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outoftheblue14's review against another edition
3.0
Rilettura di un libro che mi aveva stregato, da ragazzina: un giallo ambientato nell'Inghilterra vittoriana, con protagonista la 16enne Sally Lockhart.
Buona opera di intrattenimento. La trama procede a un ritmo serrato, con un ricchissimo cast di personaggi, che appaiono e scompaiono nel giro di un paio di pagine; e il mistero viene risolto anche grazie a fortunatissime coincidenze e vari trucchetti.
Per me, il fascino della narrazione sta nell'alchimia tra Sally e Frederick Garland - il primo personaggio di un libro per cui mi sono presa una cotta.
Buona opera di intrattenimento. La trama procede a un ritmo serrato, con un ricchissimo cast di personaggi, che appaiono e scompaiono nel giro di un paio di pagine; e il mistero viene risolto anche grazie a fortunatissime coincidenze e vari trucchetti.
Per me, il fascino della narrazione sta nell'alchimia tra Sally e Frederick Garland - il primo personaggio di un libro per cui mi sono presa una cotta.
Spoiler
Per questo non posso perdonare a P. Pullman quello che succede nel secondo libro della serie, "The Shadow of the North". Grr.goobdiddy's review
4.0
This was great. Immediately drew me into the world of Victorian England. The characters and story were pretty simple, but it all worked together well. The opium use and violence were an interesting choice for a YA book ;), but that made it more interesting for adult readers. I'll definitely read the next one in the series.
gilliske's review against another edition
2.0
Tja... ik had meer verwacht van dit boek.
Echt slecht is het niet, maar zeker geen hoogvlieger.
Hoewel het boek vlot geschreven is, met net voldoende, niet te veel omschrijvende fragmenten, waardoor je moeiteloos wordt meegevoerd naar het Victoriaanse Londen van weleer, kon ik me toch niet volledig overgeven aan het verhaal.
Hoewel Sally overduidelijk een sympathieke en innemende jonge vrouw/meisje is, maakt ze, naar mijn gevoel, toch echt wel onrealistisch vlot vrienden. Het lijkt wel alsof iedereen die ze tegenkomt "betoverd" wordt -ik kan het niet anders uitdrukken- zodat deze mensen haar vanaf de eerste seconde onvoorwaardelijk steunen.
Het is blijkbaar perfect normaal om een meisje dat je nog maar 1 keer gezien hebt, en dan nog wel onder vrij bizarre omstandigheden, blindelings te vertrouwen en vervolgens haar zonder verpinken onderdak aan te bieden, inbraken voor haar uit te voeren en drugs voor haar te kopen (om maar een paar dingen te noemen).
Neen, voor mijn gevoel liep dat allemaal net een beetje te "vlot", waardoor het geheel nogal ongeloofwaardig aanvoelde.
De manier waarop uiteindelijk het raadsel ontrafeld wordt vond ik ook maar onhandig in mekaar geknutseld. En waarom het gebruik van opium hierin zo een belangrijke rol moest spelen is mij een raadsel. Dat deed naar mijn smaak te veel denken aan een onhandige 'deus ex machina' die -bij gebrek aan inspiratie- moest ingezet worden om het verhaal snel tot een einde te brengen.
Onze 'heldin' in het verhaal draagt ook opvallend weinig bij. Zij is wel degene die de link vormt tussen alle 'echte' spelers in het verhaal. Maar noch qua actie; noch qua onthulling van het mysterie of ontdekking van de robijn draagt ze substantieel iets bij.
Ik heb het gevoel dat er veel meer in het verhaal zat dan er nu uiteindelijk is uitgekomen.
Zoals ik zei, zeker geen ronduit slecht boek, maar ook zeker geen aanrader. Er is echt wel heel wat beter leesmateriaal te vinden.
Echt slecht is het niet, maar zeker geen hoogvlieger.
Hoewel het boek vlot geschreven is, met net voldoende, niet te veel omschrijvende fragmenten, waardoor je moeiteloos wordt meegevoerd naar het Victoriaanse Londen van weleer, kon ik me toch niet volledig overgeven aan het verhaal.
Hoewel Sally overduidelijk een sympathieke en innemende jonge vrouw/meisje is, maakt ze, naar mijn gevoel, toch echt wel onrealistisch vlot vrienden. Het lijkt wel alsof iedereen die ze tegenkomt "betoverd" wordt -ik kan het niet anders uitdrukken- zodat deze mensen haar vanaf de eerste seconde onvoorwaardelijk steunen.
Het is blijkbaar perfect normaal om een meisje dat je nog maar 1 keer gezien hebt, en dan nog wel onder vrij bizarre omstandigheden, blindelings te vertrouwen en vervolgens haar zonder verpinken onderdak aan te bieden, inbraken voor haar uit te voeren en drugs voor haar te kopen (om maar een paar dingen te noemen).
Neen, voor mijn gevoel liep dat allemaal net een beetje te "vlot", waardoor het geheel nogal ongeloofwaardig aanvoelde.
De manier waarop uiteindelijk het raadsel ontrafeld wordt vond ik ook maar onhandig in mekaar geknutseld. En waarom het gebruik van opium hierin zo een belangrijke rol moest spelen is mij een raadsel. Dat deed naar mijn smaak te veel denken aan een onhandige 'deus ex machina' die -bij gebrek aan inspiratie- moest ingezet worden om het verhaal snel tot een einde te brengen.
