Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for allowing me to read this ARC!

The best word for Jess Kidd's Things in Jars is "atmospheric" and the best praise I can offer is that I started looking up other books by the author before I was even fifty pages in! Things in Jars achieves a Dickensian voice and attention to detail without dropping into parody, making it feel as if the story is being conveyed by the best tale-teller among your friends. The characters are fully-fleshed out (even the ghost!), flawed, and impossible to look away from even if you don't agree with all of their motives. Even the fantastic elements feel quite plausible rather than grafted on. The best part of the book was, for me, the moments of homage to Victorian literature and culture. I did my dissertation on Victorian museum culture and Kidd knows her stuff - from the Fiji mermaid to anatomical preservation to menageries. If you need to escape the winter doldrums and get lost in another place and time, this one's for you!

What a strange book. Way too much description of excrement and the stench of human body parts...heck, way, way too much description all together. I did like the relationships between Bridie, Doyle, and Cora and I would have liked more of that with less of all the unneeded/unwanted verbiage over-describing the stinking city and ugly people. Too much violence happening to animals and people, it's just a sordid story overall. It was well written but overdone.

Having said all of that, I encourage readers to check out other reviews because so many people loved this story. I did love the story of Bridie and Doyle and wanted so much more about them and their time together. I pretty much adored those two. I want to thank Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

4.5

Investigator Bridie Devine is hired to find Cristabel Berwick the missing - and secret - daughter of Sir Edmund Berwick. While desperate to get his daughter back, Edmund is loathe to reveal too much information about his daughter. No matter because Bridie is excellent at putting the pieces together, and when she finds out the girl has fantastical, possibly mystical characteristics about her, Bridie has to connect the dots to those who collect curiosities. Doing so will dig up Bridie's own past which she wishes would remain buried. But she is not alone in her endeavors, aided by her seven-foot tall house maid and a tatoo-covered boxer who just so happens to be a ghost, Bridie will not give up until the child is safe even at the cost of hunting down her own demons.

It didn't take long in reading Things in Jars that I felt like I should be in maybe the 3rd book of a series. Bridie just jumps off the page this fully formed character and many of the issues readers deal with throughout the story in regards to Bridie's past are things that I feel are typically built up over the course of other books. This is not the case with Things in Jars it is (as of now) a standalone story. Jess Kidd navigates this really well in making readers feel such a personal connection to this character that we're just meeting for the first time. I will say there are some instances in which you have to suspend your disbelief and no I'm not talking, specifically, about that mermaid on the cover of the book. You go into Things in Jars acknowledging that there are mythical/fantastical elements at play for certain. What I mean when I say you have to suspend your disbelief is that there are circumstances that arise in which coincidence plays a big part. I think in order to really enjoy the book you have to put aside the fact that somehow Bridie's past just so happens to become entangled with her present case.

Once you make that commitment, I will tell you, I didn't want to put down the book, even when it would start moving into darker territory. But that's what Jess Kidd did so well in that the balance between lightness and dark is perfectly thought out. Much of this rests on Bridie's shoulders. She grew up in some horrendous circumstances yet she persevered and she moved forward with her life. She wants to help people and, for the most part, she has a positive outlook even acknowledging the seedier aspects of those she oftentimes investigates. Also, the interactions between Bridie and the mysterious ghost that's following her around were some of my favorite moments in the book. They are bittersweet moments and offer yet a separate mystery which is tied intrinsically to Bridie alone - well Bridie and the ghost of course. The narrative doesn't suffer for the multiple angles Jess Kidd works in for Bridie to solve.

It's not often that I read standalones anymore. Series, I feel, are a huge part of the reading experience nowadays so when I do get a book that is just one I like the reprieve that's offered by not having to get too entangled in a huge whole new literary world. I like that the story is contained in one volume. But in this case, I would love to read more books with Bridie as our protagonist. I certainly think with her investigative line of work that door could be open. One can always hope. In the meantime, I'm off to check out Kidd's previous work Himself which promises more of the same fantastical elements as this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for a copy of Things in Jars early in exchange for my honest review.



A child goes missing and Bridie Devine is called to help assist in finding the child. What starts off as a kidnapping quickly turns into murder and Bridie is searching for clues if the two are connected. There is a back and forth between the current timeline and years earlier during Bridie's youth that mimic the current events.


Things in Jars is a total "it's not you it's me" situation. I found parts of this book interesting but overall I was underwhelmed. I don't know if it's the gothic Victorian setting or the pacing of the book that didn't work well for me. I know those two items tend to go hand-in-hand for a slower narrative. I don't always mind a slower narrative but I found myself getting bored. I almost called this book a DNF but I was too invested and wanted to see who stole Christabel and if they'd be brought to justice. There is a slight mystical/supernatural element to this book but I don't know if it drives the narrative too much. I'd give this book a 2.5 rating (if I could do half stars).

