Jackaby by William Ritter (Review)

Started: 11/6/2017
Finished: 11/8/2017
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I have SO MANY feelings about this book holy moly! This book was recommended to me by someone here after I asked for some book recs that are similar to Kerri Maniscalco’s Stalking Jack the Ripper, and booooy was I given a recommendation! I have to admit, though, that going into this book (audio version) that I was highly skeptical for many reasons, some that I will go into later.

Jackaby is set in America and follows a girl named Abigail Rook after she has run away from her school in Europe as she wants more than anything to be part of a big adventure. While looking for a job, she runs into a strange man named Jackaby and inquires about a position as his assistant investigator. He gives her an interim position and they begin their investigation of a series of murders that Jackaby believes are supernatural in nature. Many people in the city/town they are more than skeptical of Jackaby and his inclination towards the supernatural, but he actually has a gift that lets him see the things that normal people cannot.

To me, this book is kind of a mix between The Infernal Devices, The Diviners, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. There are a lot of those similar aspects and themes in Jackaby. The title character is very strange and eccentric, doing things his way whether people understand them or not. He lives in a haunted house that is cluttered with different knick-knacks, strange tomes, and a duck that had once been a human. He was, by far, one of the most interesting characters I have ever read. I would find myself agreeing with the main character, Abigail, and then Jackaby would come around and completely disagree with her and prove her wrong. I find characters like that so much fun because I love being proven wrong about things. (Strange, I know! But I think it stems from my love of discovery. At least if I’m wrong, then I can discover what is right.)

Whoever recommended me this book for Stalking Jack the Ripper was right on the money! Abigail Rook really reminded me of Audrey Rose as they are both very strong willed and feminist characters. And as there were a lot of people who found Audrey Rose’s feminism to be unlikely in her time period, you’re not going to like this book either. But, I will let you in on a little secret… There were strong feminists back in both Audrey Rose and Abigail Rook’s time periods. I know! Amazing, right? You would have never thought! But I have taken an American Women’s History course and multiple other in-depth, college-level history courses and you will be surprised how many people in the 19th century shared our modern views of feminism and other such issues. Our ideas of feminism aren’t completely new.

Now, onto the things I didn’t really like (and why this book didn’t get 5 stars from me when it should have been a slam dunk). One thing I really disliked about this book, and really my only actual issue, was that there was no diversity. Absolutely none. I went searching through the author’s Twitter account just to see what he had to say about it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the lack of diversity in this book was his biggest regret. It’s completely valid that some people don’t want to hear that things get better/fixed in the later books, but for me that shows that the author actually learned and grew from realizing the mistakes they had made. As long as someone acknowledges that they screwed up and actually actively fix their lack of diversity, then that’s good for me. For other people, they may want authors to get it perfect on the first time which is understandable and completely valid. You do you!

Another very minuscule issue I had was the lack of romance, but I think I’m just in a romance mood so that has absolutely nothing to do with the writing or my rating or anything else. I go through waves of liking romance and disliking romance, and this book caught me on a romance kick. But if you’re looking for a book with extremely limited romance, then this is the book for you!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The audiobook was done by the same voice actress that did Kerri Maniscalco’s Stalking Jack the Ripper audiobooks and I just about DIED. She is such an amazing voice actress and I can’t give her enough props! She is really able to bring a story to life and her voices are just on point! She is really able to paint an accurate, lush, and interesting portrait for the books she narrates. However, I do think that I will be picking up the physical copy of the second book. But we’ll see! If you’re looking for a good audiobook that is short and will have you hooked, check out this one.

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