Name: The Empty Grave
ISBN: 9781484798577

Jonathan Stroud

Five months after the events in The Creeping Shadow, we join Lockwood, Lucy, George, Holly, and their associate Quill Kipps on a perilous night mission: they have broken into the booby-trapped Fittes Mausoleum, where the body of the legendary psychic heroine Marissa Fittes lies. Or does it? This is just one of the many questions to be answered in Book 5 of the Lockwood & Co. series. Will Lockwood ever reveal more about his family's past to Lucy? Will their trip to the Other Side leave Lucy and Lockwood forever changed? Will Penelope Fittes succeed in shutting down their agency forever? The young agents must survive attacks from foes both spectral and human before they can take on their greatest enemy in a climactic and chaotic battle. And to prevail they will have to rely on help from some surprising--and shadowy--allies. Jonathan Stroud once again delivers a rousing adventure full of danger, laughs, twists, and frights. The revelations will send readers back to Book 1 to start the series all over again. Exclusive to this paperback edition: a Lockwood & Co. short story, "The Dagger in the Desk," and an illustrated ghost guide.

Lockwood and Co #5

The Empty Grave 

Lily

When I woke up again, sometimes after noon, the first thing I saw was the ghost jar, still protruding from the top of my rucksack where I'd slung it on my bedroom chair. It was tilted at an angle, thanks to a fair-sized pile of dirty washing, and the spectral face inside was staring at me like I'd just shot it's grandmother

"I've been telling you long enough! Honestly, those digestive biscuits have higher IQs than you."

Oh my dear gods, this book was truly and utterly exceptional! 

I did not expect such an intense ending but I am so sad about the fact that it is not specifically stated that lockwood and lucy get together... I mean we know they do because of the necklace but I have been waiting for a kiss between those two for so long and then I don't get one. Still, the last book is stunning, Stroud is a genius, and the skull was such a great character. 

Yetta Pahling

Oh my dear gods, this book was truly and utterly exceptional! 

I did not expect such an intense ending but I am so sad about the fact that it is not specifically stated that lockwood and lucy get together... I mean we know they do because of the necklace but I have been waiting for a kiss between those two for so long and then I don't get one. Still, the last book is stunning, Stroud is a genius, and the skull was such a great character. 

ahh what a journey i'm going to miss them :')) netflix will pay for not giving them more time

This was an excellent wrap up for the series. It is fast-paced and brings toghether and makes good use of all of the lore built throughout the series. There is quite a bit packed into the novel but it feels entertaining rather than rushed. Ending the series on a high, truly.

The dead guy in the jar was the best character in the entire series. 

Iris Adi

After their recent adventures, the Lockwood & Co team deserve a well-earned break . . . so naturally they decide to risk their lives breaking into a heavily-guarded crypt. A building full of unsettled souls, it's also the final resting place of Marissa Fittes, the legendary and (supposedly) long dead ghost hunter. What they discover their will change everything. So begins a race to get to the truth behind 'the Problem', and an epic struggle against the Fittes agency. A struggle that will pit the team against the most terrifying enemy they have ever faced. Not even the dead will survive unscathed . . . Jonathan Stroud once again delivers a rousing adventure full of danger, laughs, twists, and frights, with incredible revelations that will send readers back to Book 1 to start the series all over again. 'Stroud is a genius' Rick Riordan

Lockwood & Co 05: The Empty Grave

Nessa Luna

The Empty Grave is the last book in the Lockwood & Co series and oh my god I was so anxious while reading this. Have you ever picked up a book that made you so anxious that you kept putting it down every five minutes because you just COULD NOT HANDLE IT?! Well, that was me with this book. There were so many stakes and so much could go wrong in this book. But in the end, I think the Empty Grave was a perfect ending to this series, even if it had a liiiiiiitle bit of an open ending (I am honestly this close to try and find fanfiction…). Yeah, amazing series is amazing – I highly recommend if you love paranormal books!

CAWPILE: 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 (Avg: 9.43)

Sade A

2.5 Stars
For some reason i can't totally fathom right now, i've always thought of this series as YA and not middle grade. Boy was i proved wrong with this one. While i'm glad to have finally come to the end of this series, i really think this was one of the weakest books in the series. 

In typical Lockwood and Co. fashion, for the first half of the book, you are treated to a pointless ghost job the gang undertakes that has no bearing on the main story because God forbid Stroud actually concentrates on the main story from the start of the book to the end. Then, time and time again, Lucy reminds us of how suave Lockwood is, how put together he is, oh that smile, oh that fearlessness, oh the bravery, the way the wind always seemed to tousle his hair, unflappable demeanour. Wait, am i repeating myself? That's exactly what that Lucy character did every freaking time.

I really think Stroud did a GREAT disservice to her character. When you're first introduced to her, she seems capable, good head on her shoulders, basically a good female lead that's sure to kick ass. Fast forward 2 books later and suddenly she's losing her shit over a boy and acting like a total bitch over a boy????? She suddenly can't function properly as an agent? Like for real, can i get a female lead that can fall in love - even though it really wasn't needed in this series as far as i'm concerned- and still be freaking capable. I mean WTF!!! Her every waking thought was Lockwood did this, Lockwood did that. 
It was so nauseating🤮🤮.

I don't know if this is like a thing when writing about characters set in Britain, but holy shit smokes, these guys were unbelievably polite. There were just some instances that i was like "How is this the proper response/reaction to something of this magnitude?" There's a certain part where the gang decides to steal something that could help them solve the mystery of the empty grave only deciding to do so after (view spoiler)[George was almost beaten to death (hide spoiler)] so obviously you know the baddies weren't fucking around and then Lockwood goes 
  "We needn't be embarrassed doing this..." 

Me: TF???

or when Lucy finally meets the main baddie and gets the whole gist of the story and she goes

  "This is an atrocious thing. A wicked crime"

Me: ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? 

Minor Peeve: Every time the gang had to take tea and open a digestive. Like i get that tea and biscuits is a big part of the British culture, but i have a hard time wrapping my head around teenagers that want to pop the kettle on every freaking time to have tea and digestives. Not once did anyone take soda. Not once!!! 

Finally, apparently Holly is black girl???!! *GASP* but her hair swishes like gossamer??? 

Not like your hair can't swish like gossamer if you're a black girl but what are the odds of that happening really?

While i absolutely love The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye and Ptolemy's Gate by Stroud, the Lockwood series definitely isn't a strong fave of mine from the author (some books in the series were definitely stronger than others)

I leave you with some of my favourite fawning of Lucy over Lockwood:
 

♥️A gentle wind swept his hair back, set the ends of his coat flapping.

♥️His hand rested on his rapier hilt. He looked pensive, as if he was gazing into the future & finding something sad. It made my heart hurt to see him.

♥️He came to stand beside me. The sunlight was still on him. Right then, he was close to the idea i'd always had of him; the picture i saw in my mind's eye when drawing near to sleep



📌The first 3 paragraphs of chapter 26
📌That time she went all moony in chapter 4

Dammit Lucy!!!



  All in all, not a bad series as a whole but really disappointed with the direction the book went with in the end. Upset with the way Lucy's character was basically trashed and i really don't even get how these kids even survived. I mean the baddies had freaking guns and they had swords. UGH!!! But meh, it's fiction and the heroes win in the end so why not?

Anna

Great conclusion to the series!
Now it's time to find some fics to get my fill of (view spoiler)[Locklyle that was implied but not really happened in the book. (hide spoiler)]

Renee K Hopper

Love this series! Such an interesting story with loveable characters. I listened to this series via audio book and highly recommend a listen :)

The Empty Grave Lockwood and Co #5