By Jove, I Think She's Got It: A Review of Jove by Jack Davies

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

As promised, I have a very special review for you all today. Today’s review is brought to you by Collective Ink and Roundfire Books. They aren’t paying me for my review, they just sent me the book for free; all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you very much for sending me a copy of today’s read. It truly means a lot to me when I get offered books. Thank you, thank you! And what book I was oh so kindly sent?

Please give a warm welcome to Jove by Jack Davies! Jove released on June 30, 2026.

As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. I also have a quick content and trigger warning for Jove. The story deals with suicide and there is no escaping the topic; please take care while reading. There is also a lot of talk about white supremacy and racism. Again, there is no escaping these topics as they are extremely prevalent to the plot. Now let’s crack in!

In the early morning hours of December 26, a young woman named Jove took her own life by jumping off a bridge in Bristol. What appears to be an open and shut suicide case can’t be further from the truth. Jove’s father, Ron Eldon, knows that better than anyone.

Both he and Jove worked for England’s secret service. Their job was to discover home grown terrorists and nip their nefarious plans in the bud before anything could take shape. While Ron Eldon recently retired, Jove was still working for the secret service at the time of her death. Her current case involved Britain’s slave trade, Bristol’s wealthy elite and their ancestors, and a manilla which has suddenly disappeared.

Obviously Jove’s death may be tied to the case she was working on. But Eldon has a lot of cases from his decades of service. One that jumps to his mind involves Russia, the Cold War, and state secrets. Who’s to say Eldon isn’t inadvertently responsible for his daughter’s death. Find out the truth in Jove.

Before I begin the review proper, I do have to apologize for the quality of this review. When I was reading Jove my mental health was in a terrible place. My mind constantly wandered whilst reading and my thoughts were marred. The level of knowledge I have about this book and its plot is not where it should be. I would have liked to have reread this novel before writing and publishing this review, alas I did not have the time. Please take what I write with a grain of salt as I don’t believe everything I write will be truly indicative of the quality of Jove.

Let’s start with the characters, namely Eldon. Eldon is an active character. He is Liam Neeson on a mission to avenge his daughter’s death. A character and mission readers can clearly root for and get behind. But aside from his mission, there’s nothing much to Eldon. Again, he’s just Liam Neeson.

Most of the characters in Jove come across as one dimensional to me. While their backgrounds are thought out, most minor characters are included for one singular purpose thus they have no growth or offer much to the plot outside of their one or two relevant scenes. The same can be said for the main characters, too. I’ve already stated Eldon doesn’t have much growth. His partner, Yolanda, has backstory, but most of her personality is being competent at her job. Nothing about any of the characters stands out. The only one who remotely does is Jove as she haunts every page.

Oh how I love a ghost story.

Now let’s turn to the plot. It’s a difficult one to follow. Though please keep that massive grain of salt in mind as my mental state did not help with my comprehension of this novel. Personally I had a hard time following the story. Are the bad guys Russian? Are they far-right extremists? I don’t really know because both possibilities didn’t feel developed enough. (Well I do know who the villains are as I finished the whole novel and they are arrested in the end, but I digress). Anyway, the focus kept jumping between both possibilities, and as the focus was continuously pulled between the two neither possibility was given enough time to be properly explored. All information was revealed suddenly and fast throughout the entirety of the novel. Normally I love a fast paced read, but Jove was not it.

Jove was a hard read for me to review. Of course that’s because of my own issues more than anything else. Still, characters could have had more depth, I fear I need more explanation when it comes to the plot. Maybe I simply haven’t read enough spy novels and that’s part of the reason why I had a hard time with this read. Perhaps my mental health clouded my judgement to an extreme. Or perhaps Jove simply wasn’t that good of a book. I fear I cannot be the one to tell you though.

Thank you once again to Collective Ink and Roundfire Books. I greatly appreciate you sending me a new read. Thank you, thank you! Though I do apologize for the quality of this review, it is not up to my normal standards.

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you enjoyed your time here today and I will see you all again next week with another new review. If you can’t wait till then, then I highly suggest giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books then I highly suggest checking out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk about everything and anything. We have episodes on weird things that have happened in history, Barbie, Disney, Scooby-Doo, and so much more. Nothing to See Hear is available on Spotify and YouTube. New episodes release every Wednesday evening.

Until then, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!