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3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
Probably the best Allende book but so much sex. Like, WHY?!
slow-paced
I thought it was an interesting story. The style was clunky though. Some of the lengthy character development was similar to those northern European mysteries. The story did sprawl a bit.
This novel was slow to start, but it was a fun read, especially toward the end. Some reviewers have complained that the characters are kitschy and the book is nothing special, but I feel like Allende has given us so much depth in her historical fiction, why can't we allow her to have fun with a murder mystery?! As another reader said, "it's been thirty years... If you're waiting for another house of the spirits, just go read it again."
Whenever I am about to write a "not so great" review it pains me to no end. I have a great amount of respect for the process of writing and for the writers themselves. And to complicate things even more Isabel Allende is one of my all time favorite authors. The way she plays with words, the themes and stories she creates stay with me long after I've finished reading the book. I knew that Ripper would be a departure from her usual style and genre but I embraced the idea of that change. Yet in the end it felt like such a struggle just trying to convince myself to finish this book.
Amanda, one of the main characters and the designated sleuth is supposed to be 17 years old yet I had to keep reminding myself of that fact because for the most part the character was described as so immature that it felt like she was closer to 12-13 than 17. The game Ripper revolves around a group of teenagers interested in solving crimes so I initially thought that maybe the book will lean more towards Y.A. Then at other moments it sounded as if the book is targeting primarily adult audiences. Almost as if the story itself could not decide what genre to follow.
The pace of the story was excruciatingly slow and each time I found myself even remotely interested in the mystery part of the book, it would end up going on a tangent about something completely unrelated. I learned way more about the background of each one of the characters than about the crimes. Instead emotionally connected to the characters I found myself thinking - "Alright already, I really don't care. Can we get back to the story now?".
The biggest source of my disappointment was the fact that I kept questioning the fact that Isabel Allende's name was on the cover of this book - it just did not seem possible that she would write something of this quality (or lack thereof). The writing felt so choppy and unfocused that as I mentioned before it took a lot of effort not to give up altogether on reading the book. I did soldier on but in the end the only positive thing I can say about the whole affair is that it might potentially make a decent TV show. I still love and respect Isabel Allende, but I wholeheartedly hope that she will go back to writing such unforgettable books as The House of the Spirits.
Amanda, one of the main characters and the designated sleuth is supposed to be 17 years old yet I had to keep reminding myself of that fact because for the most part the character was described as so immature that it felt like she was closer to 12-13 than 17. The game Ripper revolves around a group of teenagers interested in solving crimes so I initially thought that maybe the book will lean more towards Y.A. Then at other moments it sounded as if the book is targeting primarily adult audiences. Almost as if the story itself could not decide what genre to follow.
The pace of the story was excruciatingly slow and each time I found myself even remotely interested in the mystery part of the book, it would end up going on a tangent about something completely unrelated. I learned way more about the background of each one of the characters than about the crimes. Instead emotionally connected to the characters I found myself thinking - "Alright already, I really don't care. Can we get back to the story now?".
The biggest source of my disappointment was the fact that I kept questioning the fact that Isabel Allende's name was on the cover of this book - it just did not seem possible that she would write something of this quality (or lack thereof). The writing felt so choppy and unfocused that as I mentioned before it took a lot of effort not to give up altogether on reading the book. I did soldier on but in the end the only positive thing I can say about the whole affair is that it might potentially make a decent TV show. I still love and respect Isabel Allende, but I wholeheartedly hope that she will go back to writing such unforgettable books as The House of the Spirits.
When I was offered Ripper by TLC Book Tours, I was really looking forward to reading it. Isabel Allende is well-known in the world of literary fiction and I’d heard lots of good things about her books. She had never written a mystery novel before, but Ripper sounded really cool: it takes place in San Francisco; Amanda is seventeen years old; her mother is an holistic healer; her grandfather is her best friend; her father is the deputy chief of homicide for the San Francisco Police Department; her godmother is a famous astrologer in California; and Amanda sets out to solve a string of murders that are taking place in the Bay Area. Amanda seems to be fascinated by violent crime–she, her grandfather, and a small group of teenagers from around the globe get together online to play a role-playing game called “Ripper,” based on Jack the Ripper’s time in England. When the murders start (supposedly foreseen by her astrologer godmother), Amanda takes the role-playing game from 1888 into 2012 (with the consent of the other players) so they can work on solving the modern-day killings.
Sounds pretty cool, right? Teenage RPGer-turned-crime-solver, interesting-sounding characters, murder mystery…I thought this would be a really good book coming from an author like Isabel Allende.
Well.
Short version: Ripper just isn’t a good book. But it could have been, and that’s what disappoints me the most. It’s really more like (poor) literary fiction with some mystery/crime elements tossed in, and if Allende had set out to do that in the first place and really developed the literary fiction aspect of it, I think it would have been great. But she was just joking around, so I shouldn’t take any of my complaints too seriously…right?
