SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY
Arthur has barely been home before he is called back to the House. There he has to face Grim Tuesday and claim his key. But first he has to get out of his new job. Not to mention finding the will.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Arthur reluctantly returns to the house. He is still rather hesitant but brave. He gets hurt badly in one scene as well as bruised quite a lot before then. His fragility is revealed by his reaction to his large injury.
Suzy reveals her lack of awareness about Arthur, twice reacting ignorant to his needs. But she is still a source of humor and amusement. She is important because she reveals where the second part of the will has to be.
Grim Tuesday has Greed as his Deadly sin. He collects items from all over Earth and has a treasure tower where it all stays away from anyone. He has a bunch of indentured slaves that work for him, and there is no getting out of their jobs. He cares little for them and is cruel.
The Will, part two, takes the form of a sun bear. He doesn't' believe Arthur's claims about being the heir and wont until proper documentation is provided. His personality is different than the first part of the will.
The Mariner, briefly mentioned as Tom, is one of the Architect's children (which she had with the Old One). Turns out he had three children with mortal woman, so the world is slowly starting to resemble pagan mythology much more.
Japheth is an indentured servant of Grim Tuesday that befriends Arthur. He is the only one who is friendly and although he is barely in the story, he does show kindness to Arthur as well as serving as a guide.
PACING
The pacing starts slow, like the last book. But gradually it picks up. Although it isn't necessarily an action book it still has action scenes in it, but not till we reach halfway through the book. Although there are some suspense scenes that help the pacing. One near the end and one when Arthur first enters the Far reaches and has to fool a denizen.
BOB MEETS THE FETCHERS
There is a scene where Arthur sees the fetchers putting up a sign in front of house. His father Bob confronts them and is knocked out by their breath.
I thought it was interesting for him to get a chance to interact with them but it seems he couldn't see what they were and in fact forgets his encounter. So I was kind of disappointed. Although it was nice to see Arthur protective of his father, I still don't see much of a relationship between them.
LEAF
Leaf is barely in this book but she does play a small role. She ends up fighting a monster with Arthur and revealing where the new location of the House is. It moved from the hospital. Turned out that Suzy contacted her and told her while she was asleep. Leaf mentions she has had other dreams before and that her relative is a witch.
ARTHUR'S INJURY-SPOILERS
Arthur ends up breaking and leg and healing it, but healing it wrong. Turns out his healed leg is shorter than the Arthur. It's obvious that Arthur is really upset about this, thinking that he will never be able to run and play sports again. When he tells Suzy she just notes it like it's odd and interesting. Like a small child who doesn't understand what's going on.
I thought there should have been a moment where Arthur got mad at her and let his real feelings out. He hasn't seemed like a person who is afraid to reveal them, and I thought he would have revealed to Suzy how different she is than him, and humans in general. At least it should have been a source of conflict.
THE ATLAS
The atlas plays an important role, providing a compass when Suzy only knows what direction the tower is in, but not where that direction actually is.
NEW TOYS
When Suzy shows up, she brings wings, but ones that only go up. Also, this little finger puppet looking items called sticky fingers. You recite a spell and they stick to any item, switching from one hand to the other. I liked the idea of seeing more tools as well as contrasting how happy go lucky Suzy was compared to Arthur, and how it could get her in trouble.
For instance, Arthur points out his arms will come out of his sockets if he hangs upside down. Suzy admits she hadn't thought of his fragile human form.
There is also the mention if something called a weirdway that is used in this story.
SUZY'S BEACON-SPOILERS
Suzy had a spell put on her nail, so whenever she gets closer to Arthur, it will glow. Eventually this comes back, allowing Arthur to figure out where she is located when he loses sight of her in fog.
AN EYEBROW?
Suzy and Arthur meet a strange talking creature that claims to have been Grim Tuesday's eyebrows at one time. It is noted that his brows have been burned off. I thought it was really silly and felt kind of out of place. I understand it was so that Arthur and Suzy didn't wander aimlessly through a huge treasure tower and instead had directions to the will. But still, I thought it was kind of weird.
TRAVELING BY BOTTLE
Arthur has to find the will, but it's located on an island. In order to get there, they have to travel in a ship that is in a bottle. With help from the mariner they travel into the ship and from there to the island.
CLIMAX-VAGUE SPOILERS
Arthur finds the will and confronts Grim Tuesday. But he ends up up fighting him not physically, but through a contest decided by the will. Arthur does something interesting, but it felt out of the blue.
I felt it should have been mentioned before that he owned an instrument, and tried to play it. Maybe because of her father he wanted to be good at music or something.
That would have helped hint at the possibility of what he did. Then Arthur has to protect the Far reached from Nothing.
CONCLUSION
The creatures are interesting and so are the tools, not to mention the ship in a bottle. The world is expanded upon and Suzy is as amusing as ever. Arthur is certainly brave but still fragile, emotionally and physically, proving his is still a child. And Arthur doesn't just defeat Grim Tuesday, he also shows his mettle by protecting the Far reaches of the House.
But I still wish that there had been some conflict between Suzy and Arthur about her odd reaction to something huge and personal for him. As well as some hint about Arthur's mild talent that was used to win the key. I give “Grim Tuesday” three and a half stars.
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