Book Review- Ripper by Amy Carol Reeves

Title: Ripper

 Author: Amy Carol Reeves

Series:  N/A

Published:  April 8 2012 by Flux

Length:340 pages

Warnings: violence, kissing, 13+

Source: Netgalley

Other info: This is her debut novel. No sequel is planned.

Summary : In 1888, following her mother's sudden death, 17-year-old Arabella Sharp goes to live with her grandmother in a posh London neighborhood. At her grandmother's request, Abbie volunteers at Whitechapel Hospital, where she discovers a passion for helping the unfortunate women and children there. But within days, female patients begin turning up brutally murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper.

Review: Abbie Sharp has been sent to live with her grandmother in London. To do something useful, she volunteers at Whitchapel Hospital, working with women and children. This being 1888, and the women being former prostitutes, some of them get murdered. Anyone knowing 1. The kind of stuff I like reading and 2. Their London history and 3. The title of this book will guess that these murders are the work of Jack. And as more and more girls turn up dead, Abbie realises that she can see the girls before they die. As she tries to keep them out of danger, Abbie uncovers secrets being hidden by the esteemed Dr Bartlett that maybe she shouldn’t....

I read quite a lot of takes on Jack the Ripper, such as the Name of the Star, Black Butler and other things. I’ve never read something to do with Jack the Ripper that incoperates  a more psychic aspect to it though, which I think was imaginative and worked well. Maybe not as effective to go with Jack the Ripper (he/she’ll always be a complete maniac wielding a knife to me)  but still fun to read anyway.

Abbie is a good character, with a mind of her own who did what she thought was right. This next part didn’t affect my enjoyment of the general novel, but to me, Abbie looked nothing like the girl on the cover. I never felt that close to Abbie, or any of  the characters. As a result, I didn’t really care about them very much, or what became fo them. Despite this, they were  quite interesting. As always, there was a love triangle, that didn’t do anything (neither good nor bad) to the plot line. When Abbie tries both William and Simon, I didn’t really mind. On the subject of characters, I liked the inclusion of real life figures. I always do, and it worked quite nicely with Christina Rosetti and co.  

The plot is good. It takes quite a lot of turns that are unpredictable, something which I like to see in novels, especially in takes on something familiar.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a well written, interesting  and more romantic take on Jack the Ripper that wasn’t really my kind of book, but still a good read.

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