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A review by sarah_taleweaver
Beastly Bones by William Ritter
5.0
2022 Reread: I'm not sure I would still say that I like this book better than the first book, but I still very much enjoy it, so I'm not going to quibble.
It's really, really rare for me to like the second book better than the first. I can think of maybe a half-dozen that qualify. And this is one of them.
The Good:
-Old friends. Jackaby continues to be brilliant (and yet not . . .) and tactless and mysterious and eccentric and amusing and generally awesome. Charlie is loyal and brave and adorable as ever. And Abigail, as usual, is making her way along, trying to be helpful and observant and not fail spectacularly (a feeling I can relate to all too well . . .)- and successfully being courageous and resourceful and sharp and also getting to show off her paleontology a bit. She's imperfect and tends to make mistakes now and then- but I think that actually makes me like her better, since about half her mistakes, I've done something similar.
-New friends. Hudson is awesome and a good complement to Jackaby- a hunter and collector of magical creatures. (And, occasionally, nonmagical ones.) Horner is rather hilarious. Nellie is fabulous as well for many reasons.
-Chameleomorphs. Love the idea of these, even if they're also a little scary in a way. And I rather like how the author tied them in with Darwin and his theory.And, y'know, evolution would make a lot more sense if these things were actually real.
-If I were a betting girl, I'd owe Jackaby five bucks.
-Proper mystery-fantasy combination. I've said it before: I like books that are fantasies, but are also mysteries- more whodunit or murder than fantasy-adventure. Beastly Bones definitely qualifies.
-The train station scene. It was adorable. I can't tell you why. Read it and you'll find out.
The Bad:
-Unanswered questions. Questions raised at the start of the book are not solved by the end- thankfully, there's a promise of more investigations. Not so thankfully, we have to wait for the next book. DARNIT I NEED THAT BOOK NOW.
-Historical inconsistency. People had a tendency to talk like they're from either modern times or sometime in the 1920s or later, rather than from 1892. Also, certain things at one point in the story seemed like they'd fit better in the Wild West than in New England. It bugged me. However, it wasn't enough to stop me enjoying the book.
Overall, Beastly Bones is a fabulous book, even better than the first in the series- which is saying something, since I love said first book to death. And I really, really hope that there's going to be a book three, because if there isn't, I will be terribly sad.
It's really, really rare for me to like the second book better than the first. I can think of maybe a half-dozen that qualify. And this is one of them.
The Good:
-Old friends. Jackaby continues to be brilliant (and yet not . . .) and tactless and mysterious and eccentric and amusing and generally awesome. Charlie is loyal and brave and adorable as ever. And Abigail, as usual, is making her way along, trying to be helpful and observant and not fail spectacularly (a feeling I can relate to all too well . . .)- and successfully being courageous and resourceful and sharp and also getting to show off her paleontology a bit. She's imperfect and tends to make mistakes now and then- but I think that actually makes me like her better, since about half her mistakes, I've done something similar.
-New friends. Hudson is awesome and a good complement to Jackaby- a hunter and collector of magical creatures. (And, occasionally, nonmagical ones.) Horner is rather hilarious. Nellie is fabulous as well for many reasons.
-Chameleomorphs. Love the idea of these, even if they're also a little scary in a way. And I rather like how the author tied them in with Darwin and his theory.
-If I were a betting girl, I'd owe Jackaby five bucks.
Spoiler
Although I was partially right, that whatever the bones were would show up later. THEY'RE DRAGON BONES, GUYS. DRAGONS. FOSSILIZED DRAGONS. DO YOU REALIZE HOW AWESOME THAT IS? Now, if only someone would find dragon fossils in real life . . .-Proper mystery-fantasy combination. I've said it before: I like books that are fantasies, but are also mysteries- more whodunit or murder than fantasy-adventure. Beastly Bones definitely qualifies.
-The train station scene. It was adorable. I can't tell you why. Read it and you'll find out.
The Bad:
-Unanswered questions. Questions raised at the start of the book are not solved by the end- thankfully, there's a promise of more investigations. Not so thankfully, we have to wait for the next book. DARNIT I NEED THAT BOOK NOW.
-Historical inconsistency. People had a tendency to talk like they're from either modern times or sometime in the 1920s or later, rather than from 1892. Also, certain things at one point in the story seemed like they'd fit better in the Wild West than in New England. It bugged me. However, it wasn't enough to stop me enjoying the book.
Overall, Beastly Bones is a fabulous book, even better than the first in the series- which is saying something, since I love said first book to death. And I really, really hope that there's going to be a book three, because if there isn't, I will be terribly sad.