Today I have an audiobook review for you! Jackaby was another of my book club reads. This was a fun and easy read. Short enough for a quick audiobook as well. Read on to see what I thought of Jackaby!

​Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers | HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Format: MP3 Audio
Pages: 299 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 7.5 hours
Narrator: Nicola Barber
Source: Scribd
Genre: YA Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
​Review Date: May 3, 2016
Rating: 4 bookmarks

Synopsis: Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny.

Jackaby is  an awesome melding of genres. Taking place in New England during the 1890's, I got a full sense of the period including how it was for women during that time. Abigail fresh off the boat from Europe finds herself looking for some adventure and she finds it.  This clearly is a young adult title, and it feels like it. While Abigail, and Jackaby, are solving murders and dealing with gory killings, it's clear that Abigail is young. For that time she's essentially an adult, but this story is clearly geared toward the younger audience. It's a very simple plot. On the flip side because it's simple, it works. One thing that surprised me especially about this book is that while it's entitled Jackaby, it's really all about Abigail. It's told from her point of view. Is about her experiences. How she interacts with
Jackaby, and the other characters in the story.

I have another book club read to review for you today. One of my many book clubs met to chat about this book a few weeks ago.  I received this title in an OwlCrate box, so I didn't even have to purchase the book! I love when happy coincidences happen.  Read on to see what I thought about A Madness So Discreet. 

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: October 6, 2015 
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 376
Source: OwlCrate Box (Try OwlCrate here!)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, possibly YA
Review Date: February 29, 2016
Rating: 4 bookmarks

Synopsis: Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

After reading and loving the two dystopian novels by McGinnis (Not a Drop to Drink, In a Handful of Dust), I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a historical fiction title. I was interested, yet a little nervous. I'm glad to report that I had nothing to worry about because McGinnis seriously flexed her author muscles!

This story starts in 1890 and takes place in both Boston and a small town in Ohio. The story centers around Grace, a young woman who is found by a doctor that dabbles in criminal profiling while in a horrible insane asylum in Boston. This book has been tied that's young adult, but personally I feel that it's an adult title. Grace under the age of 18, but just barely. The subject matter of this title is definitely 100% adult.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Release Date: First published April 3, 2012 / Audio unabridged edition 2012 by Recrded Books
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: 549 (Hardcover) /  Audio Length: Approx 8 hours
Narrator: Caroline Ramsay
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy
Review Date: August 23, 2013
Rating: 2 bookmarks

Synopsis: Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

I don't really have much to say on this book. It was okay. I like some period pieces and I like fantasy, so I thought to try this out. Plus this was a free audio book from Sync, so even more reason to try it.  

This story takes place in 15th century Brittany, France, This is really a British drama with a lot of overly complicated Tutor-ish politics wrapped up with a little bit of paranormal. It's almost like the fantasy part of this story takes a back seat to the historical fiction part. It's a little odd. I like British historical fiction, but this didn't exactly hit the mark for me.

The story had a shocking start and it pretty much came to a crawl after that.  The heroine, Ismae, starts out as the victim of her circumstances, but soon after being rescued she end up with nuns at a Convent. But this is no ordinary Convent. These nuns take in women and girls who they feel have the gift of St. Mortain, the God of Death, and train them to be assassins and  to do Mortain's bidding.  The story had a a few peaks and many valleys. There are a few points of excitement spread throughout the story with lulls in between. Not only that, but the romance seemed a bit weird and out of place.  It wasn't that believable to me. This story actually wouldn't have been hindered at all had the author left the whole romance subplot out of it.   

I'm glad that I was listening to this story. I may have given up on it if I were just reading it.  The narrator was decent, while it took a few chapters to get used to her voice and accent, overall I believe she helped the story along.

I won't be reading or listening to any more of this series. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't horrible, but there was a lot of room for improvement.

Happy Reading & Listening,
~Tamara