Jackaby

High 3.5 Stars

“Hatun sees a different world than you or I, a far more frightening one, full of far more terrible dangers, and still she chooses to be the hero whom that world needs. She has saved this town and its people from countless monsters countless times. That the battles are usually in her head does not lessen the bravery of it. The hardest battles always are.”

This was the 2nd book that I finished for the #ProjectTBR Read-a-Thon. Not very many people talk about this book, but it is said to be a mix of Sherlock and Doctor Who. That plus the gorgeous cover had me interested. This book follows Abigail Rook as she comes to America and searches for a new job. She sees an ad for an assistant to a detective. This detective is Jacakaby and he is not your typical detective. He focuses on crimes of the paranormal world. This book is supposed to take place in 1892 in New Fiddleham (basically a New England town).


The setting of this book was the main flaw for me. The style of dialogue and how Abigail thought did not fit in with the time period, in my opinion. While this is not a huge thing, for me it really hurt the book. And this is not to say the book was not enjoyable, the opposite really. I just think this book would have been even better had the time period matched the writing.


I absolutely loved Jackaby as a character. He reminded me very much of BBC's Sherlock and I loved it. There were so many lines of his that were so ridiculous, but so well done at the same time (I really struggled with coming up with just one quote for this review, so there will be two more at the end of the review). Jackaby's character is paired with Abigail who was a fantastically written character. She was a very strong independent character who was on her own and looking for adventure. She found this adventure with Jackaby. I really enjoyed the progression of the their relationship throughout the book.


The only other “issue” I had with this book, and I use the word issue lightly, is the lack of mystery regarding the murder and Jackaby and Abigail solving work to solve it. Jackaby is a detective and Abigail and him are working to solve a string of murders. However, this did not feel like a mystery book to me. I was not on the edge of my seat reading to find out who the killer was. For me, I was more focused on our characters and learning more about them.


The last thing I want to mention is my appreciation of the lack of romance. There was the suggestion of something between Charlie and Abigail, but it was not at all a major part of the book. I appreciated that we could have the friendship between Abigail and Jackaby without romantic feelings.


For me, this book was all about the characters. I loved them. While the story and the plot was not my favorite, it was the characters that really made me love this book. Charlie and Jenny were two side characters that I really enjoyed and I hope in future books we get to see more of them. And the writing of these characters was great. This book also did not have a chapter 13 which I thought was phenomenal. I loved the line about Jackaby not wanting the contents of chapter 13 to be included. And the end letter that Jackaby wrote to the police was also great.

I don't remember why this book was recommended to me, but it's been languishing in my library stack for at least a couple of months now. I finally got around to reading it - and it's delightful! There are three more books and a novella in this series, and the author has apparently started another fantasy series.

Jackaby is told from the viewpoint of Abigail Rook, an English miss who ran away from home in search of adventure. The book opens on her arrival in America, by way of the Ukraine and Germany. The only work she can find in this new town is as an assistant to Jackaby, a distinctly odd character who claims to see things no one else can. Abigail, however, begins to believe him, and accompanies him to a murder scene, where she spots mundane details that he had overlooked. With Jackaby spotting supernatural things that no one else can, and Abigail taking note of more mundane details that Jackaby misses, the two make a formidable team.

Jackaby, of course, has that infuriating habit of not telling Abigail all the things he knows, which leads to her not mentioning useful details because she didn't know they were useful. I'm hopeful, now that she's earned his trust, that in future books they will communicate better and work together more seamlessly.

The worldbuilding here seems to take “America as a melting pot” into the supernatural world as well, with creatures from various cultures migrating with their humans to America. Jackaby has a rather improbable knowledge of this huge variety of creatures, as well as a library to look up more obscure facts that aren't already in his labyrinth of a mind.

I liked that Abigail wasn't portrayed as stupid; she's a bit ignorant of the supernatural world, but she didn't know it existed until Jackaby, and she's learning quickly. She also can't see it like he can, so she of course misses some things that he thinks are obvious. He could be a little better about remembering that not everyone can see the supernatural, though.

The cover mentions that it's Dr. Who meets Sherlock, and that's a very apt description. Jackaby is VERY Dr. Who like, with the bustling energy and quick mind that comes off as arrogant but is more...oblivious, really. Abigail fills the companion role, along with a certain policeman that I'm hoping shows up in the following books as well. I will have to track those down and find out!

