Book review! Things In Jars is a quirky, original novel with masterful prose and a tight plot. I expect it to linger in my memory.
.
This feels like a classic gothic mystery with a humorous bite while also weaving in mythological fantasy. The dank and macabre atmosphere is perfectly offset and balanced with spirited characters and light humor.
.
A highlight is our protagonist Bridie, a sharp, memorable addition to the world of fictional investigators. She belongs right beside Holmes and Poirot.
.
There's a playfulness to the language that readers will either adore or find irksome, depending on their taste. It took a while for me to adjust to the style but once I did I delighted in it.
.
This book truly took me by surprise as it developed. It is difficult to describe, unexpected and fresh. I initially thought the flow was choppy... it jumps between a few time periods and characters. When following our protagonist on her investigation she sometimes ends up places without explanation. Some tales start in the middle and later you're introduced to the beginning. The role of an apparent side story is murky before eventually revealing its significance. At first it was an annoyance but I came to enjoy this unique form of storytelling and as it progressed I became more and more fascinated by the structure and author’s choices. It’s not confusing necessarily, but it is so original that it takes a while to work out. Ultimately it weaves together brilliantly, unexpectedly, and made me rethink how stories can be told.
.
I found it refreshing that some surprises are slowly unveiled rather than sudden shocks, while others appear completely unexpected without feeling like gimmicky twists.
.
Recommend for: Readers looking for a wholly original story with an excellent ability to transport you to its atmospheric world.
.
May not be for you if: You prefer a straightforward, clean style of writing or don't like descriptive asides.

NetGalley ARC| One of the most unique 2020 February book releases, Things In Jars is a bit bizarre, quite grotesque, and incredibly vivid.

Bridie, our Victorian England murder mystery investigator, reminds me a lot of Jessica Jones...with red hair.

If you like impish mermaids and dancing ghost tattoos with some romance, you'll find this fantastical fiction and gothic murder mystery on shelves this Feb. 10th.

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

(Facebook review)

Please refer to this link for TUL blog review: https://theuncorkedlibrarian.com/february-2020-book-releases/

There's a particular brew here.

Sip in small amounts or not at all.

Things in Jars is a conundrum of unimaginaginable emotions ranging from pure, unexpected delights to tightly weaved baskets of dark and dank indescribable emotions on every page. Jess Kidd bids you to come in. Placing your foot over the threshold is entirely up to you.

Enter Bridie Devine, red-haired widow and domestic sleuth, residing within the autumn hued streets of London in September of 1863. For a few mere coins, Bridie provides an additional service of minor surgery for those who may inquire.

But we find Bridie tapping a fine concoction of special tobacco made by Dr. Prudhoe into her often seen pipe. She stands still with her doctor's case in hand. It's been a long night. Her long night now turns into day as she is summoned to examine the bodies of a young woman and her baby found in a dark tunnel. The baby was held beneath the mother's cloak. This newborn possessed unusual little piked teeth. The odd will certainly become odder as we delve into this one.

Bridie arrives home to her housekeeper, Cora Butter, who stands tall at seven foot and bears a full set of mutton chops. No one looks after Bridie better than Cora. But Bridie now views someone standing in the corner of the room that even Cora cannot see. He claims to know Bridie from the past, but she can't place him. He introduces himself as Ruby Doyle, a former boxer. Ruby, though a bit transparent for Bridie, will become her confidente unseen by others.

Though weary, Bridie's presence is requested at the mansion of Sir Edmund Berwick. His six year old daughter, Christobel, has been kidnapped. The baronet does not wish to alert the local police and swears Bridie to secrecy. But the more we learn of this situation, the more questions seem to swirl in the air. Bridie immediately knows that something is amiss. She keeps her friend, Inspector Valentine Rose from Scotland Yard, out of the loop for as long as she can.

Things in Jars is a highly seasoned pot of stew with heavy-handed amounts of murder, kidnapping, misidentified characters streaming from one's nightmares, and a storyline that chugs along in a wide range of directions. It's not for everyone with its darkly tinged shockers hiding in the backstreets and corridors of Victorian London. But the writing is so intricately webbed in atmosphere and character development. Kidd has talent. Bucket-filled amounts of talent. I've already ordered her previous book, Himself, and await future offerings with arms wide open.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Simon & Schuster (Atria Books) and to Jess Kidd for the opportunity.

