Cover Image: The God Jar

The God Jar

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Member Reviews

I really enjoyed this book from its historical and supernatural points of view, and found the characters to be very real and engaging. I did feel slightly underwhelmed by the ending however, which is why I have marked it down slightly. Overall however, I would recommend it.

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2/5 stars

It took me a long time to get to this review, just as it took me a long time to work my way through this book in the first place. I make it a point to finish all ARCs I receive, but with this one, I really struggled, mostly because it just wasn’t what I was expecting. As always: I feel a bit worse for writing a “negative review” for an ARC I received for free, yet ultimately honesty is your most important trait as a reviewer. Therefore, my thoughts on The God Jar: 3 reasons this didn’t work for me.

The God Jar focusses on a young woman who finds a mysterious jar on the oceanfloor whilst scuba diving. As she and her husband uncover more of its ancient secrets and mysterious properties, they soon realize they might be in over their heads. The novel switches perspective between the past and present, as wel discover the truth behind the God Jar alongside them.

The idea of these alternating timelines was what got me intrigued in the first place, but the desparity between both ended up being the book’s downfall. I was expecting the historical one to be “secondary” to the modern one, yet the opposite seemed to be the case. The historical plot and characters felt more fleshed out and more developed than the modern ones, which made for a bit of an unbalanced whole. Seeing as it was the modern storyline that had originally drawn me to the book, I was quite disappointed to see it pale in comparison. I believe the author did a lot of research on the historical timeline, and that shows in the endresult, but the contrast between the two was honestly jarring at times.
My second problem is partially a direct result of the first. As someone who’s quite character driven in their taste of books, I have hard time getting invested in a story if I don’t care about the characters. The protagonist couple in The God Jar unfortunately lacked the personality and the chemistry for me to do so. They seemed like cardboard standins and acted based on what the plot needed, as opposed to from a set characterstructure. It made it hard for me to stay engaged in the story, as I simply couldn’t care what happened to the characters.
My third problem was the writingstyle, and this again has its roots in the two narratives. The modern narrative at times feels very simplistic, a bit rushed and even amateurish, as if it could have done with one more edit. The historical narrative however, seemed far more deliberate, even “over-written” at some points. I’m not sure if it was this style, or the fact that there was a lot of research and “lore” behind this, but at times it was difficult for me to keep up, and I had to read passages again.
I could be completely wrong, but these three points combined created this picture in my mind about how this book came to be. I got the impression it was the historical narrative that the author favoured, and actually wanted to write. A lof of work, and many edits went into this, possibly creating some of the confusing parts I struggled with. The modern narrative seemed more of an afterthought, added on in the end to create a more layered story.
Although I liked the idea of the dual timeline, it was the lack of balance between the two that kept me from enjoying the novel as a whole.

As always: many thanks to the publisher Opitus Books for providing me with an early copy of the book. My apologies that it took me quite a while to write this.

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I enjoyed this horror/thriller and found it easy to follow the jumps from Tudor England and present day. I do wish the characters were more engaging they seemed very formalic to me

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The God Jar by Phill Featherstone tells the modern-day story of honeymooning couple, Amy and Jack, who go diving in Cornwall and discover an unusual object, which everyone seems to be desperate to get hold of.

In another time period (Tudor England), we learn about John Dee (English/Welsh mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occult philosopher and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I) and his family, and his exciting search for a similar object.

Gripping read and I loved the two contrasting time periods. Not my usual type of book but very glad that I came across it. I especially enjoyed the action scenes and the intrigue! It was a fun historical mystery/modern thriller novel. Will be Googling the history to learn more about John Dee as he sounds very interesting.

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After reading the premise of this book I thought it sounded intriguing. On the whole I wasn't disappointed.

This is a book split into two storylines. One present day and one historic that have a common theme. The historic story has a little more plot in my opinion but the present one has more action. I don't tend to like these alternating splits in books but this one works well.

