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blurrypetals's review against another edition
2.0
And the descent continues! Again, I'm just wondering: how did this series get so mediocre and uninteresting so quickly?
I can at least put my finger on things a little better with this book than I could with Ghostly Echoes. I think the fact that Ritter put these characters in a situation where they had to save the world was a huge mistake. These characters are the sort that feel like they're supposed to be from middle grade chapter books like The Boxcar Children and The Magic Treehouse, which is to say, they're meant to deal with the small stuff. The reason the first book, Jackaby was so good was because it was just a fun supernatural murder mystery. The second book wasn't nearly as fun, but it had the same idea with just having Abigail and Jackaby investigating a very small, contained mystery. The moment they started dealing with anything bigger than hunting down a murderer or tracking down who stole a piece of a fossilized dragon was where they completely lost me.
Despite the stakes being theoretically raised, though, I felt remarkably uninterested in the fates of anyone other than Jackaby and maybe Abigail. I actually must admit I really liked the way the book "ended" prior to the Supplemental Material epilogue. I felt like Jackaby sacrificing his use of the sight so Abigail could inherit it and rescue the world was an apt sacrifice. I also enjoyed the fact that we lost a character who was dear to our protagonist; I always thing main cast deaths are ballsy and this was no exception...until the epilogue happened and they were brought back to life, thus undercutting all the implications and emotions about the death and neutering any chance of me giving a fuck about this series as a whole. Did you start to enjoy something about this book, Sara? That's too bad we're nipping it in the bud, fuck you.
Anyway, I would still recommend the first book, Jackaby, but I would be incredibly hard-pressed to find a reason to recommend the rest of the series to anybody. Obviously Ritter really knew how to kick something off but had no clue how to handily stick the landing. Better luck next time, dude, if I ever even consider returning to your work.
I can at least put my finger on things a little better with this book than I could with Ghostly Echoes. I think the fact that Ritter put these characters in a situation where they had to save the world was a huge mistake. These characters are the sort that feel like they're supposed to be from middle grade chapter books like The Boxcar Children and The Magic Treehouse, which is to say, they're meant to deal with the small stuff. The reason the first book, Jackaby was so good was because it was just a fun supernatural murder mystery. The second book wasn't nearly as fun, but it had the same idea with just having Abigail and Jackaby investigating a very small, contained mystery. The moment they started dealing with anything bigger than hunting down a murderer or tracking down who stole a piece of a fossilized dragon was where they completely lost me.
Despite the stakes being theoretically raised, though, I felt remarkably uninterested in the fates of anyone other than Jackaby and maybe Abigail. I actually must admit I really liked the way the book "ended" prior to the Supplemental Material epilogue. I felt like Jackaby sacrificing his use of the sight so Abigail could inherit it and rescue the world was an apt sacrifice. I also enjoyed the fact that we lost a character who was dear to our protagonist; I always thing main cast deaths are ballsy and this was no exception...until the epilogue happened and they were brought back to life, thus undercutting all the implications and emotions about the death and neutering any chance of me giving a fuck about this series as a whole. Did you start to enjoy something about this book, Sara? That's too bad we're nipping it in the bud, fuck you.
Anyway, I would still recommend the first book, Jackaby, but I would be incredibly hard-pressed to find a reason to recommend the rest of the series to anybody. Obviously Ritter really knew how to kick something off but had no clue how to handily stick the landing. Better luck next time, dude, if I ever even consider returning to your work.
mothmania's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
enchanted_reading's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
sarahp85's review against another edition
4.0
The 3rd book was by far my favourite but this was a great ending to an amazing series. Really enjoyed this!
itratali's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
spidey's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review
5.0
I'm a mess. I'm a crying mess. I have no idea when it happened exactly. I do know WHY it happened. My heart can't take this. I can't deal with this. I can't handle this. I felt it coming though. There was this moment of build up. My breathing quickened. My eyes started to burn. I swallowed a few times. For a while it seemed the dam wasn't breaking and then it happened. I realized how the story was gonna end and I just started crying. And when a book manages to do that, it's all kinds of amazing.
Of course, I wouldn't have been crying if I hadn't grown attached to the characters throughout the story. And attached I grew. Abigail is the kind of character I would like to be myself. She's intelligent, she's adventurous, she's however also afraid at times and therefore careful, she's ambitious, she has doubts and in general she just feels real. She's not too perfect. She does make mistakes and messes up. She sometimes has no idea what she's doing.
And then there's Jackaby. My wonderful Jackaby. He's socially clumsy, and therefore incredibly funny even when situations are dark and fearsome. He wears his heart on his tongue, apart from when it comes to human affection, that's a work in progress. And he has a big heart full of love for the world and all its creatures. And then there are Jenny and Charlie. Both amazing characters in their own way. They have their stories to tell, their own history, their doubts and mistakes and insecurities. It's impossible not to love them.
Combine those amazing characters with a great plot that really comes together in this last book and you have the perfection I mentioned. Everything in this series builds up. We start with a relatively small case and then move on to bigger and bigger cases. We start with a more urban fantasy feel and we end with a full blown epic fantasy war. I don't want to give too much away, but I'd say this was better and even more epic than the battle of Winterfell. (And yes, I actually DID like the battle of Winterfell!)
WHY ISN'T THERE MORE?
Of course, I wouldn't have been crying if I hadn't grown attached to the characters throughout the story. And attached I grew. Abigail is the kind of character I would like to be myself. She's intelligent, she's adventurous, she's however also afraid at times and therefore careful, she's ambitious, she has doubts and in general she just feels real. She's not too perfect. She does make mistakes and messes up. She sometimes has no idea what she's doing.
And then there's Jackaby. My wonderful Jackaby. He's socially clumsy, and therefore incredibly funny even when situations are dark and fearsome. He wears his heart on his tongue, apart from when it comes to human affection, that's a work in progress. And he has a big heart full of love for the world and all its creatures. And then there are Jenny and Charlie. Both amazing characters in their own way. They have their stories to tell, their own history, their doubts and mistakes and insecurities. It's impossible not to love them.
Combine those amazing characters with a great plot that really comes together in this last book and you have the perfection I mentioned. Everything in this series builds up. We start with a relatively small case and then move on to bigger and bigger cases. We start with a more urban fantasy feel and we end with a full blown epic fantasy war. I don't want to give too much away, but I'd say this was better and even more epic than the battle of Winterfell. (And yes, I actually DID like the battle of Winterfell!)
WHY ISN'T THERE MORE?
victorsvales's review against another edition
4.0
(yes I cried when jackaby dozed off for the first time in 20 years – I’m fairly sensitive)