Jackaby

4.5 stars — OK, can I start off by saying that that cover is kind of misleading, and gave me a totally different impression of the book I was going to read? It kind of reminded me of an earlier Alienist cover, and so I was anticipating being freaked out…and I started getting myself in a bit of a tizzy with some of the supernatural elements, until I realized that this book is actually hella quirky and fun, and while it has action and suspense, it’s NOT that kind of scary. So my fear tears were totally unnecessary. (I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like the cover…but it’s not right for the book) DUDES! I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did! I kept listening a bit, and then putting it aside. But it ended up being right up my alley. First, the narrator was fantastic. She had fantastic consistent voices, great pacing, great emotion…just a great performance. I’ll definitely be listening to the next books as well. Second, Abigail is hilarious and adorable. She was a great character to tell the story, b/c while she was “normal”, she was also open and non-judgmental. I loved how spunky she was, how excitable. I just…I don’t know, she was so easy to connect with. I got it when she was wary, and I cheered when she didn’t back down. And she introduced us to a world of fantastic characters. I kind of loved that Jackaby wasn’t a love interest, but truly an employer. I don’t know how it’s possible, but he’s a more loveable Sherlock — super quirky and odd, but also kind of adorable in his own way. They developed a fun relationship. Then there’s all the smaller roles — from Charlie to Jenny to Douglas. They all added so much to the story, and to Abigail’s growth. And I totally guessed the culprit fairly early on! I was proud of myself. I don’t know if that’s because it was easy, or I’m just astute, but I’m going with the latter. 😛 So yeah. What a fantastic surprise. God I love when book club books expand my horizons and introduce me to something great!