My chaotic counter parts, Eleni and David, brought this book to my attention when deciding on our next buddy read. I had never heard of the series, so naturally when I looked it up I knew I had to try it!
Just One Damned Thing After Another is book one of The Chronicles of St Mary’s but there are so many more. I bought the 10 book collection but I am pretty sure there are even more primary works after that too, along with a whole host of short stories to accompany the series.
Safe to say there is plenty to read from Jodi Taylor.
A few facts about this book:
Title: Just One Damned Thing After Another
Author: Jodi Taylor
Series: The Chronicles of St Mary’s
Published by Headline (UK)
Synopsis:
Behind the seemingly innocuous façade of St Mary’s, a different kind of historical research is taking place. They don’t do ‘time-travel’ – they ‘investigate major historical events in contemporary time’. Maintaining the appearance of harmless eccentrics is not always within their power – especially given their propensity for causing loud explosions when things get too quiet.
Meet the disaster-magnets of St Mary’s Institute of Historical Research as they ricochet around History. Their aim is to observe and document – to try and find the answers to many of History’s unanswered questions…and not to die in the process. But one wrong move and History will fight back – to the death. And, as they soon discover – it’s not just History they’re fighting.
Follow the catastrophe curve from 11th-century London to World War I, and from the Cretaceous Period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. For wherever Historians go, chaos is sure to follow in their wake….
Review:
Here are a few things you can expect from this book…
- I have already said it but…CHAOS;
- A spectacularly fun time travel tale;
- A fast paced thrilling ride; and
- Character driven;
On to the full review…
Jodi Taylor is not a woman who wastes time in this thrilling tale. ‘Just One Damned Thing After Another’ is a speedy and chaotic read that is fun and thrilling yet also endearing.
I also found this book, while fast, to be very well-paced. Jodi has mastered the art of it to be quite frank. The earlier phases of this book are very much preparing for the first jaunt through time and learning the way of St Mary’s, but they are just as much fun to read as the rest of the adventures of the characters because of the lively nature of these historians. It honestly is such a blas, I and my fellow readers thoroughly enjoyed our read of this. We laughed so much it hurt and even got a little sad at parts.
I would definitely say this is a character-driven story, and the relationships created feel genuine and like you are catching up on the lives and drama of your friends.
I mentioned earlier that this does in parts make you feel a little sad, and that was no lie, despite the boisterous nature of this book, Jodi does not fail to hit you in the soft spots on more than one occasion and packs all the emotional punches.
This is easily a series I will revisit again and again, both reading and listening as the audiobook is fantastic. If you have some chaotic friends as I do, I would highly recommend reading this with them and enjoying it as a group because it only adds to the hilarity and increases the shock when things take a turn for the worst.
THE RANKS:
BUY THE HARDBACK | BUY THE PAPERBACK | BUY THE EBOOK | LIBRARY RENTAL OR SALE PURCHASE
This is a hard one to rate, using my scale, as I wouldn’t necessarily buy a hardback but the quality of the book does warrant such a rating. Hence the decision to rate it so. I just simply like by hardbacks to have more interesting cover art.
_ The Book in Hand _ 