haia_929's review against another edition
4.0
This is a trimmed down version of my review, to view the full review visit The Book Ramble.
Fresh off a ship from Europe, Abigail Rook meets a strange detective named R. F. Jackaby who investigates the unexplainable and the supernatural. Without any other options Abigail begins to work for Jackaby as his assistant. The pair begin to investigate a local murder which appears to have a supernatural element. They team up with detection Charlie Cane to try and track the murderer, unfortunately this investigation puts them right in the murderer's line of sight and puts the team at risk.
Jackaby is a charming novel, delightfully mysterious and fun, with some interesting and charming characters. I found the pacing of this book fantastic, it moved at such a perfect pace I was so enthralled and could hardly put it down. My one big issue with this book? The mystery proved too obvious for my liking, there wasn't nearly enough twist. Overall it was really good though.
The story is told in Abigail's perspective. I found Abigail to be cute and generally fierce, though a little overly naive. She is adventurous and represents a, fairly consistently, strong female lead for the book. Abigail becomes employed by Jackaby. He's charming and mysterious. The other major characters in this book are Charlie, the police detective Abigail happens to fall for at first sight (this was cute but a little eye-roll-worthy), and Jenny, the ghost who lives in Jackaby's house. The characters are all well formed and well written, and they're all likeable and interesting in ways that make you want more, to be able to read more about them, so I'm definitely looking forward to sequels.
The pacing of the mystery itself is done very well. You are constantly moving and learning either about the mysterious Jackaby, or about the actual murder investigation. I think things moved a little too quickly at the beginning, but that was almost necessary just to get beyond the boring backstory for Abigail. Things wrapped up well, at a good pace, though once the mystery was solved it did seem to drag a bit as the characters had to be set in their rightful places and so on.
Overall, I would recommend this book and I am looking forward to reading the sequels!
Fresh off a ship from Europe, Abigail Rook meets a strange detective named R. F. Jackaby who investigates the unexplainable and the supernatural. Without any other options Abigail begins to work for Jackaby as his assistant. The pair begin to investigate a local murder which appears to have a supernatural element. They team up with detection Charlie Cane to try and track the murderer, unfortunately this investigation puts them right in the murderer's line of sight and puts the team at risk.
Jackaby is a charming novel, delightfully mysterious and fun, with some interesting and charming characters. I found the pacing of this book fantastic, it moved at such a perfect pace I was so enthralled and could hardly put it down. My one big issue with this book? The mystery proved too obvious for my liking, there wasn't nearly enough twist. Overall it was really good though.
The story is told in Abigail's perspective. I found Abigail to be cute and generally fierce, though a little overly naive. She is adventurous and represents a, fairly consistently, strong female lead for the book. Abigail becomes employed by Jackaby. He's charming and mysterious. The other major characters in this book are Charlie, the police detective Abigail happens to fall for at first sight (this was cute but a little eye-roll-worthy), and Jenny, the ghost who lives in Jackaby's house. The characters are all well formed and well written, and they're all likeable and interesting in ways that make you want more, to be able to read more about them, so I'm definitely looking forward to sequels.
The pacing of the mystery itself is done very well. You are constantly moving and learning either about the mysterious Jackaby, or about the actual murder investigation. I think things moved a little too quickly at the beginning, but that was almost necessary just to get beyond the boring backstory for Abigail. Things wrapped up well, at a good pace, though once the mystery was solved it did seem to drag a bit as the characters had to be set in their rightful places and so on.
Overall, I would recommend this book and I am looking forward to reading the sequels!
toastii's review against another edition
4.0
What a cute story!
I haven't watched many Sherlock shows so I don't have much to compare, but I thoroughly enjoyed this tale.
I haven't watched many Sherlock shows so I don't have much to compare, but I thoroughly enjoyed this tale.
apireading's review against another edition
3.0
Sans être parfaite, cette lecture était très sympathique.
Un mélange parfait entre Sherlock Holmes et Grimm, Jackaby a le démérite de reprendre des clichés qu’on nous sert et ressert depuis des années dans ces deux genres. C’est dommage, car les personnages sont très attachants.
Un mélange parfait entre Sherlock Holmes et Grimm, Jackaby a le démérite de reprendre des clichés qu’on nous sert et ressert depuis des années dans ces deux genres. C’est dommage, car les personnages sont très attachants.
kitvaria_sarene's review against another edition
4.0
This feels a bit like a teenage Sherlock mixed with some magic, and given a doctors companion, who just takes the weirdness is stride.
It was a lot of fun, and had me giggling at quite some places.
It has real, bloody murders in it, so I would recommend it for ages 12 and up.
If you like an easy, funny and entertaining read, give this one a try.
If you love Lockwood, this might be right up your alley!
It was a lot of fun, and had me giggling at quite some places.
It has real, bloody murders in it, so I would recommend it for ages 12 and up.
If you like an easy, funny and entertaining read, give this one a try.
If you love Lockwood, this might be right up your alley!
ronniewest's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun fantasy/mystery, and even though I “solved” it early on, the characters and story were still so enjoyable. I will continue the series.
august_reads_slooowly's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
cardan_greenbriar_1's review against another edition
Je ne m'attendais vraiment pas à ça, dès que j'ai vu qu'il y avait des goblins et des machins comme ça j'avais l'impression de lire un truc de gamin et ça m'a soulé, j'ai essayé de continuer mais je n'aimais vraiment pas