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3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
I didn’t anticipate liking this book as much as I did. I picked up a copy at a used bookstore in my area because I love Isabel Allende, and was excited they had a book of hers. I was wary of it after reading some of the reviews on here, but went ahead anyway. It was a slow start, it took me about 100 pages to really get into it. There were a few characters that really frustrated me, but as with any novel, it wouldn’t be good if you just fell in love with everyone and they were all “perfect people.” Overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t what I expected when I picked it up, but it was a nice escape from the chaos of the world right now.
Got about halfway into this and lost interest after a hilariously trope-filled sex scene. Lots of stereotypical characters (bimbo-esque main character, moody teenage daughter, sex-obsessed detective/ex husband, heroic former Navy SEAL, etc etc etc) and I was still wondering where the plot was. Halfway into a mystery that’s introduced three murders with clear connections and no one appears to be investigating? No thanks.
Lo único que me parece pésimo es la sinopsis. A mi parecer te lo tratan de vender por algo que no es.
Ripper grabbed me from the start with this line "Mom is still alive, but she's going to be murdered at midnight on Good Friday.". Racing through its last pages an earthquake couldn't dislodge me from my seat. An entertaining good read with a game worked into the plot.
Looks like I'm going to be the rogue reader here. I really liked Ripper and here's why.
Allende does characters studies well and those in Ripper were solid if a bit quirky. I liked them, wanted to know them and cared about what happened to them. I particularly liked the main character, Amanda. Like Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley I found Amanda a smart thinker and fun. Amanda's older but quite wise and her team of sleuths are interesting associates. Her grandfather describes Amanda as "idiosyncratic of appearance, timorous of character, but magnificent of mind". Agreed.
Second most liked character is the Purebred Belgian Malinois, Attila, "smarter and stronger than German Shepherds, and they keep their back straight, so they don't suffer hip problems." A former war dog, you'd not find a more loyal companion. He was rescued by a former navy seal, discharged honorably after he lost his leg in combat. "Attila had been trained to defend and attack, to sniff out mines and terrorists, ward off enemies, parachute, swim through icy waters, and a variety of things that were not much use in civilian life." Long after Ryan, the seal, had been discharged, Attila was severely injured by a bomb, expected not to survive but not left behind as in battle "you never leave a fallen comrade behind" Now eight years old, the murders gave him a new purpose in life.
Allende is a storyteller. There are a few skips in plot and some stumbles but all in all I enjoyed the story.
Allende's stories always include some magic realism and there's enough of this here for me.
One reviewer turned up his nose claiming Ripper could only satisfy an undemanding reader. Guilty as charged. Most fiction I read fits this bill. If I want demanding I'll find it somewhere else. I read primarily for my own entertainment, not to make it work.
I loved the idea of a group of teens playing a role-playing game that soon becomes a race to find a modern day ripper let loose on San Francisco. I wanted to play and hope I'm invited if there is another book.
Translated from Spanish, Ripper originally was to be a collaborative effort of Allende and her husband, Willie Gordon, but that was seen as a fast road to divorce.
My sincere thanks to Harper Collins for allowing me to read this before it's publication date of January 28, 2014
Looks like I'm going to be the rogue reader here. I really liked Ripper and here's why.
Allende does characters studies well and those in Ripper were solid if a bit quirky. I liked them, wanted to know them and cared about what happened to them. I particularly liked the main character, Amanda. Like Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley I found Amanda a smart thinker and fun. Amanda's older but quite wise and her team of sleuths are interesting associates. Her grandfather describes Amanda as "idiosyncratic of appearance, timorous of character, but magnificent of mind". Agreed.
