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pressed_flower_books 's review for:
Beastly Bones
by William Ritter
In the second entry in the Jackaby series, Beastly Bones, we find our heroes Abigail and Jackaby called to investigate the miraculous discovery of a dinosaur skeleton and a potential murder at its dig site. The pair get to meet up with Charlie, who has been stationed here since the events of book one, and a new cast of characters made up of the denizens of and visitors to Gad's Valley.
Unfortunately, where the first book was an extremely fun, entertaining jaunt, this one was more like a tiresome amble. The vibe has completely shifted from the first, and definitely not in a direction that I enjoyed. While the first had all the traits of a good Victorian mystery - ghosts! period dress! police commissioners that are forced to work with the detective! - this one was like a weird supernatural Western. The big shift was a little jarring and didn't work like the shift in The Map did (which was incredibly disappointing since I found The Map so fun.)
I did thoroughly enjoy most of the new characters in the book, with Nellie as a major favorite. Her sass was absolutely unmatched. Hudson was a good time, too, with his gentle giant demeanor and confusing relationship with animals. (Hunt them? Cuddle them? Pick one.) Horner the paleontologist is a jolly little dude who I hope we get to interact with again in the next books. Special shout-out to Lewis f*cking Lamb for being an even less likable character than Jackaby. The man literally tests Abigail on her bone knowledge in a way reserved for memes about gatekeeping. Yuck.
The main characters are much the same this go-round, with Jackaby still a completely unempathetic waste of space. Honestly, the way the audiobook author portrays him makes me hate him that much more - good on her for distilling the fact that his arrogance makes my skin crawl into a sound. Abigail could do way better.
This book felt much more on the Y side of YA (minus all the gore, which speaks to the point I'm about to make about the whiplash-inducing change of pace and tone in this one). As I read, the words I kept coming up with were "zany" and "madcap". While I am definitely not opposed to juvenile books (some of the most popular series in modern literature come out of the juvenile section in the library!) I felt that the madly shifting pace and somewhat random actions happening in this one were a little...silly. I mean, Charlie changes form for like two minutes to sniff some hairs and it's pretty much the defining point of the chapter. We listen to multiple chapters worth of talk about the actual, physical task of digging up the dinosaur bones, and then get a sudden jump to a scene where an animal has been eviscerated and someone has died.
I will still continue with this series, especially after the special ending that foreshadows the events of the next book (and the absolutely horiffic details we get in the "supplemental material" section). I'm hoping maybe this one was just a fluke.
Unfortunately, where the first book was an extremely fun, entertaining jaunt, this one was more like a tiresome amble. The vibe has completely shifted from the first, and definitely not in a direction that I enjoyed. While the first had all the traits of a good Victorian mystery - ghosts! period dress! police commissioners that are forced to work with the detective! - this one was like a weird supernatural Western. The big shift was a little jarring and didn't work like the shift in The Map did (which was incredibly disappointing since I found The Map so fun.)
I did thoroughly enjoy most of the new characters in the book, with Nellie as a major favorite. Her sass was absolutely unmatched. Hudson was a good time, too, with his gentle giant demeanor and confusing relationship with animals. (Hunt them? Cuddle them? Pick one.) Horner the paleontologist is a jolly little dude who I hope we get to interact with again in the next books. Special shout-out to Lewis f*cking Lamb for being an even less likable character than Jackaby. The man literally tests Abigail on her bone knowledge in a way reserved for memes about gatekeeping. Yuck.
The main characters are much the same this go-round, with Jackaby still a completely unempathetic waste of space. Honestly, the way the audiobook author portrays him makes me hate him that much more - good on her for distilling the fact that his arrogance makes my skin crawl into a sound. Abigail could do way better.
This book felt much more on the Y side of YA (minus all the gore, which speaks to the point I'm about to make about the whiplash-inducing change of pace and tone in this one). As I read, the words I kept coming up with were "zany" and "madcap". While I am definitely not opposed to juvenile books (some of the most popular series in modern literature come out of the juvenile section in the library!) I felt that the madly shifting pace and somewhat random actions happening in this one were a little...silly. I mean, Charlie changes form for like two minutes to sniff some hairs and it's pretty much the defining point of the chapter. We listen to multiple chapters worth of talk about the actual, physical task of digging up the dinosaur bones, and then get a sudden jump to a scene where an animal has been eviscerated and someone has died.
I will still continue with this series, especially after the special ending that foreshadows the events of the next book (and the absolutely horiffic details we get in the "supplemental material" section). I'm hoping maybe this one was just a fluke.