Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
This review and others can be found on Cozy Up With A Good Read
I have heard a lot of great things about Isabel Allende's writing so being able to pick up her newest novel had me excited. The part of this book that truly got me interested was how this is a book about a group of people working together as a group to solve murders happening in San Francisco. Now going into this without knowing too much, I thought I was kind of getting into something kind of about Jack the Ripper, I was definitely wrong, and yet I was not completely disappointed by the story, though I had my issues.
This novel goes through many different perspectives, at times it felt that there were too many voices for this one story. I felt that for a book that was supposed to be about murders and a group of people solving them, that plot kind of fell to the background a little bit. Every once in a while there would be a mention of it, but for the most part this book is about Indiana and the people that her life revolves around. Indiana has a lot of people around her that really love her, but her relationship with her daughter, Amanda is what makes this book. They have a very strong relationship and are there always there for each other, they are each other's best friends (almost like a Rory and Lorelai relationship is what I saw).
Ryan is another character that really helps move the story along, he is someone with a lot of personal issues that Indiana helps through things, and in a way he opens up Indiana's life and shows her there is more to the eye. I love the contrast between all the characters, Indiana is someone who wants to see the good in everybody she comes in contact with, whereas those around her are more into the darker side of things, especially Amanda, and as the book continues, this seems to cause some trouble.
There are some interesting twists that Allende brings out in the book, it was closer to the end where things really start to get interesting and truly where the story picks up. I was close to giving up on this book a couple of times, but that is around the time that a new murder would occur and I would be brought back in. I did find this to be an interesting story at times, but I just felt that what the story was supposed to be about lacked and was overshadowed by other plots, that didn't seem as important. Sadly, it just didn't end up being the best book for me.
I have heard a lot of great things about Isabel Allende's writing so being able to pick up her newest novel had me excited. The part of this book that truly got me interested was how this is a book about a group of people working together as a group to solve murders happening in San Francisco. Now going into this without knowing too much, I thought I was kind of getting into something kind of about Jack the Ripper, I was definitely wrong, and yet I was not completely disappointed by the story, though I had my issues.
This novel goes through many different perspectives, at times it felt that there were too many voices for this one story. I felt that for a book that was supposed to be about murders and a group of people solving them, that plot kind of fell to the background a little bit. Every once in a while there would be a mention of it, but for the most part this book is about Indiana and the people that her life revolves around. Indiana has a lot of people around her that really love her, but her relationship with her daughter, Amanda is what makes this book. They have a very strong relationship and are there always there for each other, they are each other's best friends (almost like a Rory and Lorelai relationship is what I saw).
Ryan is another character that really helps move the story along, he is someone with a lot of personal issues that Indiana helps through things, and in a way he opens up Indiana's life and shows her there is more to the eye. I love the contrast between all the characters, Indiana is someone who wants to see the good in everybody she comes in contact with, whereas those around her are more into the darker side of things, especially Amanda, and as the book continues, this seems to cause some trouble.
There are some interesting twists that Allende brings out in the book, it was closer to the end where things really start to get interesting and truly where the story picks up. I was close to giving up on this book a couple of times, but that is around the time that a new murder would occur and I would be brought back in. I did find this to be an interesting story at times, but I just felt that what the story was supposed to be about lacked and was overshadowed by other plots, that didn't seem as important. Sadly, it just didn't end up being the best book for me.
There seemed to be just too much going on in this book for me. Many parts just didn't keep my attention enough but I kept going because I don't like to quit on anything and I did want to know "Who done it?" The parts with the game and them trying to figure out real crimes I did like and that's probably what kept me going with it. And maybe I'll even venture to check out another book by this author.
I read an interview with Allende in which she indicates that this book is supposed to be enjoyable and it is in no way transcendent.
Somebody proposed to her and her husband to write a book together mixing their styles (he writes police novels)
They tried it but it didn't work as they were fighting over it the whole time. At the end, she just wrote it alone.
Based on that, I am not angry that this was not the best mystery novel I've read or the best she has ever written. It was ok. There is a lot of repetition and a lot of subplots that do not add to the main plot and seem to be there just to confuse us. All in all, I enjoyed it and to be honest, if you have read her work, you know in which parts she was writing with 100% focus.
The best in the book is not the suspense or the mystery. The best in the book is the embellishment of the plot with the description of the lives and the personalities of the different characters. You get the feeling you really know them. That is her trademark and, in my opinion, there lies the wisdom and the greatness of her writing style. She is a wizard of words.
She indicated she will not write this type of books again for which I am thankful
Somebody proposed to her and her husband to write a book together mixing their styles (he writes police novels)
They tried it but it didn't work as they were fighting over it the whole time. At the end, she just wrote it alone.
Based on that, I am not angry that this was not the best mystery novel I've read or the best she has ever written. It was ok. There is a lot of repetition and a lot of subplots that do not add to the main plot and seem to be there just to confuse us. All in all, I enjoyed it and to be honest, if you have read her work, you know in which parts she was writing with 100% focus.
The best in the book is not the suspense or the mystery. The best in the book is the embellishment of the plot with the description of the lives and the personalities of the different characters. You get the feeling you really know them. That is her trademark and, in my opinion, there lies the wisdom and the greatness of her writing style. She is a wizard of words.
She indicated she will not write this type of books again for which I am thankful
Not what I expect from Allende, but it did keep me turning pages.
A group of teenagers, led by Amanda Jackson, belong to an online murder club where they investigate crimes and try to solve them before the police do. A series of disturbing murders hits too close to home for Amanda and the group scrambles to identify the killer before it’s too late.