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

The premise was enough to make me interested in this one. Magic, supernatural, kooky detective and his assistant, in a historical setting. Murders. Monsters. Aaaand... disappointment.This book was pretty damn dreadful in my opinion. Not trying to be too hard on it, it's really just the first book of a new author, but somehow it managed to be everything I dislike. It was obviously specifically written for young girls, to be marketable and sell with the whole Sherlock-Doctor Who thing, the barely there romance (you can “ship”!!!), the cutely clumsy, but super smart, but oh so rebellious, still mild main character... One thing I have to give it; the prose was perfectly fine, it didn't feel too simple or too trendy, it was okay. The book didn't slip on that, which gives room for the author to not worry about that and start working on one of the big, big things he missed, which is the character development and the lack of consistent behaviour. They all felt like they had no logic behind their deeds, to the degree that sometimes it felt like a bunch of Gollums. The (horribly picked) protagonist, who also tells the story from a first person perspective (noooo), named Abigail Rook, is supposedly all in for adventures that are absolutely not fit for a woman. It gets mentioned about 9000 times and it's just bullshit. She runs away from school, steals her tuition money, joins some expedition, travels to America, becomes a detective's assistant, and moves in with the man, all of this ALONE. What happens? NOTHING. She gets comments from two people, one a gossipy hag, the other a policeman who says looking at dead bodies are not for women. (Seeing them does freak her out a bit, so... she proved him right.) She's also completely unable to take care of herself and sounds like an airhead, but manages to notice useless details, which are suddenly considered necessary, while Jackaby was fine before her. At the end she gets pats on the head, even though she was pretty useless. Yay.Jackaby was... nothing? We got to know nothing about the man, nothing about his background, his story. Oh, he can see supernatural stuff! Other than that, he's either adorably fascinated by people and really kind, or basically like a total alien who pisses off everyone. It changes randomly, with no rhyme or reason. He had some cute moments, but they all felt like some Tumblr gif set, rather than a fleshed out character that I care about. It wasn't just the whole character issue that I had. In a previous review of [b:The Blackthorn Key 23270216 The Blackthorn Key Kevin Sands https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1433428562s/23270216.jpg 42810383] I talked about how that book had no actual magic, but still had some magical quality about it because of the atmosphere Kevin Sands created (also a first time author), but this one fell short. It had supernatural creatures, trolls, banshees, all kinds of stuff and it felt like nothing. It al held no real danger or excitement, just some fun little facts sprinkled in. The story itself was really boring. While these creatures ran around, I never felt like anyone important was going to get hurt for real. Too watered down and PG. It was a really quick read, party because its length, partly because you didn't have to pay attention all that much. I'm not sure I would have read it if it was longer, but I powered through it with its 300 pages simply because it didn't need too much energy. Right now I'm thinking about picking up the sequel, mostly to see if this was just a clumsy first book or the author's style doesn't work with me at all. Wish me luck. PS. The cover is still extremely nice.

I liked Abigail's voice, and the setting. Jackaby was interesting enough. I liked the way the fantasy elements were used. They weren't expected magical creatures, but I didn't feel like they were “made up” either. I think this would be a good introduction to the series if there are sequels. I'll probably read them if there are.

William Ritter's JACKABY is advertised as “Sherlock” meets “Doctor Who,” and it doesn't disappoint on that count. For me, that was mostly a good thing.

Occasionally it was a little too on-the-nose–I could hear Sherlock's or the Doctor's voice in the brilliant, eccentric Jackaby's–but mostly I thought the author succeeded in creating a distinct character and world despite the influence of those two powerhouse British properties.

Intelligent, headstrong Abigail, daughter of a famous paleontologist and a proper Englishwoman, determines to forge her own path in the world and quickly finds herself assistant to Jackaby, a man of science who believes only in what he can see. He just so happens to be able to see the mystical world beyond our own. The two dive into pursuit of a Ripper-like serial killer who may or may not be supernatural, their mission both helped and hindered by a series of mystical encounters.

In addition to the main cast, I enjoyed the setting, and the minor characters–the brave but sad ghost, Jenny, who serves as Jackaby's housekeeper; the handsome policeman with a secret, upon whom Abigail develops a crush; and the near-madwoman whose Sight is as likely to show her a jumble of horrifying nonsense as anything helpful, but to whom all dangers are equally real.

Though JACKABY was not necessarily the most original book I have ever read, all the components were solid, and the plot threads wove together to a satisfying–and surprisingly action-packed–conclusion. I will definitely be picking up the sequel when it comes out later this fall.