This book was just one magnificent rollicking romp! Set in Victorian England, protagonist Bridie Devine works as a private investigator. With her sidekick, 7-foot-tall Cora by her side, Bridie tries to solve a child abduction. But the more Bridie learns, the more twisted the situation turns out to be. The child is not necessarily a child, but may be a creature of the sea, a creature that can draw water to her and has the teeth of a pike! And that's just the beginning! This book was so much fun to read and I can't wait to see what Kidd comes up with next.

Bridie Divine is a female detective in search of yet another missing child, the supposed daughter of Sir Edmund Berwick in this mystical mystery set in 19th century London. But this child, Cristabel, is not your run of the mill child, and her disappearance is not an ordinary case.

As this story begins we are given a raven’s view of the scene below:
”Below her, streets and lanes, factories and poorhouses, parks and prisons, grand houses and tenements, roofs, chimneys and treetops. And the winding, sometimes shining, Thames – the sky’s own dirty mirror. The raven leaves the river behind and charts a path to a chapel on a hill with a spire and a clock tower. She circles the chapel and lands on the roof with a shuffling of wings. She pecks at brickwork, at lichen, at moth casts, at nothing. She sidles up to a gargoyle and runs her beak affectionately around his eyes, nudging, scooping…A woman is standing below: she looks up, but she doesn’t flinch. Bridie Divine is not the flinching kind.”

After some quizzing of Berwick’s household staff – which doesn’t really involve much in the way of questioning, as some of the staff seem more than eager to share their disturbing experiences with Cristabel – Bridie discovers that those who have cared for her believe her to be a merrow, a creature of Irish legend akin to a mermaid. However, Cristabel is nothing like Disney’s Ariel, with her sharp, pike teeth and peculiar eyes.

With a cast of strange and compellingly quirky characters set in the darker side of Victorian London, Jess Kidd doesn’t disappoint in bringing this story to life. I’m already looking forward to her next book.

”Here is time held in suspension. Yesterday pickled. Eternity in a jar.”


Pub Date: Feb 4 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Atria Books & NetGalley

Things in Jars moves us away from the author's usual locations in Ireland and off to London. Of course our main characters are still beautifully Irish and, also of course, one of them is a ghost. Kidd describes Victorian London perfectly with all its horrors and its smells and its poverty among the lower classes.

Her characters too are all larger than life. Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of the time, takes on a case of a stolen child who turns out to be a very unusual child indeed. Helping her in the search is Ruby Doyle, champion boxer, now deceased but not yet resting in peace, and Cora Butter "the only, and most terrifying, seven-foot-tall housemaid in London."

The story goes into some very dark places but it is also humourous, totally entertaining and very well written. A really excellent and very readable book. I loved it.

I feel like not giving "Things in Jars" five stars is a way of saying that I'm not smart enough to enjoy this book as much as I'd have liked. "Things in Jars" was beautifully written. It is poetic, whimsical, and portrays a vivid (and often dark) image of Victorian London. The author uses the third-person present tense POV, which sets more of a literary tone throughout the novel.

Bridie Devine is an inspector of sorts. She is investigating the disappearance of a child- a child with purported magical powers that most people don't even know is missing. To aid her is her 7ft tall maid (we are reminded of her height very often!) and a former-boxing legend ghost.

Mostly mystery, a bit of romance, and lot of long vocabulary words :). I actually really liked reading this book on my kindle reader because I was able to look up so many new words.

At times, the story got boring and I just wasn't as excited to read it as I was with other books on my currently reading list. Jess Kidd really has a way with words though and the prose definitely carried the plot. Overall, this was a memorable book. I highly recommend it to people who are interested in magical realism, Victorian London, and beautiful descriptions.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Now it's time for me to hunt down those first two books that Jess Kidd has written!

Interesting. Puzzling for sure.

This is a book that really needs various trigger warnings as there are instances of animal cruelty and graphic descriptions of murder.

Not going to lie but I was confused from the start. The prose is gorgeous and delicate but it can be a bit too much at times and it makes it hard to follow exactly what is going on.

Bridie Devine is a detective and also a surgeon and her recent case has her tasked with finding a child who possesses supernatural powers. Sounds awesome right? This book is gritty and intertwines Victorian gothic mystery heavy on blood and mythology. We travel back and forth between Bridie’s past to find this kidnapped child and unravel even more secrets.

I love slow burns but this was a super slow burn for me. It didn’t pick up until about midway through the book and then it lulled again and we were treated to even more gruesome scenes that I could barely stand to read. I couldn’t feel a connection to any of the characters and the language felt way too heavy. I did love the atmosphere the author was going for however.

2.5

Thanks very much to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of my ARC.

