Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
30 pages in and I cannot read any further. It is with great sadness that I have to abandon this book so early on after having looked forward to reading it this weekend. The main reason is probably my being so used to Allende's previous works that her first foray into the mystery/thriller genre just does not appeal to me after all. From the first, the writing felt flat, distant, and choppy, making me wonder who actually wrote this and why. To be fair, I should probably read at least half of the book before giving an opinion but I'm just too disappointed to spend any more time on Ripper.
I mostly enjoyed it, though it got bogged down in character development that was a stretch in furthering the plot at times. The book meandered all over the place much of the novel. It did come together in the end ... but I also wanted more at the end, instead of the very brief epilogue to sum up what everyone was doing now that it was all over. You spend time in various characters' heads ... and then don't get to hear their voices again (the ones that survive). Amanda's character is lost sight of halfway through the novel - she doesn't really develop much after that, and she was my favorite character. It's like she could do either character development or action, but not both. I've wanted to read an Allende novel for a long time - I'm not sure this was the one to start with.
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Okay... this is really hard for me to rate. If this had been another less-respected author I might have given four stars... I love Allende--she actually wrote my favorite book, House of the Spirits. So I have enormous respect for her as an author and I guess my standards were super high going in.
I also think it's cool she decided to try something sort of outside her genre. I got this book for $5 on clearance at Barnes and Noble. I probably would have been more annoyed if I'd spent a lot of money on it, so my rating is slightly biased by all of the above. Anyways.
The book was well-written, duh, and I did enjoy reading it--finished it in two days. The only issues I had with the book, which led to the low rating, were that the ending was rushed and that the "main character" (Indiana) was to me totally unlikable. She didn't seem to be a good mother and she treated her supposed friends and loves of her life with little respect, even though she was constantly being described by the author as so compassionate and kind and sensitive, blah blah. So when the whole plot of the book revolves around finding a killer who has abducted/plans to kill Indiana (not a spoiler, it literally says this on the plot description on the book's dust-jacket), I super did not care at all if she died because I didn't like her.
Then, to make matters worse, ***********SEMI SPOILER AHEAD**********
one of the only actually redeeming characters in the book, who to be honest was probably my favorite character, is killed trying to save stupid Indiana for no reason basically.
That being said, I did like the book and thought it was pretty clever, I didn't 100% figure out the ending/killer's identity, though I had my suspicions from the beginning.
Overall I would say it's worth the read but definitely not a favorite and I was pretty disappointed.
I also think it's cool she decided to try something sort of outside her genre. I got this book for $5 on clearance at Barnes and Noble. I probably would have been more annoyed if I'd spent a lot of money on it, so my rating is slightly biased by all of the above. Anyways.
The book was well-written, duh, and I did enjoy reading it--finished it in two days. The only issues I had with the book, which led to the low rating, were that the ending was rushed and that the "main character" (Indiana) was to me totally unlikable. She didn't seem to be a good mother and she treated her supposed friends and loves of her life with little respect, even though she was constantly being described by the author as so compassionate and kind and sensitive, blah blah. So when the whole plot of the book revolves around finding a killer who has abducted/plans to kill Indiana (not a spoiler, it literally says this on the plot description on the book's dust-jacket), I super did not care at all if she died because I didn't like her.
Then, to make matters worse, ***********SEMI SPOILER AHEAD**********
one of the only actually redeeming characters in the book, who to be honest was probably my favorite character, is killed trying to save stupid Indiana for no reason basically.
That being said, I did like the book and thought it was pretty clever, I didn't 100% figure out the ending/killer's identity, though I had my suspicions from the beginning.
Overall I would say it's worth the read but definitely not a favorite and I was pretty disappointed.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I knew who the killer was from early on, at least in their iteration as Carol . I never suspected anyone else.
The book was overly long and the prose, especially the dialogue, was often cringey. There is way, way too much dwelling on how beautiful and "voluptuous" Indiana is & how many men are enamored with her.
The extremely promising components here--an online Jack the Ripper multi-player game turned real serial murder investigation; a holistic healer who talks about aligning chakras; an astrologist/ fortune-teller who predicts the events that unfold, never actually reach their potential.
And how on earth did several characters immediately recognize that Carol was Lee Gilespi/ Anton Farkas, but not see any resemblance between Carol and Gary Brunswick?
The book was overly long and the prose, especially the dialogue, was often cringey. There is way, way too much dwelling on how beautiful and "voluptuous" Indiana is & how many men are enamored with her.
The extremely promising components here--an online Jack the Ripper multi-player game turned real serial murder investigation; a holistic healer who talks about aligning chakras; an astrologist/ fortune-teller who predicts the events that unfold, never actually reach their potential.
And how on earth did
Way too many characters! And I didn't love the ending.
Update: I'm changing this from 3 stars to 2 stars. It's probably really 2.5. But after mulling over this book since I finished it last evening, more and more things bug me about it. I liked ASPECTS of it, but I didn't like it overall.
Update: I'm changing this from 3 stars to 2 stars. It's probably really 2.5. But after mulling over this book since I finished it last evening, more and more things bug me about it. I liked ASPECTS of it, but I didn't like it overall.
2.5 stars... this book was just ok. I didn't feel very fond of any of the characters so it was hard to keep going. I do think I would have liked it better not as an audiobook because I didn't really enjoy the actor who read the book.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was meandering and atmospheric, and I started out enjoying the sidelong way the book was approaching the plot.
And then it kept approaching the plot.
And kept approaching.
And then I started wondering when the suspenseful bit mentioned on the jacket copy was actually going to show up.
In the end, I found neither the character studies nor the conclusion to the plot all that satisfying.
And then it kept approaching the plot.
And kept approaching.
And then I started wondering when the suspenseful bit mentioned on the jacket copy was actually going to show up.
Spoiler
And finally, 80% in, Indiana actually does turn up missing, and suddenly we're getting POV from the antagonist, who turns out to be a transvestite who was abused as a child, which strikes me as a very ham-handed early-90's shortcut of a villain.In the end, I found neither the character studies nor the conclusion to the plot all that satisfying.