#totally encouraging the murder of an insecurity induced threat to a romantic relationship

[alcorianight]

He really is amazing at character voices. Like Lucy felt more relatable than a lot of female protagonists I had read at the time (if I had a nickel for every book I read where the fate of the universe literally hangs in the balance and the main female character was more concerned about which guy she should date, I would be filthy rich). She was self conscious about her appearance and she definitely experienced jealousy over Lockwood when Holly was introduced (which was honestly so funny in retrospect) but she was also more focused on her job than romance. And she didn't obsess over drama (also pretty sure Lockwood was their resident drama queen as he should be). She just felt more complex and more like a real person to me compared to a lot of other books

Stroud made all the characters great though. They were all complex and multifaceted and it felt like we really got to know them in the books. I love how Holly seemed sane and George seemed responsible and then they were just as insane as Lockwood and Lucy.

One thing I loved about Lockwood and Co. is just. The girls are pro brute force and the guys are all about proper technique. (Not all girls and not all guys but like, yeah).

Like it's Lockwood and Kipps that are finicky about proper stances and rapier technique (and iirc they both fenced (and Flo kicked their butts cause she's a legend)) and then there's Lucy and Kat who are just like "Look at that conveniently placed heavy object. Imma hit someone with that."

And it's great to me because I feel like in most works of fiction girls have to have exceptional technique and training to be on par with guys in fights, and then Stroud just flips the script. It's great. As a girl I appreciate other brute force girls.