My full review: http://btweenthecovers.com/2014/02/24/review-ripper-isabel-allende/
Sounds pretty cool, right? Teenage RPGer-turned-crime-solver, interesting-sounding characters, murder mystery…I thought this would be a really good book coming from an author like Isabel Allende.
Well.
Short version: Ripper just isn’t a good book. But it could have been, and that’s what disappoints me the most. It’s really more like (poor) literary fiction with some mystery/crime elements tossed in, and if Allende had set out to do that in the first place and really developed the literary fiction aspect of it, I think it would have been great. But she was just joking around, so I shouldn’t take any of my complaints too seriously…right?
My full review: http://btweenthecovers.com/2014/02/24/review-ripper-isabel-allende/
Bueno debo empezar aclarando que este es el primer libro que leo de Isabel Allende, por lo tanto no tengo punto de comparación para con su forma de escribir o de la forma como desarrolla normalmente sus historias.
Bien, la historia es mas un thriller de misterio que policíaca, ya que aunque hay una investigación policial en curso, son un grupo de niños y un abuelo los que van descubriendo las principales pistas y guiando la investigación.
Un grupo de chicos se reúnen desde diferentes lugares del mundo vía skype para llevar a cabo el juego de Ripper, y es en medio de este juego que comienzan a investigar una serie de asesinatos reales, y llegan a la conclusión de que se trata de un asesino en serie.
No estoy acostumbrada a una introducción de personajes tan larga, casi el 60% del libro se desarrolla en organizar el escenario, aunque no es como si uno se aburriera mientras tanto, por que mientras se prepara el escenario principal se va llevando a cabo la investigación y los asesinatos que no paran de ocurrir, de repente estaba tan conectada con la historia y los personajes que no pude parar de leer.
Los personajes, son muy singulares y humanos, como es una novela negra el héroe es imperfecto, lo que a mis ojos lo hace perfecto, mi héroe en esta historia es el Navy Seal, Ryan Miller, acompañado de su siempre fiel perro,aunque no es el héroe quien lidera la investigación,la lidera una heroína, Amanda,quien es la maestra en el juego de Ripper, es la hija del inspector de policía Bob y de la doncella a rescatar Indiana.
Encontramos también al abuelo de Amanda, quien es el padre de Indiana, gran amigo de su nieta e importante miembro del grupo de Ripper. El novio de Indiana Alan Keller y muchos otros personajes que se suman a esta historia que me mantuvo al filo hasta que la terminé.
Me gustó mucho la historia, peeeero no me gusto el final, me parece que se insinuaron cosas de algunos personajes y luego se quedaron sin concluir, el final fue abrupto, muy brusco para mi, fue como un corte limpio, no quedo lugar a replicas ni a sanas conclusiones, y eso que tiene epilogo, me parece que ese suceso grande que marca el final es completamente innecesario,(el cuál no menciono por que seria un gran spoiler) aunque entiendo las razones por las cuales fue redactado así, pero aun así pienso que habían otras opciones para solucionar ese nudo, no se si es una regla en la novela negra, no creo, o si es por que estoy acostumbrada a la novela romántica que me incomodó tanto, pero así es, en mi mente decidí terminarla de otro modo XD
Bien, la historia es mas un thriller de misterio que policíaca, ya que aunque hay una investigación policial en curso, son un grupo de niños y un abuelo los que van descubriendo las principales pistas y guiando la investigación.
Un grupo de chicos se reúnen desde diferentes lugares del mundo vía skype para llevar a cabo el juego de Ripper, y es en medio de este juego que comienzan a investigar una serie de asesinatos reales, y llegan a la conclusión de que se trata de un asesino en serie.
No estoy acostumbrada a una introducción de personajes tan larga, casi el 60% del libro se desarrolla en organizar el escenario, aunque no es como si uno se aburriera mientras tanto, por que mientras se prepara el escenario principal se va llevando a cabo la investigación y los asesinatos que no paran de ocurrir, de repente estaba tan conectada con la historia y los personajes que no pude parar de leer.
Los personajes, son muy singulares y humanos, como es una novela negra el héroe es imperfecto, lo que a mis ojos lo hace perfecto, mi héroe en esta historia es el Navy Seal, Ryan Miller, acompañado de su siempre fiel perro,aunque no es el héroe quien lidera la investigación,la lidera una heroína, Amanda,quien es la maestra en el juego de Ripper, es la hija del inspector de policía Bob y de la doncella a rescatar Indiana.
Encontramos también al abuelo de Amanda, quien es el padre de Indiana, gran amigo de su nieta e importante miembro del grupo de Ripper. El novio de Indiana Alan Keller y muchos otros personajes que se suman a esta historia que me mantuvo al filo hasta que la terminé.
