kingdom of the Wicked (Skulduggery Pleasant, #7)

by Derek Landy

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog coming soon!

Oh wow! This was something else. There's a lot going on in Kingdom of the Wicked. I can't believe Landy nailed it again! I swear, every time I thought I knew where this is going, he dropped a new bomb and threw in a plot-twist that caught me by surprise.
On top of that, the premise of this story provides some food for thought and is downright philosophical.
There is a lot to discuss but it's impossible to do without spoilers!
What was probably the most fascinating thing in this book, was the alternate reality Valkyrie found herself in. The way Landy introduced that bit was amazing. Honestly, that could have gone south really fast but he nailed it. The concept was fascinating and I'm itching to find out more about that world. But based on how he chose to include it, we probably won't. Or maybe in one of the next books, there'll be a plot-twist and we do get more? Who knows!
But let's get back to Argeddion. So many surprises there! I was so sucked into the story, I had my guard down, I wasn't analyzing and plotting outcomes of this story, so what happens after Switzerland caught me completely off guard. I had not expected Argeddion to pull shit like this! And, as I mentioned above, his attempts at changing the world are somewhat philosophical. If everybody has magic, will there be peace? Is it worth walking over corpses to get there? Does violence breed more violence? Is it unethical to use violence to bring down a pacifist? SO MUCH going on here!
And let's not forget about Lord Vile and Darquesse! Do they need to be contained forevermore? Yes, they are bad but they are also powerful weapons that can be used for good. Are Skulduggery and Valkyrie able to remain in control, to snap themselves back out of it? I'm so curious to see how this will develop in the final two books.
What about the other side-plots you say? The church? Tanis? Billy-Ray? The politics? Now, we do not have time to unpack all of that. But what we can be sure about is that Landy set the stage for some big reveals. The series will definitely conclude not with a fizzle but with a bang. Especially after that cliffhanger he dropped! I mean, I had some suspicions here and there that something might be up with the reflection but I certainly had NOT expected this. Damn!