TITLE: Ripper
Book 1 in the new Ripper series
AUTHOR: Amy Carol Reeves
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fiction, mystery, paranormal
PREMISE: Abbie works at a hospital in 1888 when the Jack the Ripper murders start to occur.
MY REVIEW: I...wanted to like this more then I did. Unfortunitely it was just a bit to absurd and dull for me to say this was brillaint. On one hand the idea was interesting. I mean Jack the Ripper! Paranormal activity! This should have been right up my ally. Unfortunately Abbie tried my patience too much for me to actually like this book.
Abbie is frankly a Mary Sue. She doesn't feel like she belongs in the 1800s at all. I mean really author, a girl learning knife- throwing back then? People LETTING her learn knife-throwing? Are you serious? Abbie was clearly what the author wanted her main character to be like regardless of the fact that in the eighteen hundreds a girl like this wouldn't exist. Even if she grew up in Dublin. It doesn't help that she basically falls for William right away after a hand full of conversations, that there's a forced love triangle that was utterly pointless, and that it's utterly absurd that a police officer back then would seriously ask a woman for help in a investigation of a serial murderer.
Plus, it's honestly dull. I think I sleep read through the middle part of the book which is just a bunch of pointless drama that wasn't really neccessary. Look, I get that some liberties can be taken when you're doing a historical novel and especially when you're doing a paranormal historical novel. But there's liberties, and then just being completely unrealistic about how women were handled/treated back then. While there is some entertainment to be had here....it sort of just feels underwhelming.
WHO SHOULD READ: historical fiction fans (who don't mind huge inaccuracies about the time period)
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five wtf endings