Me gustó mucho la historia, peeeero no me gusto el final, me parece que se insinuaron cosas de algunos personajes y luego se quedaron sin concluir, el final fue abrupto, muy brusco para mi, fue como un corte limpio, no quedo lugar a replicas ni a sanas conclusiones, y eso que tiene epilogo, me parece que ese suceso grande que marca el final es completamente innecesario,(el cuál no menciono por que seria un gran spoiler) aunque entiendo las razones por las cuales fue redactado así, pero aun así pienso que habían otras opciones para solucionar ese nudo, no se si es una regla en la novela negra, no creo, o si es por que estoy acostumbrada a la novela romántica que me incomodó tanto, pero así es, en mi mente decidí terminarla de otro modo XD
It was a nice reading. Nothing extraordinary but I appreciated it. It taught me more about how people think and behave than anything else, it was a smooth and fast read and I learned to appreciate the character's deeply developed personality that was quite intriguing and curious. It was very slow at first I have to admit. Slow and confusing, but I guess any mystery has to start confusing and patchy as it gets filled in the more you get into it. The last few pages were full of tension and hope for everything to turn out fine and there is a final turnaround of facts that had me mindblown. Overall the book was a nice read but not much else. Don't expect too much from it.
Have read Allende's magical-realism, her memoir. I don't know what I expected...some mystery, some suspense.
I listened to this one, and I think that colored my opinions of the characters. The reader's dialog for Amanda made her sound petulant and hard to be around. But other readers loved her.
My students knew I cried at books. They knew to roll their eyes indulgently and go back to their own books. My tears actually 'sold' more than one book...but listening? In the car? Ugly crying at the end? Sitting in a hot car with the battery draining so I could finish? A new experience.
Some readers got impatient with the characterization, but I loved it. I got to know each character in detail...got to know how they thought and why. Actually the characterization is important in the solution of the mystery...with lots of misdirection thrown in.
Allende has created San Francisco as a character in the book...and it makes me want to go back.
Amanda, daughter of divorced-but-still-connected Indiana and Bob. Amanda's grandparents are still very involved in her life, as are Indiana's clients. Mom is a new-age healer, Dad is a hardboiled police detective.
Amanda plays an online crime-solving game with other teens from around the world, but the abstractions become sickeningly real when a serial killer prowls San Fran. And we know from the beginning that Indiana has been abducted and will be killed unless Amanda and her buddies figure out what's going on.
Indiana collects men, and she has two completely different ones enamoured...Ryan, an ex-Navy SEAL, now an amputee, and Alan, a society leech who is not who he seems.
We know the killer has to be someone in the large circle that surrounds Indiana...we just don't know. And then when we think we do, we don't really.
The last hour of the book was stressful to listen to, and the last minutes were ugly-crying-inducing.
Not my favorite Allende, but I appreciate that she's growing, experimenting. Trying new genre. Trying something new is risky, but she puts herself out there.
I listened to this one, and I think that colored my opinions of the characters. The reader's dialog for Amanda made her sound petulant and hard to be around. But other readers loved her.
My students knew I cried at books. They knew to roll their eyes indulgently and go back to their own books. My tears actually 'sold' more than one book...but listening? In the car? Ugly crying at the end? Sitting in a hot car with the battery draining so I could finish? A new experience.
Some readers got impatient with the characterization, but I loved it. I got to know each character in detail...got to know how they thought and why. Actually the characterization is important in the solution of the mystery...with lots of misdirection thrown in.
Allende has created San Francisco as a character in the book...and it makes me want to go back.
Amanda, daughter of divorced-but-still-connected Indiana and Bob. Amanda's grandparents are still very involved in her life, as are Indiana's clients. Mom is a new-age healer, Dad is a hardboiled police detective.
Amanda plays an online crime-solving game with other teens from around the world, but the abstractions become sickeningly real when a serial killer prowls San Fran. And we know from the beginning that Indiana has been abducted and will be killed unless Amanda and her buddies figure out what's going on.
Indiana collects men, and she has two completely different ones enamoured...Ryan, an ex-Navy SEAL, now an amputee, and Alan, a society leech who is not who he seems.
We know the killer has to be someone in the large circle that surrounds Indiana...we just don't know. And then when we think we do, we don't really.
The last hour of the book was stressful to listen to, and the last minutes were ugly-crying-inducing.
Not my favorite Allende, but I appreciate that she's growing, experimenting. Trying new genre. Trying something new is risky, but she puts herself out there.
If you look up the term "hot mess" in the dictionary there's a picture of this book.
Not only does it have a cast of dozens that are so stereotypical as to almost be offensive (and a full backstory for each one), but it also has a trite solution for providing additional exposition, a plot as thin as tissue paper, and an ending that simply screams "Oh shit - how do I end this?!"
I feel fairly certain Allende is trolling us.
Not only does it have a cast of dozens that are so stereotypical as to almost be offensive (and a full backstory for each one), but it also has a trite solution for providing additional exposition, a plot as thin as tissue paper, and an ending that simply screams "Oh shit - how do I end this?!"
I feel fairly certain Allende is trolling us.