Alex (The Scribe Owl)'s Reviews > The Dire King

Come see this review and more at my blog, The Scribe Owl!

4/5 stars!

Jackaby: ★★★☆☆
Beastly Bones: ★★★☆☆
Ghostly Echoes: ★★★★☆
The Dire King: ★★★★☆

What a bittersweet conclusion to such a great series! Honestly, for most of the book I was thinking it wasn't as good as Ghostly Echoes, but that ending. Wow, can William Ritter write an ending. I'm so surprised that he only has two series, Jackaby and a middle-grade one. I hope he writes more because I just can't get enough!

For this conclusion, most of the loose threads and bits and pieces from the rest of the series come together to form a picture so very fitting for this series: exquisitely written, humorous, and mildly tragic. Jackaby and Abigail are the only ones who can stop the Unseelie Dire King and his Dire Council from opening the rift between the mortal and magical worlds and letting them collide once and for all. With little help from the Seelie fae, they have to bring all of the residents of New Fiddleham, human and otherwise, together for the fate of their world.

As always, I absolutely adore William Ritter's writing. As I said earlier, I could just read it forever! Mr. Jackaby's strange wisdom and humor always just elevate the book about a whole star! I really need a new series from Ritter, pretty please with a cherry on top?

I learned a long time ago that we do not survive because we’re strong—we become stronger the more we survive.

I've said this in every review and I'll say it again: Jackaby is everything. From his mannerisms to his personality, everything about R. F. Jackaby is amazing. He's obviously my favorite character, though some of the others are pretty great too. Let's fast-track them: Abigail Rook, the Watson to Jackaby's Sherlock, Jenny Cavanaugh, the fiercely protective ghost of 926 Augur Lane, and Charlie Cane/Barker, the sweet little romantic with an eye for Miss Rook. The one character I didn't like was Alina, Charlie's sister, who annoyed me to no end.

One complaint is that we didn't get all the threads wrapped up. What's Jackaby's real name? Are we ever going to get a wedding with Abigail? How are Jenny and Jackaby going to make things work? I feel like this series could keep going forever, though I know William Ritter has said it's his last in the series.

(view spoiler)[I need to say something about that ending; it's not the kind of thing you can just gloss over in your review. I actually adored it. Abigail always felt like an outsider to me to Jackaby's insane world of magic, so it's nice to see the tables turned! I was wondering why we have a Chosen One trope without the Chosen One as our MC. Also, that tiny epilogue!! That was so well written, it was perfect. (hide spoiler)]

After this crazy four-book ride, I'm going to miss this series. I hope William Ritter writes a new series soon, you can believe I'm going to buy it. I'd highly recommend this series, I hope you love it as much as I do!

Read for Fright night 2020 with The Procrastinators Book Club!