I admit that at first I found the style of writing way to flowery for my taste. However, once I got into the second/third chapter, I was hooked. And though the book did have its moments on for more flowery description, the overall plot made up for it.
A wonderful fantasy, I was hooked on the main characters and the plot. Ghosts, circus characters, sea creatures, and a little bit of mystery.

This book follows Bridie a detective who is looking for a mysterious kidnapped child and along the way meets a magical cast of characters. I was hooked on this book from the beginning and wanted to know what was going to happen next. The characters were well developed and the story kept me drawn in with its combination of mystery, magic , and fairy tale all put together.

5 Exquisite Stars!!!

I simply adore this book!! This is the type of a book I want to have on my bookshelf so that I can re-read it whenever I feel like transporting myself into a world of mystery and magic.

Things In Jars is a perfect mix of historical fiction, mystery and folklore. The writing is superb and the characters are well developed and likable
.
I loved Birdie and Rudy’s relationship, which brought so much humor and color to this dark and creepy story. And yes, I was hoping for a different ending for both of them, but I completely understand why the author ended this story the way she did.

I also have to mention here that the descriptions of the gothic, Victorian London were exceptional. I was “seeing” and “feeling” the atmosphere of 1800s London while reading this enchanting story. I LOVED IT!

Jess Kidd is an excellent storyteller and I cannot wait to read more books written by her.

Thank you Netgalley, Atria Books, and the author for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

When a strange, sharp-toothed child goes missing, her wealthy father calls in the intrepid Bridie Devine to locate her before it's too late. Bridie - an eccentric Irish redhead who smokes a pipe and possesses the cool mind of a scientist - is reluctant to agree, however. She's still reeling from the death of a child connected with her last case and Sir Edmund Berwick's refusal to share anything but the most basic information about the disappearance infuriates her. How will she find find Christobel's kidnappers if she can't access an entire wing of Berwick's house or interview the head housekeeper? It seems Bridie may be destined to fail yet again but she must try. She knows too well that Victorian London is no place for those who don't fit in. Without her help, the child who attracts snails and withers without access to water will surely die. Or perhaps an even worse fate awaits her as a display in a scientist's laboratory or an exhibit at a circus freak show. So with the assistance of a dead boxer's ghost and a seven-foot-tall maid, Bridie sets out to uncover secrets that reveal not only London's sordid underworld but her own childhood as well.

Things in Jars is a wonderfully weird, darkly Dickensian read that had me hooked from beginning to end. Though I expected the gothic element, the magical realism surprised and delighted me. Of all the things I can say about this book, the most important is this: it's great fun. I loved the humor, the gorgeously lyrical writing and the original plot. The characters are unabashedly larger than life – the villains are all dastardly and the heroes (or, in this case, heroines) are indisputably brave. As such, the storyline requires a definite commitment to suspension of disbelief. Still, it's that fairytale quality that makes Jess Kidd's novel such a lovely way to spend a dull winter's day. I thoroughly enjoyed the way Kidd tells the story, weaving together present and past with the help of bedtime stories, circus performers and ghosts. In a sense, the book is a series of interwoven fairy tales – a Grimm's cabinet of curiosities for readers to discover.

I especially liked the way Kidd's novel mirrors mid-1800s England, a time when the boundary between science and fantasy was much more fluid. Victorian London calls up images of high collars and strict morals, but it was a time of radical discoveries and social change. Darwin had just published his theory of evolution and scientists were beginning to study the wonderful, monstrous creatures that had seemed no more than the stuff of legends before. Some creatures, like dinosaurs, were shockingly real. Others, like the Feejee Mermaid, were convincing fakes. Whatever the case, the Victorian era was a time when the best minds weren't afraid to limit their inquiries to what was considered acceptable by academia. Even the esteemed Harvard psychologist William James traveled to London many times in pursuit of his research into psychic phenomena. And women much like Bridie were deeply involved in these matters. Mary Anning, daughter of a poor English cabinet-maker, became one of the era's most important dinosaur fossil hunters. Women may not have been wholly accepted in scientific circles but they were making a difference nonetheless. Things in Jars, with its “Winter Mermaid” and its eccentric cast, captures this perfectly.

