Locke & Key, Vol. 3: Crown of Shadows
Ratings130
Average rating4.3
I am glad that the action is back in this one. I once again had that edge of my seat feeling which I loved. We also get some family drama as well as more keys. I do feel like at this point the Locke kids should be making a plan to defeat Dodge instead of just taking the attacks as they come but overall I am still enjoying it.
I'm devouring these books! This is my third volume in three days. I'm really beginning to love the characters and the lore. Even the art style, which I initially found a little off putting, has grown on me. Looking forward to knocking out the rest of the books in this series sooner rather than later.
Can there even be spoilers at this rate? I mean I'm assuming you haven't picked up volume 3 without reading the first 2 already. Hill continues to flesh out his characters and imbue them with a depth not normally found in easy horror. Sam Lesser in death regains some agency and we better understand how tortured he is. He's more than just a cardboard cut-out, stock evil character. Kinsey, Kavanaugh, Jamal and Jackie's segment is handled beautifully, sets up the caves, and lends depth to the friendship. Keys are lost and found and finally we see some cracks in the family dynamic.
Getting so good. Mom almost brought a tear to my eye.
GODS, IT IS SO GOOD. I had forgotten how heartbreaking Nina is in the epilogue.
Alas, this definitely wasn't my favorite volume in this series so far. Let me tell you, things have gone to a very dark place at Keyhouse. While the first volume had me a little on edge because of all the violence, this one had me feeling a little icky because of all the darkness.
I guess it's probably only fair to mention that I have this weird tick when it comes to children and danger or violence. It's hard for me to like a character at all, even if I know what their motivations are, if they're mistreating a child. Right now, Bode's mother is not my favorite person. In fact, if I had the capability to reach into this graphic novel I would have slapped her repeatedly across the face already. I kind of had an inkling that dark days were coming for this family. I knew eventually things would stop being whimsical, and start being real. I just wasn't prepared.
That being said, this is all my own bias because the arc is still going strong in this series! There were some great new keys introduced, one of which broke my heart, and we finally see the true nature of our villain. You know what makes the villain in this series so gut-wrenchingly terrible? That I actually feel sorry for him/her sometimes. Joe Hill is an amazing writer, and I both love and hate him for it. As for the illustrations? You know the deal! I'm in love with Gabriel Rodriguez's expert work. It shines through here, even within the darkness, and it's going to keep me reading on.
I need to know what happens to this family.
Holy cliffhanger! Luckily I have already have Volume 4, so I can dive right into the next installment. This series is just getting better and better. I love how all the characters' stories weave together in the novels. Plus I'm really enjoying the artwork!
Story
More Keys of course! The Shadow Key freaks me the hell out. I think the mending key would really handy and the Giant Key is just awesome. The creativity not only of the keys themselves, but how they get used in the story makes for some truly excellent scenes.
Artwork
Mr. Rodriguez is able to do so much without words. It adds so much. He can do full pages without no dialogue and show so much that would be much harder in text.
Another great volume in a superb series.
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