Death Bringer by Derek Landy

Target Audience: Kids/Teens/Young Adults
Genre: Fantasy/Fiction/Humour

I'm a huge fan of Derek Landy and anything he writes and this was no exception for me. In fact, I've been so in love with this book I decided to re-read the rest of the series too and I enjoyed doing so immensely.
For those who are unaware of the legend that is Skulduggery Pleasant then don't read any further, it will spoil the previous 5 books and we don't want that.  For everyone else, read on for synopsis of Death Bringer (as seen on Goodreads):

Think you’ve seen anything yet? You haven’t. Because the Death Bringer is about to rise…The Necromancers no longer need Valkyrie to be their Death Bringer, and that’s a Good Thing.There’s just one catch. There’s a reason the Necromancers don’t need her any more. And that’s because they’ve found their Death Bringer already, the person who will dissolve the doors between life and death.And that’s a very, very Bad Thing

Indeed it is a very bad thing, as I quickly discovered while reading this book! Death Bringer is following the trend in this series in the sense each book seems to get slightly darker, but this is in no way a bad thing and it certainly doesn't detract from the humour, as I was doubled up laughing on so many occasions I lost count.
One thing that always amazes me with this series is Landy's ability to put Valkyrie and Skulduggery in the most terrifying situations and still have them make a joke of it. It's just stupidly hilarious. I love it.

On a more serious note the threat increases, especially with Valkyrie still facing the fact she may turn into the terrifying sorcerer that is Darquesse and without spoiling things I will say that we learn a lot more about said evil sorcerer in this book and how she comes into being.
On a personal note, as much as I love Valkyrie, her slightly selfish streak comes out as her love life becomes slightly tangled and by the end of the book I had the urge to hit Caelan the vampire over the head with a vampire romance novel, (since he seemed to be spouting a lot of prose from one) even if some of it had me laughing.

With regards to Skulduggery himself, there was such a big 'wow I didn't see that coming' moment that I was left stunned for a little while and had to re-read the page I'd been reading. The effect it has on his relationship with Valkyrie is pretty intense, though I will say personally I think it makes them stronger in the end.
Taking both the big revelation about skulduggery and Valkyries supposed 'destiny' there is one amazing battle towards the end of the book that is truly breath taking and it isn't what you think it will be either.

Skulduggery's secrets aren't the only ones being spilt either as a lot more is revealed about China Sorrows, and some other characters that have been alluded to before make an appearance throughout the novel.
Even with all the revelations, fights and the 'passage' being brought into being there's laughs a plenty, a cute gurgling baby called Alice, a love-struck vampire and annoying brat named Melancholia St Claire (whom I hate) and lets not forget Lord Vile.

Anyway, it may be a good idea for me to wrap this review up before I accidentally post spoilers. But wow, this book is amazing. Just read it. READ IT!