If you like historical mysteries, I highly recommend this book. Much thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

I was really intrigued by this book when I read about it and although it is not a genre I normally read, I thought I would give it a try. Unfortunately this was just a bit too quirky for me and I found the story a bit hard to follow because of that. The setting was wonderful though and the writing beautiful. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

Bridie Devine is a female detective in Victorian London. The 6-year old daughter of Sir Edmund Berwick has been kidnapped. Like Bridie, little Christobel is not ordinary...the little girl reportedly has supernatural gifts. Unfortunately, the child's reputation brought her to the attention of an underworld group obsessed with finding and possessing oddities. Bridie is determined to save the little girl. Turns out it's going to be a very dark and oftentimes gruesome case....

Oh my! This book is a roller coaster ride through the strange and wonderful! Ghosts...abnormally large and bearded parlor maids...murder....mayhem....just an awesomely weird and mesmerizing story!

This is the first book by Jess Kidd that I have read. I will definitely be reading more of her work! This book is an awesome mix of mystery, humor and folklore. I'm curious to find out if Kidd's other books are this much fun to read!

The mystery is constructed perfectly. The characters are magnificently odd and quirky. The dark shadowy side of Victorian London definitely comes to life within this book. The story definitely kept my attention from start to finish. Very entertaining read!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Atria Books. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Jess Kidd once again mixes a crime story with bits of the supernatural to create a fantastic tale that shows both the strengths and weaknesses of human society.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

To my mind, Things in Jars is a nearly perfect book. It has a brilliant, jump-off-the-page historical setting, likeable - no, loveable - characters with depth, and a mysterious plot.

Things in Jars stars Bridget "Bridie" Divine, a private detective specializing in medical matters and missing children, and the merry band of misfits who are drawn to her compassion and bravery. Bridie grew up in the slums of Victorian London until she was acquired by a wealthy physician for a guinea. In Dr. Eames' home, Bridie encounters far more horrific phenomena than she ever saw on the streets of London. Now nearing middle age, Bridie's past comes back to haunt her (in more ways than one) as she tries to locate a stolen child who supposedly possesses supernatural powers over mind and nature.

It's a toss-up. I can't decide whether my favorite thing about this book is Kidd's lovely ability to show and not tell or Ruby Doyle. (Okay, it's definitely Ruby.) But seriously, Jess Kidd's narrative style is one I love. I wish more authors understood that there's no need to spell out your character's every emotion or thought. Kidd gets this; so much of the story goes unsaid, and it's all the better for it. While I loved Bridie, Kidd's supporting characters are the true gems: Ruby Doyle, the smitten, prize-fighting ghost; Cora, the brave, mouthy, giantess housemaid; Lester Lufkin, the Tudor-obsessed, spitfire-loving ringmaster; Myrtle Harbin, the world-weary six-year-old; Prudhoe, the orphan-housing, raven-whispering, experimental apothecary....I could go on. Each one is as vividly drawn as the next.

The only drawback for me was the pacing of the story. I felt it dragged a bit in parts, but not enough to make me stop reading. Rather, I wished things would move faster because I knew it would get better. For uneven pacing, I deduct a half star.

I'd be very interested to see if Kidd decides to make a series out of Bridie Divine. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. Highly recommended!

Two and a half stars: A book that starts out strong with a ghost and a smart female sleuth, but it gets long and drawn out, and I lost interest.