This book reminded me of why I read. Why, as a child, I could immerse myself in the world my book created and not come out for hours (sadly, as an adult, that feeling is more and more elusive and I'm rarely left alone by the other humans in my life long enough to read for hours). But. This book. I love it. Unequivocally. And I am practically dancing in place waiting for the second one to arrive to me (damn you slow, unfunded library!), and then hopefully followed in short order by the third, which releases on August 23rd.

Jackaby is William Ritter's debut novel. Everywhere that I can see online, it's listed as a “teen” book but I would have put in more in middle grades. The subject matter is pretty tame, barely even a flirtation – but maybe the descriptions of demons and demon-slaying push it over the edge to the older label? Regardless, Jackaby has a sense of ageless appeal – the ages of the main characters are never expressly stated, and while the narrator Rook seems the younger she is still independent. Anywho, on to the details!

The end result was astounding. I had managed to completely transform myself into...a silly, obvious girl wearing boy' clothing.

“I have ceased concerning myself with how things look to others, Abigail Rook...in my experience, others are generally wrong.”

“I find most men are already more than happy to believe a young woman is a frail little thing. so, technically the deception was already there, I just employed it in a convenient way.”

My words petered out and slipped into the shadows, embarrassed to be seen with me.

I found it difficult to be frightened by the announcement. I had crested that emotional hill already, and the view was becoming familiar.

This ‘urban fantasy' may not do anything extraordinary with the genre, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read anyway. I loved the characters! The main female character was a joy compared to much in the YA landscape and Jackaby was nicely eccentric, but still very likeable. The supernatural detective has been done a lot, but I found this one still managed to be exciting and a page turner, even if it's using a lot of the tropes of the genre. The late 1800's does make a refreshing backdrop and gives it a much more ‘Sherlock' feel than many of the modern urban fantasy detectives out there. I am super excited to read the next volumes! Highly recommended!!

4.75 actually. Yes, it's been heavily influenced by both Steven Moffat's Sherlock and Doctor Who, and that is precisely why I loved it. I found myself actually laughing at quite a bit of this story, and while much of it feels like set up for a series (yay!), I loved the original elements here too. The supporting characters are all pretty unique, as well as the setting (a fictitious town in New England, circa 1892).

My favorite quote:

It wasn't that I did not believe in ghosts; it was that I believed in them in the same noncommittal way that I believed in giant squids or lucky coins or Belgium. pg 82

I kind of can't wait for more, and thought the mystery was pretty decent overall.

When it comes to Urban fantasy, and books set in the 1800's I must admit that I am somewhat a sucker for them. I really enjoyed the Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare, and I have been itching for something similar ever since. However, it was too much like Sherlock Holmes for me to really find anything to recommend about this first installment of a series.

Firstly, let me discuss the main character, Abigail Rook. She is our main character, and often the one who comments on a scene for us, as she encounters Jackaby and the world at large. I found her an okay main lead. She was good enough to lead us through the story, but offered little else to it.

The author did tend to put us on the wrong foot early on when he said that Rook had ditched her schooling and taken to going on vacation all around the world, with very little word to her parents about what she was doing. This made me scratch my head in wonderment, since I could not help but ask why she would cause her parents so much distress. We find out that it is nothing more than the stereotypical for this type of heroine: her mother made her dress in frilly clothes suitable to the time period, and her father did not let her do what she wanted. This I feel was a bit of a misstep for me. Once again, we have an author who took the typical notions of the day, and turned them into something that only a modern reader would find acceptable. For starters, yes women had to wear clothing that, by modern standards, one would find silly and constricting. However, this was the social norm. And yes, women were only allowed to do what was called ‘women's work' and do things for the home. This was because that men were thought to not be able to work on caring for the home effectively, and that they were not able to exist, estate wise, without a wife to run it. I'm not saying that it is fair, but I just seems to be so stereotypical for authors to take notions of the time period, and change them to suit an audience without properly explaining why the culture is this way. Normally, I would not comment on it, but here, because Miss Rook was so bland, that is almost all I noticed about her.

Now we get to the elephant in the room: Jackaby. From what I have read, you either love him or hate him, based on how much you like Sherlock Holmes. For me, I just did not like him. I thought he was trying to hard to be Sherlock Holmes, when there is only one indeed. He seems like such another iteration of the famous detective that I find him difficult to think about one way or another. The mystery itself was...fine. The world building was also...fine. Everything was just...fine when it came to this book. That means I am probably forget this book in a month or two, and so I give it a two out of five. If you are looking for a fun urban fantasy detective story, starting reading the Dresden Files which, unlike this book, won't disappoint.