I read this book in one afternoon/evening. To me it's an ideal holiday read. as it's engaging and uncomplicated, with a touch of history, mystery and action.

I would have liked a little more depth, especially in the modern day storyline. Improbable characters pop out of the woodwork so be prepared to suspend your disbelief.
I feel the ending is also a little weak.
In saying all that I enjoyed the book and give it a solid 3.5 stars

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I found this book rather frustrating - the plot could have been much more suspensefull and exciting. Instead it was rather pedestrian, plodding from A to B in the present and again from A to B in the past - intertwining the two time lines did not really add anything. Where were the major plot twists and turns? An OK read - I did at least finish it.

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A kind of historical mystery, which is a suspenseful page turner. Interesting characters and plot made this a good read. The ending wasn't great but it was still fun.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!!

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This was a different genre of book for me but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the historical and modern day aspects of the story particularly as the historical part featured John Dee who I was aware of but after finishing the book I was keen to find out more about him. A good mix of history, adventure and skull duggery and a satisfying ending.

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My thanks to Books Go Social for making available a digital edition of Phil Featherstone’s ‘The God Jar’ in exchange for an honest review.

Again, I was pleased to also have the opportunity to join with other readers in The Pigeonhole to comment on and discuss this novel on a daily basis.

Amy, a young woman on her honeymoon in Cornwall, is diving with her husband, Jack. She notices an object on the sea floor. However, as she picks it up, she gets tangled in a net lying hidden on the seabed and almost drowns. It’s a dramatic opening to this intriguing novel that moves between two time periods.

Amy quickly becomes very attached to the small jar, which exerts an unusual influence. It soon transpires that a number of people are interested in the jar and will take extreme measures to obtain it.
Parallel to these modern day events is a more sedate story set in the late 16th Century featuring Dr. John Dee, who is seeking a legendary object named the God Jar.

The modern day chapters were action packed while the historical chapters were unhurried and took place over a number of years. This did create a bit of an unevenness in the pacing, though this didn’t really bother me.

My long interest in John Dee and his work initially drew me to this novel. I felt that Featherstone was respectful in his portrayal of Dee and his beliefs.

Garvey, who was Jack’s best friend, was a very enigmatic supporting character and certainly I would welcome more adventures from Featherstone perhaps featuring Garvey as he seems very knowledgeable and the sort of man who thrives on mystery.

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A fast-moving novel based in the 16th Century and also the present day.

I’m afraid this lacked hugely in literary style, to the extent of nearly making me abandon it. It flits between present tense narrative, and past tense, and attempts 16th century style discourse- and not very credibly- and gradually loses resolve as the novel progresses as if the writer lost the patience to convince his reader.

There were factual inaccuracies that were easily spotted - such as the synagogue having a 5 pointed star symbol- an elementary mistake, making me wonder how many more mistakes were present.

An entertaining idea for a novel but not convincingly executed.

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The God Jar by Phill Featherstone is a hard book to characterize. There are elements of mystery, science fiction, sorcery, magic, and historical fiction. The author does a nice job of blending them. It makes for an interesting story. Some parts being more interesting than others.

Very briefly, the story opens in Corwall last year. Amy and Jack are enjoying a final scuba dive on the last day of their honeymoon and when Amy spots an object on the sea bed. She dives for it, gets in trouble, and she believes the object saves her life. She is determined to hole onto to the object but many other want it because it is believed to have many powers, hence the God Jar of the title. The story in the present (or last year) is a bit of a thriller and mystery with several well-done action scenes. Periodically the story alternates with the story of the God Jar in the 1500s where its powers are considered almost magical.

It is an interesting book. I did enjoy it but did get a bit bored in the 1500s. I enjoyed the present day part of the book much more.

As usual my thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this before publication.

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I enjoyed this tale going back to the beginning of time. Following the jar through a portion of time and where it ended up currently, was an interesting tale of good and evil.

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