* Abigail is NOT the Watson to Jackaby's Sherlock. If anything, she is far more like the legendary detective in her observation skills, and it really comes across in all the detail she sees even as she narrates. On the other hand, we have Jackaby, who's quite the detective too, but his feels less inquisitive and instinctive in nature and far more nurtured by knowledge and Sight. Those two approaches blend nicely together and I'm excited to see Abigail became to formidable force I know she can be when she grows to know more about the supernatural world.
* The world is quite intriguing, and I'm curious to see more of it.
* The writing! The dialogues were great and Ritter describes things beautifully and quite poignant at times. I found myself stopping many times to highlight parts I liked;
"...held in unity, like the house itself, by some stronger force than aesthetic logic."What I Didn't Quite Like
"It was a quiet little corner in which I had lived when I was younger. It was a corner in which anything was possible, where magic was not an improbable daydream, but an obvious fact—if still only just out of reach."
“Hatun sees a different world than you or I, a far more frightening one, full of far more terrible dangers, and still she chooses to be the hero whom that world needs. She has saved this town and its people from countless monsters countless times. That the battles are usually in her head does not lessen the bravery of it. The hardest battles always are.”
“Monsters are easy, Miss Rook. They’re monsters. But a monster in a suit? That’s basically just a wicked man, and a wicked man is a more dangerous thing by far.”
"...Pockets! I was thrilled. I have never understood the aversion to pockets in ladies’ fashion—as though it has become some great shame to appear as if one might actually need to possess anything."
"I had heard of offices feeling like prisons, but in this case our prison felt, rather anticlimactically, like an office."
“Ignorance is bliss, is that it?”
“That’s insipid. Happiness is bliss—but ignorance is anesthetic, and in the face of what’s to come, that may be the best we can hope for our ill-fated acquaintances.”
“The truth can be so detrimental to one’s credibility.”
* The mystery. It was absolutely obvious and so it kind of grated that BOTH Abigail and Jackaby missed it entirely. Also, it was very predictable--I saw all the major beats of the story coming from a mile away.
* There wasn't enough of the supernatural world??? Like, the glimpses we saw were fascinating, but this book was definitely more about Abigail being exposed to Jackaby's wacky behavior than anything else.
* Why is a book with a female heroine and narrator title itself after the eccentric main male character? This happens a lot and I don't get it? Why not call it "Rook" or something??