chelsea_not_chels 's review for:

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

2.0

---

This had a mood to it reminiscent of THE MERMAID AND MRS. HANCOCK, both in subject matter and in general "feel." However, it did not really strike me. While I think some of it was well-done, such as the weaving together of the case and Bridy's past, for much of it I was just left going, "Why?" While I think Ruby's character was cool, I'm not sure what the point of him actually was, as he's not important for solving the case, doesn't really play that much into Bridy's past, despite what he says, and clearly isn't a long-term character if Kidd plans to write more books about Bridy (which I'm unsure of). And the parts where the narrative zoomed WAY out and was like "Let's look at London through the eyes of a raven!" felt very purple and forced to me.