Bridie Devine is a female detective, who is no stranger to the dark streets of Victorian London. When a doctor visits her in order to hire her to find a mysterious child, Bridie takes the case, as she can’t bear the thought of a child in danger. Luckily for Bridie, she isn’t ferreting out clues on her own. She is accompanied by a tattoo covered, boxer who happens to be a ghost who claims she knows him, but for the life of her, Bridie has no clue who the ghost is. She also has her seven foot tall housemaid, her adopted uncle, who is a brilliant apothecary and a sharp London detective. Unfortunately, the more Bridie digs, the more mysterious the case becomes. The missing girl is not your ordinary girl, there is talk she is a mermaid? Then the case takes her back to the past, to the person and place she had no desire to revisit. Will Bridie be able to crack the case in time to save the girl?
What I Liked:
*Things in Jars was a book I picked up because it promised a funny, historical mystery with magical realism. While the book didn’t exactly deliver what I was looking for, I did find the first portion to be exciting, and I was drawn into this world.
*What kept me reading was Bridie Devine. Bridie is a former London orphan, gutter snipe who managed to save herself with her sharp mind and her street smarts. As a young girl, she was trained as a resurrection girl, meaning she knew the art of collecting the right corpses to sell to medical students. As an adult, Bridie has made a name for herself as a detective. Capable of solving difficult cases. I loved that Bridie was clever and kind, and that she was always collecting people who needed help. She was a fantastic character.
*The mystery of Rudy, the boxer ghost, was another highlight of the book. I was drawn to Rudy, and I spent the majority of the book wondering who he was and why he attached himself to Bridie. I loved him, and I was sad that things couldn’t have been different for Rudy and Bridie.
*The overall mystery is interesting. It begins when a strange girl is abducted. The girl who goes missing is by no means an ordinary girl. She attracts snails and sea creatures, and she appears to be a merrow or a mermaid. What follows is a case that leads Bridie and Ruby to the dark underbelly of Victorian London. Never a dull moment.
*There is a touch of romance in this one. It was aching and haunting and poignant. I wanted so much for it to work and for it to turn out differently.
*The book ends with a terrifying climax and a satisfying finale. The major questions are answered and all ends well, for the most part. There is room for continuation.
And The Not So Much:
*I am not going to lie, this book required extreme patience. This is what I call a thesaurus read. I appreciated the author trying to paint a vivid picture of Victorian London, but the antiquated vocabulary and big words that required constant looking up irritated me after awhile. I say this all the time. I have an expanded vocabulary, but when I have to look up a word on almost every page because the author wants to use big, obscure words, it becomes annoying and wearisome to read the book.
*I quickly began to lose interest when the book started moving forward and backward in time. The scenes that show Bridie’s life as a child grew more and more dark with each one. I found the gruesome scenes appalling after awhile. I can only handle so much darkness, and this one kept heaping it on.
*The story felt long and drawn out to me. The first portion is clean and entertaining, but then there are all these twists and movements back and forth in time that put me off. I barely finished this one.

Things in Jars is a book that is getting lots of praise, but for me it was a fizzle. I quickly grew tired of the annoying thesaurus words. I was not a fan of the dark and violent scenes they got to be too much. I wanted to like this one, but I barely finished it. Don’t take my word for it though, do your research and see if it is one fit for you.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and IW as not compensated for this review.
Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

Things in Jars is a fun and fantastical novel by Jess Kidd, author of one of my favourite books The Hoarder (called Mr. Flood's Last Resort in North America)).
This story is much different than the more traditional "Mr. Flood" as Kidd's imagination bursts in this Victorian-era who-dun-it featuring the quirky woman Bridie Devine, a lost child investigator who smokes a pipe, he invisible (to everyone but her) ghost or imaginary friend Ruby and a missing child know as the Winter Mermaid.
When the unusual girl, Christobel goes missing and it becomes apparent to Devine that this is no ordinary child, she relies on instinct, her own past and some good old fashioned crime sleuthing to find out those involved.
It' can make one a bit squeamish at times, reading about some of the 'things in jars' found by Devine but the hunt is fast-paced and the characters all colourful and interesting.
With her dry humour and the hilarious Ruby, a former boxer, giving her tips from the sidelines, Devine and her crew work their way through a collection of suspects trying to save a very sad and sick young girl.
This newest Jess Kidd novel was worth the wait!
Review is on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3079448320.