The ending is where the book fell apart for me, as the killer’s identity should have been super obvious to Indiana, the super-intuitive healer who spent so much time in the killer’s company before that person kidnapped her.
A group of teenagers, led by Amanda Jackson, belong to an online murder club where they investigate crimes and try to solve them before the police do. A series of disturbing murders hits too close to home for Amanda and the group scrambles to identify the killer before it’s too late.
The ending is where the book fell apart for me, as the killer’s identity should have been super obvious to Indiana, the super-intuitive healer who spent so much time in the killer’s company before that person kidnapped her.
I've enjoyed other Allende novels but I'm not sure mystery is her strong suit. The character development was great and I really liked them all except Amanda, the girl leading her own amateur investigations. It was hard to have sympathy for her because I really just wanted to smack her.
The development of the mystery was weak, scattered and unclear until the last third of the book where I'll admit, I was finally in suspense.
In conclusion, enjoyable for (most) of the characters but not a great mystery novel.
The development of the mystery was weak, scattered and unclear until the last third of the book where I'll admit, I was finally in suspense.
In conclusion, enjoyable for (most) of the characters but not a great mystery novel.
I loooovvvved it. Simple. A good mystery and great character development.
The blurb about the book was very misleading. The book was mostly drama, less mystery but I still enjoyed it. Spoiler alert--the dog lives. If you are a dog person like me, that is very important.
An interesting premise, poorly executed.
Ripper started off with a lot of promise. Brilliant, introverted Amanda Martin is part of a group of teens who play an online murder-mystery role-playing game called Ripper. When a series of murders takes place in Amanda's home town of San Francisco, the group decide to investigate real murders in real time instead of fictional scenarios. But Amanda has no idea just how real things are going to get.
It sounds cool, kind of like a more adult version of a Nancy Drew or Scooby Doo scenario, where the gaming group forms a sort of dream team that ends up assisting the police in solving mysteries or even beating the police to the answer. But the story stumbles quickly. The first and biggest problem is pacing. For an action-packed crime novel, it moves far too slowly. It tries hard to be a character study, and almost two-thirds of the book is spent largely on developing the characters' backstories and relationships. So why do they all still feel flat and dull, with this much effort put into them? It fails as a character-driven story as well.
The idea of teens playing a game and then turning their game-honed talents to solving real murders has merit, but this aspect of the story wasn't handled well at all. Ripper is presented as something akin to a murder-mystery-themed Dungeons & Dragons, where the dungeon master runs the scenario and the players roll dice to determine their progress through the game. But the game's actual mechanics and rules are never well described, so there's no basis for understanding how the game mechanics shift when Amanda sets them to working on real-life, real-time crimes. In fact, the idea of the game itself is just a half-hearted gimmick. Allende continues to tell the story as though the players are still playing the game, but in reality all they're doing is playing analyst with the actual investigation data Amanda feeds them after wheedling details out of her dad, who is a deputy chief of the SFPD and is in charge of the actual police investigation. So all the kids really do is have Skype sessions where they brainstorm about what the different clues might mean. The idea of the game-turned-real was the hook for the story, but it's a giant dud – the gamers end up being extremely minor characters who add almost nothing to the investigation or the story. The story would have been better told without this distracting gimmick that went nowhere.
Ripper started off with a lot of promise. Brilliant, introverted Amanda Martin is part of a group of teens who play an online murder-mystery role-playing game called Ripper. When a series of murders takes place in Amanda's home town of San Francisco, the group decide to investigate real murders in real time instead of fictional scenarios. But Amanda has no idea just how real things are going to get.
It sounds cool, kind of like a more adult version of a Nancy Drew or Scooby Doo scenario, where the gaming group forms a sort of dream team that ends up assisting the police in solving mysteries or even beating the police to the answer. But the story stumbles quickly. The first and biggest problem is pacing. For an action-packed crime novel, it moves far too slowly. It tries hard to be a character study, and almost two-thirds of the book is spent largely on developing the characters' backstories and relationships. So why do they all still feel flat and dull, with this much effort put into them? It fails as a character-driven story as well.
The idea of teens playing a game and then turning their game-honed talents to solving real murders has merit, but this aspect of the story wasn't handled well at all. Ripper is presented as something akin to a murder-mystery-themed Dungeons & Dragons, where the dungeon master runs the scenario and the players roll dice to determine their progress through the game. But the game's actual mechanics and rules are never well described, so there's no basis for understanding how the game mechanics shift when Amanda sets them to working on real-life, real-time crimes. In fact, the idea of the game itself is just a half-hearted gimmick. Allende continues to tell the story as though the players are still playing the game, but in reality all they're doing is playing analyst with the actual investigation data Amanda feeds them after wheedling details out of her dad, who is a deputy chief of the SFPD and is in charge of the actual police investigation. So all the kids really do is have Skype sessions where they brainstorm about what the different clues might mean. The idea of the game-turned-real was the hook for the story, but it's a giant dud – the gamers end up being extremely minor characters who add almost nothing to the investigation or the story. The story would have been better told without this distracting gimmick that went nowhere.
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
I would have given up a third of the way through if I hadn't suggested reading it for book club. I like Isabelle Allende's work normally and this was just a complete slog to go through. The first almost half just keeps introducing character after character with a full backstory for all of them. About three quarters of the way it picks up, but the ending is so bad it squanders the good will that the brief upswing in narration brings in.