What more magical than a novel of historical fiction whose very prose is steeped in poetic imaginings of the most wondrous sort, whose evocation of Victorian London is so vivid as to be as easy as stepping out my front door, in which magical realism surpasses any disbelief and becomes as real as reading the headlines of today?


THINGS IN JARS is glorious. If you've loved THE NINTH HOUSE, or THE GENERAL THEORY OF HAUNTING, or A SUDDEN LIGHT: don't dawdle! Read a very special novel indeed and watch as your interior world opens to new horizons.

4.5/5

This book was a curiosity in and of itself. I've never read anything quite like it.

It was weird (in the BEST way), enchanting, and atmospheric. Filled with seedy characters, a giantess with a heart of gold, mythology, a ghostly companion, and a wonderfully eccentric detective, Things in Jars is a story to savor.

It's especially perfect for fans of Victorian London and those who love a good genre-mashup. I don't think I've ever read a book that could be classified by so many different genres, but somehow it all works. Highly recommended!

**Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the review copy.

Let’s get one thing straight: Jess Kidd’s writing is gorgeous. She is the epitome of the expression “painting pictures with words.” I could vividly see, hear, feel, smell, or touch everything she described. I will seek out her work again.

Things in Jars is set in Victorian London in two timelines and is about a female detective investigating the kidnapping of a child. However it is much more than that. Folklore, mythical creatures, and the supernatural are also part of the story. The storyline was not really my cup of tea, but this still gets four stars for some of the best writing talent I’ve ever seen.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley. My opinions are my own.

3.5 stars rounded up. Things in Jars is very well-written. Maybe too well-written for me. I found myself often lost in the language. Although I did highlight many beautiful lines. I read this novel-that demands the reader's full attention-at a time when I should have been reading something lighter. I also had a hard time keeping the myriad of characters straight, especially with the two timelines. I did enjoy the characters of Bridie, Ruby, and Cora. But I wanted more of them.

Things in Jars is about the mysterious disappearance of a little girl named Christabel and Bridie's search for her. Bridie definitely brings to mind a female Sherlock Holmes, especially with the setting of Victorian London, but the bits of romance were my favorite parts. I found myself not so interested in the mystery of Christabel, only continuing to read for the resolution to Bridie's love life.

Most reviewers are loving this one, so I know I'm in the minority. I'm thrilled it's getting such well-deserved reviews. I expected to love this one, and I'm disappointed that I didn't.

Imagine that Charles Dickens had a slightly less verbose cousin who was interested in fantasy. Well, that would be Ms. Kidd. The lyrical writing style perfectly matches the fantastical theme of the story and I loved how Ms. Kidd tied everything together. Even things the reader didn't realize were related! I felt the character development was terrific, adding so much to the story of a young girl's kidnapping. It was almost as though the kidnapping was a framework to present all these strange and interesting people and events. Thanks to Ms. Kidd's writing, I could easily picture the characters and the world around them. This book would make for a mesmerizing movie!

Bridie Levine, in all her pipe-smoking flame-haired glory, is certainly one of the most unique female characters in my recent memory. Add in a ghost, a seven-foot tall housekeeper, nefarious doctors, body-snatchers, and “collectors”, and a mermaid-like creature and you get one heck of a riveting tale! This is a detective/fantasy story set in Victorian England. Bridie is tasked with finding the kidnapped daughter of a nobleman; but of course, all is not as it seems. The mysterious missing child may not be a child at all, but a fantastic mermaid-like creature with otherworldly talents. The plot has many twists and turns and is sure to keep a reader’s attention throughout. I could not wait to find out what happened next.

The author has a wonderful way with words and her descriptive writing style sets a vivid scene and makes the characters and setting jump off the page. I can see how some would think the writing is a bit over the top, but I loved the writing style. The story definitely has a creepy Gothic vibe. The characters are well developed and interesting. Though the story is told through two different timelines that weave together, I was never confused about what was happening. Overall, this novel was a pleasure to read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the honor of reading an advanced copy of this intriguing book.

I have not read anything by this author before and this one was very different! I think I read the description and was thinking it might be a bit like the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths or even Agatha Christie. It is not like either of those!! A gothic mystery that is hard to categorize beyond that, definitely fantasy and fairy tale elements..

There is a woman detective in Victorian London – Bridie Devine – of humble and obscure origins. All sorts of strange elements in the dark alleys of London and the countryside – stealing bodies for medical uses, kidnapping, specimens in jars, ghosts, bodies in the crypt, carriages getting stuck in the mud, crows – I could go on and on in this vein!

Bridie is on the case of a missing child who has unusual qualities. We visit the estate of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick and follow Bridie on the case (BTW, I keep wanting to call her Birdie). She’s helped on the case by her 7-foot-tall maid/protector and a ghost – Ruby Doyle. We finally learn about Ruby at the very end and why he has shown up to help Bridie.

