A Heart Full of Hatred

Skulduggery Pleasant, Book 17

De: Derek Landy

Narrado por: Kevin Hely

The bone-shaking new trilogy continues – the latest adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series

Vengeance is a killer.

A killer is stalking and murdering sorcerers, and Valkyrie Cain is next on his list.

While hunting down a cult of magical terrorists intent on taking their revenge on the mortal world, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are drawn into a murder investigation with unsettling similarities to a case they just closed – the case that nearly took the lives of both Valkyrie’s sister and girlfriend.

With the body count rising, a special night approaches – a night where the elite of sorcerer society will gather on a remote island to witness a ceremony that could change that society forever.

Speeches will be made, champagne will be sipped, and two things will become terribly, distressingly clear…

No one is safe. And not everyone will make it out alive.

©2025 Derek Landy (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers

not a happy camper

why why why. you did not have to do that. youu did not have to get rid of him like that, but you did and there is nothing we can do about it. as always great book I can't wait for the next one. MAYBE YOU CAN BRING BACK THE DARKLY BROTHER'S!!!!

Tense. Funny. Devilishly cruel.

Derek Landy somehow keeps this series freshly relevant to my growing interests as a reader and a writer, going on 15 years or so now. These characters seem to continue living--and dying--in my head, and I can't wait for the next installment.

The plot twists?!?

As far as stories go you can always find out who the killer is pretty quickly. This one?! This is not that. And OH the ending is so juicy.

Heart Full of Excitement

Fantastic, as always! Twists. Turns. Gasps. Shock. Tears. Then no! i couldnt stop. Oh Derek March 2026 cant come soon enough. Riveting!

Story Full of Repetition

I love the Skulduggery series for its excellent characters, dialogue, and action scenes. The story usually feels like the weakest part of the series, but it's often compelling enough to keep me engaged. Unfortunately, that's not the case as of late.

Though Heart Full of Hatred is definitely better than Mind Full of Murder, it has many of the same problems, including having the same exact repetitious plot structure. Valkyrie goes somewhere to investigate the bad guy. The bad guy shows up and almost kills her, because he can somehow break the rules of magic. Valkyrie is rescued and heals up. Repeat. Valkyrie never learns or adapts from each encounter. She goes into every situation completely unprepared, relying only on her brawn and powers against a foe that can render them useless. She never plans what to do against the bad guy. She never considers bringing a weapon, a tool, or something else that would give her an edge. Valkyrie continues to hold the Idiot Ball all the way to a really frustrating end that totally undermines the impact of a major character's death.

This is also the first time I have to criticize the narrator's performance. Though not my favorite narrator in the series, Kevin Hely does a consistently great job, and his portrayal of the titular character has grown on me. However, he has a habit of pronouncing character names in a odd ways, like pronouncing "Ravel" as "Rah-Vell." Unfortunately, this comes to a head at the climax of Heart Full of Hatred where my reaction to the bad guy's identity reveal is "Uh, who?" because the character's name was mispronounced. Not even a name you would expect or forgive someone for mispronouncing it!

I'm disappointed in Heart Full of Hatred, especially after I had a great time listening to the previous haunted house story. This won't deter me from listening to the next book, but I'm really hoping I'll have a better time with it.