Onze 'heldin' in het verhaal draagt ook opvallend weinig bij. Zij is wel degene die de link vormt tussen alle 'echte' spelers in het verhaal. Maar noch qua actie; noch qua onthulling van het mysterie of ontdekking van de robijn draagt ze substantieel iets bij.
Ik heb het gevoel dat er veel meer in het verhaal zat dan er nu uiteindelijk is uitgekomen.
Zoals ik zei, zeker geen ronduit slecht boek, maar ook zeker geen aanrader. Er is echt wel heel wat beter leesmateriaal te vinden.
hapigairu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
kristiinaness's review against another edition
3.0
This is a teen mystery but I'm a very immature reader and I loved the whole series.
claudiamccarron's review
4.0
The uncritical imperialism/Orientalism at work here hasn't aged well, but the mystery is great and the characters and setting are beautifully described. I just wish it was longer!
stephxsu's review against another edition
2.0
Well. Erm. Humm.
After meaning to read this book for years, I wanted to like this so much more than I did!!!!! Yes, I am using an excess of punctuation here because I feel like my disappointment is justified. So many readers I know say that this book was one of their favorites; that they wanted to be, or be friends with, Sally Lockhart; that rereading this beloved gem never failed them.
My biggest qualm with THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE is that Sally Lockhart feels like the quintessential "un-protagonist." For a character with an eponymous series name and lots written up about her in the back cover synopsis, Sally spends a lot of time off the page. The narration divides its time between Sally, the villains, Jim the plucky errand boy, Frederick the photographer, and who knows who else. While it was not bad that we spent some time following Jim's, Frederick's, the villains' footsteps around, I felt like the synopsis misled me to believe that I'd learn more about Sally, that I'd come to understand how she thinks, how she operates.
Alas, not only does Sally not have much narration time, rendering her still unfamiliar to me, but she also doesn't DO much of anything in this book. The synopsis makes her out to be this female wunderkind detective force to be reckoned it, when actually I feel like she does a lot of sitting at home, waiting for others (read: the male characters) to get back from their excursions and fill her in on what they've done. For a character that's supposed to be the protagonist, Sally really feels two steps behind everyone else on this case. Cementing my view that the series was named incorrectly was the fact that. Then the climactic scenes occur in which the guys get to do a lot of fighting and Sally is merely hormonal. Puh-lease. I don't care whichever way you spin it, Sally is not "intrepid" for tearfully enduring the consequences of her unknown history and for figuring out something that another character already figured out before her.
For a book with a female protagonist, THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE spends a disappointingly disproportionate time showing us that actually it's the boys who still get to do the exciting and essential parts of crime-solving. Feminist I find this book is not. Try Y. S. Lee's impressive The Agency Victorian mystery series if you truly want to see a smart and resourceful teen female detective in action.
After meaning to read this book for years, I wanted to like this so much more than I did!!!!! Yes, I am using an excess of punctuation here because I feel like my disappointment is justified. So many readers I know say that this book was one of their favorites; that they wanted to be, or be friends with, Sally Lockhart; that rereading this beloved gem never failed them.
My biggest qualm with THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE is that Sally Lockhart feels like the quintessential "un-protagonist." For a character with an eponymous series name and lots written up about her in the back cover synopsis, Sally spends a lot of time off the page. The narration divides its time between Sally, the villains, Jim the plucky errand boy, Frederick the photographer, and who knows who else. While it was not bad that we spent some time following Jim's, Frederick's, the villains' footsteps around, I felt like the synopsis misled me to believe that I'd learn more about Sally, that I'd come to understand how she thinks, how she operates.
Alas, not only does Sally not have much narration time, rendering her still unfamiliar to me, but she also doesn't DO much of anything in this book. The synopsis makes her out to be this female wunderkind detective force to be reckoned it, when actually I feel like she does a lot of sitting at home, waiting for others (read: the male characters) to get back from their excursions and fill her in on what they've done. For a character that's supposed to be the protagonist, Sally really feels two steps behind everyone else on this case. Cementing my view that the series was named incorrectly was the fact that
Spoiler
Sally basically gets gypped out of having her crowning moment! Through putting herself in an opium-induced trance, she figures out the secret behind the ruby, but it turns out that JIM already figured it out chapters ago, but just didn't tell her for fear of disappointing her or whatnotFor a book with a female protagonist, THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE spends a disappointingly disproportionate time showing us that actually it's the boys who still get to do the exciting and essential parts of crime-solving. Feminist I find this book is not. Try Y. S. Lee's impressive The Agency Victorian mystery series if you truly want to see a smart and resourceful teen female detective in action.
ligiandbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Dacă Indiana Jones și Sherlock Holmes s-ar fi întâlnit având în rol principal un personaj feminin, asta ar fi seria.
S-a citit extrem de repede, nu am prevăzut plot twist-ul, lucru care mi-a plăcut și nu pot decât să continui să o recomand.
Sally Lockhart e cu siguranță unul dintre personajele feminine cele mai captivante din câte am întâlnit în acest an.
S-a citit extrem de repede, nu am prevăzut plot twist-ul, lucru care mi-a plăcut și nu pot decât să continui să o recomand.
Sally Lockhart e cu siguranță unul dintre personajele feminine cele mai captivante din câte am întâlnit în acest an.
kitdunsmore's review against another edition
3.0
My rating is actually a 3.5. I wanted to like this book more than I did. Lots of characters and lots happening, but I can't help thinking that things were more convoluted and outrageous than they needed to be. Perhaps that was the point and I am just being obtuse. It's a setting I love (Victorian-era London) and a clever parallel between the beginning and ending of the book raised my opinion of it at the last moment.