Second most liked character is the Purebred Belgian Malinois, Attila, "smarter and stronger than German Shepherds, and they keep their back straight, so they don't suffer hip problems." A former war dog, you'd not find a more loyal companion. He was rescued by a former navy seal, discharged honorably after he lost his leg in combat. "Attila had been trained to defend and attack, to sniff out mines and terrorists, ward off enemies, parachute, swim through icy waters, and a variety of things that were not much use in civilian life." Long after Ryan, the seal, had been discharged, Attila was severely injured by a bomb, expected not to survive but not left behind as in battle "you never leave a fallen comrade behind" Now eight years old, the murders gave him a new purpose in life.
Allende is a storyteller. There are a few skips in plot and some stumbles but all in all I enjoyed the story.
Allende's stories always include some magic realism and there's enough of this here for me.
One reviewer turned up his nose claiming Ripper could only satisfy an undemanding reader. Guilty as charged. Most fiction I read fits this bill. If I want demanding I'll find it somewhere else. I read primarily for my own entertainment, not to make it work.
I loved the idea of a group of teens playing a role-playing game that soon becomes a race to find a modern day ripper let loose on San Francisco. I wanted to play and hope I'm invited if there is another book.
Translated from Spanish, Ripper originally was to be a collaborative effort of Allende and her husband, Willie Gordon, but that was seen as a fast road to divorce.
My sincere thanks to Harper Collins for allowing me to read this before it's publication date of January 28, 2014
I was expecting a little more mystery/suspense, but felt the book spent too much time on the backstories of the characters. The mystery part seemed to get lost.
I'm not sure how to review this book. At times, it was tedious and uninteresting. But once I got past the first 200 pages, it spiraled fast and I consumed it, neglecting many other things to finish. I will say that I figured out "who did it" but it was not at all what I expected and there were many more layers than expected.
There were lots of details and characters and I'm not sure if Allende threw them in there to get the reader off the trail or because she likes details. This book was my first of hers but many more are on my list.
One beef: what kind of policeman shares case information with his ex-father-in-law and his daughter? That seemed a bit far-fetched. And as much as I liked Amanda, I didn't get her dependence on some boy at MIT. That just seemed like a tedious detail, of which there were many.
Overall: a solid murder mystery thick on character development and details with some "what?" twists. Not formulaic at all but heftier than your average whodunit.
There were lots of details and characters and I'm not sure if Allende threw them in there to get the reader off the trail or because she likes details. This book was my first of hers but many more are on my list.
One beef: what kind of policeman shares case information with his ex-father-in-law and his daughter? That seemed a bit far-fetched. And as much as I liked Amanda, I didn't get her dependence on some boy at MIT. That just seemed like a tedious detail, of which there were many.
Overall: a solid murder mystery thick on character development and details with some "what?" twists. Not formulaic at all but heftier than your average whodunit.
I think Isabel Allende is a very talented writer however I don't think thriller is her thing. Likes some part of the book. The online game is cool and some of her characters are well written and compelling. But as an 14 hour long audio book this just didn't work. Don't think reading the book would have helped. I feel like there was a few different stories mixed together and I had some issues seeing the connection with them.
Suspenseful
Good read. Twists and turns and characters that you want to root for. Good book to start for summer break
Good read. Twists and turns and characters that you want to root for. Good book to start for summer break
Leider hatte das Buch insgesamt zu viele Längen, die ich jetzt nach Beenden des Buches doch recht unnötig fand. Das Spiel "Ripper" an sich kam zu kurz und die beschriebene Handlung des Klappentextes trat erst nach 3/4 des Buches ein. Sowas nervt, da man ja irgendwie darauf hin ließt. Das Ende fand ich leider auch sehr in die Länge gezogen, die Auflösung des Täters zu sehr gewollt und nicht gekonnt. Zu unrealistisch und nicht komplett nachvollziehbar. Und dann endete das Buch doch zu abrupt und nicht dem restlichen Teil des Buches entsprechend...ich merkte, dass Allende toll schreibt, es ist aber kein Krimi oder Thriller...gerne gebe ich ihr bei einem anderen Buch nochmal die Chance mich zu überzeugen!