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omccloskey 's review for:
Ghostly Echoes
by William Ritter
While I was a little late in jumping on the Jackaby bandwagon, I was enamored by the first two books in this series, Jackaby and Beastly Bones. Well-written, fast-paced mysteries have been rendered nearly obsolete in the Young Adult genre, and this series successfully filled that void, garnering a great deal of attention in the process. Unfortunately, while reading Ghostly Echoes, I found that the novelty of the series had worn off, exposing a lackluster novel with a multitude of thematic issues and inexplicable character deviations.
The plot moved at a painfully glacial pace, leaving quite a bit to be desired. Out of sheer boredom, I skimmed large portions of the book with the hopes of coming across an unforeseen twist or cliffhanger. 90% of the novel could have been reasonably excluded, rendering it a novella at best. The mystery aspect of the novel was weak and stretched thin to accommodate the book's unnecessary length. Consequently, Ghostly Echoes struck me as a Young Adult paranormal novel masquerading as a mystery.
Furthermore, this plot was more ludicrous and tiresome than the last. Crucial events and phenomena were poorly explained (if at all), fueling my ongoing confusion and growing disinterest. Many scenes were disjointed, resembling a hodgepodge of unrelated occurrences that were randomly thrown together in an attempt to form something that resembles a cohesive story. The world building was adorned with an abundance of contradictory information and was unrealistic to a fault. Frustratingly few loose ends were tied up at the conclusion of the book. While this may have been a poorly-executed attempt to garner interest in the final book, I don't feel compelled to complete the series.
The inclusion of a pathetic romantic subplot similarly detracted from the whimsical, adventurous tone that prevailed in Jackaby and Beastly Bones. The poorly-developed romance was seemingly included as an afterthought, and its awkward execution and forcible insertion into serious or action-heavy scenes was cringeworthy.
I missed the humor that was prevalent in Ghostly Echoes' predecessors, particularly that of Jackaby. Gone was his childish persona, instead replaced by a much darker outlook on the world around him. Instead of being portrayed as an innovative detective, he repeatedly overlooked important details that Abigail, conversely, was able to readily identify. Similarly, with the exception of Jenny, there was minimal character development or growth. The entire host of major and minor characters remained relatively static. Several of the new characters who were introduced in this book appeared superfluous, serving no true purpose.
I was disappointed with Ghostly Echoes, to say the least. It lacked many of the elements that I had enjoyed in the first two installments, and the increasingly outlandish plots are riddled with far too many inconsistencies and unanswered questions to adequately capture my attention as a reader. To compound matters further, it lacked originality, merely sounding like a regurgitation of its two predecessors. Due to this novel's many prominent faults and shortcomings, I have no desire to continue on with the series and would have preferred that Jackaby remain a standalone novel.
The plot moved at a painfully glacial pace, leaving quite a bit to be desired. Out of sheer boredom, I skimmed large portions of the book with the hopes of coming across an unforeseen twist or cliffhanger. 90% of the novel could have been reasonably excluded, rendering it a novella at best. The mystery aspect of the novel was weak and stretched thin to accommodate the book's unnecessary length. Consequently, Ghostly Echoes struck me as a Young Adult paranormal novel masquerading as a mystery.
Furthermore, this plot was more ludicrous and tiresome than the last. Crucial events and phenomena were poorly explained (if at all), fueling my ongoing confusion and growing disinterest. Many scenes were disjointed, resembling a hodgepodge of unrelated occurrences that were randomly thrown together in an attempt to form something that resembles a cohesive story. The world building was adorned with an abundance of contradictory information and was unrealistic to a fault. Frustratingly few loose ends were tied up at the conclusion of the book. While this may have been a poorly-executed attempt to garner interest in the final book, I don't feel compelled to complete the series.
The inclusion of a pathetic romantic subplot similarly detracted from the whimsical, adventurous tone that prevailed in Jackaby and Beastly Bones. The poorly-developed romance was seemingly included as an afterthought, and its awkward execution and forcible insertion into serious or action-heavy scenes was cringeworthy.
I missed the humor that was prevalent in Ghostly Echoes' predecessors, particularly that of Jackaby. Gone was his childish persona, instead replaced by a much darker outlook on the world around him. Instead of being portrayed as an innovative detective, he repeatedly overlooked important details that Abigail, conversely, was able to readily identify. Similarly, with the exception of Jenny, there was minimal character development or growth. The entire host of major and minor characters remained relatively static. Several of the new characters who were introduced in this book appeared superfluous, serving no true purpose.
I was disappointed with Ghostly Echoes, to say the least. It lacked many of the elements that I had enjoyed in the first two installments, and the increasingly outlandish plots are riddled with far too many inconsistencies and unanswered questions to adequately capture my attention as a reader. To compound matters further, it lacked originality, merely sounding like a regurgitation of its two predecessors. Due to this novel's many prominent faults and shortcomings, I have no desire to continue on with the series and would have preferred that Jackaby remain a standalone novel.