whatmeganreads 's review for:

Himself by Jess Kidd

4.25

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

Love, love, LOVE Jess Kidd books!  Her tales are always a little dark and twisty, and many times have an element or two of magical realism....just enough to make things fun, but not enough to be completely outlandish. This tale had all of the above and I was HERE for it.  The characters in this small community were especially well-written - my favorite was the hilarious but fearsome, mischief-making and tradition-bucking, elderly Ms. Merle Cauley.  She reminded me so much of the grandmother from Joanne Harris's Chocolat. (Another favorite!)

I'll never not recommend this author - if you haven't tried any of her work before, give it a shot! I especially loved Mr. Flood's Last Resort (titled The Hoarder in it's UK release), and Things in Jars was incredible too!