My first five star read of 2020

From the first sentence, you know this book is going to be different. “As pale as a grave grub, she’s an eyeful.” The writing is just gorgeous, in that Victorian, Dickensian fashion. Think Dickens matched with Grimms Fairy Tales. Or Dickens if he was smoking hashish ( or one of Prudhoe’s blends) and into Irish folktales.

I loved the characters: Bridie, part sleuth, part doctor (untrained), Cora, her seven foot maid with a beautiful baritone voice and Ruby, a dead boxer with living tattoos. London is a character in its own right. Yes, there is a supernatural element here, of which I usually am not a fan. But Kidd has managed to create a world so believable, that I swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

There’s a sly sense of humor here, mostly in the descriptions. While the theme of the book is dark, it’s just so darn entertaining. The story has Bridie being hired to find the kidnapped daughter of a baronet. But not just any daughter, this daughter has special characteristics. We are led into a world filled with grave robbers, anatomists, collectors of all things odd and unique.

Kudos to Kidd for getting it all right. I haven’t read her prior books, but I’m now inspired to seek them out.

A huge thanks to netgalley and Atria books for an advance copy of this book.

Morbidly fun book! Set in the Victorian era, this gothic mystery merges folklore with medical fanatics and an assortment of strange characters found on the streets of London.

Bridie Devine, an Irish orphan, has grown up to become a detective and she has just been hired to find a young girl who has been kidnapped. This isn’t just an average girl as readers will soon discover.

As Bridie begins investigating the kidnapping, readers are privy to bits of her life in the past and eventually will learn how her past merges with her present case. Along the way, she is accompanied by a ghostly spirit, Ruby, who has a strong connection to Bridie from her days in Ireland.

I absolutely loved this story! Jess Kidd wrote such vivid descriptions, that I felt as if I were actually haunting the Victorian streets of London along with Bridie and Ruby. I hope Kidd is planning a sequel. This book will be one of my favorites of 2020.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

My thanks to Atria books, Jess Kidd and Netgalley.
I guess I'm going against the tide here, but I really didn't care for this book. I've tried this author once before, and it just wasn't my groove. This takes place in Victorian London, which for me is often iffy. It's a time period that I love reading about, but it's also a slightly disgusting time! I can read about murder and mayhem, but if someone throws their waste out of the window, then I'm just about gagging my guts out! So, I need something or someone to connect with. This didn't do it for me. I didn't get to far into this book. 22% actually. So, take this review with a grain of salt! I do usually give a book to 30%. But, sometimes a gal just knows when to stop. So, I stopped.

LOVED. This book was so unique and had so many different facets and vibes. The mystery aspect was so engaging...and yet there was this great speculative element that was understated but so well done. Then the humor and dialogue between the characters were fantastic.

What a unique cast of characters and I loved them! This was a witty, well written book. My interest was kept from page one.
Many thanks to Atria Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This novel was set in Victorian London with a swaggering female investigator, Bridie, who smokes a pipe, speaks with an Irish accent, and was brought up a street urchin before being taken in by a kind doctor. Ruby is the ghost of a boxer who haunts Bridie in a conscience-like way, advising, observing, and spending time with her (she can see and hear him, by the way), who claims to know Bridie though she can’t remember him. Bridie is investigating a kidnapping of a strange mer-child, and the story switches to the kidnapper and child, then back to Bridie and her ghost and her housekeeper, Cora, the rescued giant woman from a circus. There’s also a story told by the kidnapper woman, in pieces, half to the child and half to herself, of her dark childhood. And the story of Bridie’s dark childhood with the looming incidents of a sociopathic Gideon, the kind doctor’s son, who died after being sent away after raping several women ... or did he die after all?

This story, with it’s many many stories and changing p.o.v’s really didn’t keep my attention and I found it a struggle to continue picking up. I lost sight of what the actual end-goal of the story was, though everyone was strange and fascinating. I can’t stomach the kind of cruelty Gideon showed, and had to skip pages with him, making the book not really an enjoyable experience.

I struggled to get into this book. It’s got an interesting premise that I will definitely be able to sel to customers, but the story felt a little disjointed to me, and I couldn’t truly understand the characters as much as I would like. The plot didn’t move as quickly as I expected it to, but I think there is a niche of people that will greatly enjoy this title.