This one took some staying power to finish, but it was one that had a satisfying conclusion. I’m not sure about reading future books by this author, maybe if they had an entirely different format.

DNF @ 50%.

So much for me to love about this novel. A dark 1800's Victorian London, a fearless and compassionate pipe-smoking red-haired sleuth type with a horror of a past....and a knack for reading corpses, an infatuated, muscled, tattooed ghost man, a mysterious missing girl with piked teeth and unique supernatural powers....plus more!

But......had a difficult time staying focused. Time line changes don't bother me, nor does a complex storyline, but the interspersed excessive descriptive narration wore me down. So, after four days of struggling thru this read, am throwing in the towel and moving on.

So many of my fellow Goodread's friends really loved this gothic tale so please do read their reviews. Am giving THINGS IN JARS a 3 Star rating for its mighty imaginative characters.

Many thanks to Atria Books via NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Bridie Devine is a brilliant detective along the lines of a more accessible, less pretentious female version of Sherlock Holmes.... Well, perhaps not THAT brilliant but she's pretty good.

When called upon to solve the case of a most peculiar missing child with almost nothing to go on and very little cooperation from her client Bridie finds herself dependent on the aid of "an enchanting cast of characters, including a seven-foot tall housemaid; a melancholic, tattoo-covered ghost; and an avuncular apothecary."

At its most basic level Things in Jars is a mystery set in Victorian Era London. Sure, there are other aspects to it - supernatural, macabre, ethical quandaries, a splash or two of dark humor, and the kind of lyrical writing that makes poets weep with envy - but when all that is peeled away, at the heart of things, it's your basic mystery story set in a time when the scientific world is fast outpacing primitive beliefs if not the practice of primitive techniques.

Told in the style of a folk tale passed down through so many generations that it's no longer possible to say for certain how much of it is true and how much has been embellished. You just want to believe it no matter how fantastical.

It's good! I had some trouble with The Prologue. It seemed as though, in an effort to jump right in with a kind of creepy midnight fairytale tone, the author painted a scene more confusing than enthralling (could be reader error, too). I reread it a couple of times and then got right into the rest of the story. Author Jess Kidd does such a great job of getting it all set up, making it serious and believable, that by the time it gets to the ending it's almost anticlimactic. It seems too simple, too ordinary, too easy to believe.

I am not generally a fan of anything supernatural, otherworldly, fantasy, or whatever the current trendy catch phrase is for things outside of the known world but this is different. I recommend this one to just about anyone who likes to read - but NOT for the kiddies it's grown-up stuff.

Dark overtones, gritty imagery and adult language.

***Thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and author Jess Kidd for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

In Victorian era London, female detective Bridie Devine is approached to help solve a case of a missing child, a secret daughter of Sir Edmund Berwick. The secret daughter is rumored to have supernatural powers, making her a commodity for collectors and traders of curiosities.

I was intrigued by this premise: a Gothic mystery with fantastical creatures, ghosts, feminism, and dark history, this sounded like something completely unique, unlike anything else I’ve ever read, and it delivered in that regard.
To be honest, a lot of this book was lost on me. Between the Victorian jargon and slow pace, I had a hard time focusing my attention.
I did enjoy Bridie and wanted to see what became of her and ghost Ruby. The writing was well done, I really liked the descriptive prose and the eccentric cast of characters. It was imaginative, creepy, and had a dark humor. Personally, I just struggled with this one and unfortunately never really connected. I know I’m probably in the minority here, I’ve seen great reviews; this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for an advance e-copy in exchange for an honest review

I enjoyed this story but not as much as I thought I would, and I’m not sure why. It had a dark, creepy vibe (snails everywhere, yuck) that I really liked, but it was also sort of cheesy at times (some of the attempts at humor made me roll my eyes.)

I thought the chapters about Bridie’s childhood with the Doctor were original and very interesting; however, some of the other things in the story seemed vaguely familiar. I felt as if I have seen all of these things play out in some form somewhere else. For example, the whole fascination with things in jars just seemed a little too familiar (e.g., there is an old Alfred Hitchcock episode called “The Jar”, and a character in Game of Thrones - Selyse Baratheon - kept her stillborn sons in jars in a room.) Also, some of the descriptions where the doctor operated in front of an audience seemed straight out of an episode of “The Knick.” When the little girl bit the head off a raw fish, I thought of a scene with Sméagol in Lord of the Rings. The ending reminded me a lot of “The Shape of Water,” and I feel the strong, loyal housekeeper shtick has been done so many times before (um...Alfred Pennyworth in Batman), it just becomes predictable.

I guess I had hoped this story would be more foreboding and unique like The Doll Factory. This just seemed like a mishmash of gruesome movie scenes thrown into a BBC detective series with some cozy mystery humor.

Disclaimer: I received a digital advanced reading copy from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own.