Book review: Ripper by Stefan Petrucha

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Ripper 

Stefan Petrucha

3 stars

What can I say about this book? Actually not much. It was a nice, fast paced read, but it was so predictable that most of the times I just wanted to roll my eyes or slap the characters with the book. Or both. 
Ripper tells the story of Carver Young and orphan who suddenly discovers that he has to be adopted or he will have to live on the streets because he is too old to continue at the orphanage. At the same time, he also finds a letter from his father. Obsessed with being a detective (just like Sherlock Holmes) and to find his father, Carver is thrilled when he is adopted by a former private investigator, Hawking. 
However, not everything is well, Jack, the Ripper is attacking wealthy women in New York and leaving behind only chaos and fear. Carver is caught between his search for his father and the search for Ripper, and helping New Pinkerton –the agency Hawking kind of works for – not to be found by the police.
I loved the premise of the book. Jack, the Ripper is fascinating and having him change his patterns and attack in New York is a very nice concept, one that definitely calls my attention. However, I’m not certain having a 14-year-old as a protagonist seems wise. Much more could have been done with an older, wiser protagonist. Things sometimes sounded too silly to be true (I know, I know, suspension of disbelief and all that, but even so…) and too naïve. I really don’t believe things would have ended the way they did and even in the book, for me, the ending and some situations were a little forced. 
And everything was too predictable. I figured out the ending in the first pages and that was because I was trying not to jump to conclusions. You can guess the ending without even reading the book, actually. It is always the same thing. 
However, some things were nice. I really liked the detective agency and all things they used there. The characters were somewhat nice as well and some of them presented some pretty interesting character development.

Book review: Sherlock Holmes in Japan by Vasudev Murthy

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Sherlock Holmes in Japan
Vasudev Murthy
2 stars

It is not a surprise for anyone that I absolutely love Sherlock Holmes (and that I am not so secretly Moriarty) and that I love reading pastiches about the consulting detective. So it was with my heart bursting of joy that I started reading “Sherlock Holmes in Japan”. The book brings us the story of the “missing years” of the famous detective, presenting a possibility as to what he could possibly be doing during the years he was supposedly “dead”. 
I liked the concept of this book a lot. What happened to Sherlock Holmes between Reichenbach and his rather dramatic reencounter with Watson is something that I’ve always wished Conan Doyle would have written about. We don’t have Doyle, but now we have a pastiche. Good enough for me. 
The beginning of this book was very interesting. Watson receives a letter from his dead friend, urging him to go to Japan, where very important events were unfolding. Then, for me, things go downhill. The long explanations of boarding and disembarking were too much and could have been using to furthering the plot. Talking about plot, it was too uneven and, admittedly, rather boring. 
The big events that could change the whole world were not that exciting and the conclusion and the bad guys were very obvious. Besides, this cat and mouse game played by Holmes and Moriarty was not as amazing as it could have been. Their enmity has lots of potential and unfortunately, in my opinion, it was not very well utilized. 

BOOK REVIEW: MEMORY BY TERESA P. MIRA ECHEVERRÍA

I received a free e-version copy of this story from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

This novelette, written by an Argentine author, is the story of Jedediah, a Mars colonizer, who tells his story from his younger years to his adulthood.

Jedediah’s life was always marked by the silence of his father, the dustiness of Mars, his solitude, and his neighbor’s pink car. One day, he meets Ajax, a native, one of the people who were genetically created and modified to the terraforming of Mars. The natives’ lives should be entirely devoted to making Mars a suitable place for humans. Later, they would be used as slaves. Ajax was one of the leaders of the revolution intent on freeing Mars from human captivity. Even though they only met once when Jedediah was young, a connection was formed. Jedediah grew, started working, and then set off to find Ajax. Meeting him, he found more than he was expecting: he found love, a sense of belonging, a home.

The novelette is divided into several short pieces, each one telling a little bit of Jedediah’s growth and how he views the planet he lives on. We get to see his childhood, his adulthood, and his own children and how Mars modifies them and connects them.

It was a lovely narrative about human behavior, emotions and actions: colonization, coming of age, love, sexuality, family, right and wrong, memory, and many other themes were discussed in this short narrative. The singularity of Mars gave space to a singular narrative, in which different characters, perspectives, and situations were intertwined to form a unique, and sometimes thought-provoking, story. The importance of memory and its role, how it modifies the way we behaved was explored in a different way, in which the consequences of one’s actions could transform the future radically and alter not only the person’s reality, but the reality of a whole world.

I would recommend this novelette if you are interested in a quick, deep read and, of course, if you like science fiction stories!

Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Book: A Darker Shade of Magic

Author: V. E. Schwab

Publication date: 2015

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The plot of this book contains all clichés one can find in fantasy: a boy, who is one of the last of his kind, capable of great magic and, also, of great destruction; a mysterious plot that can endanger the lives of the entire world (or worlds in this case); a girl who looks forward to greater things and a life of freedom; a showdown between two or more components of the list of characters; and a bad guy who will stop at nothing to get what they want. All these elements can be found in this book. Did they make it less enjoyable? Absolutely not; I liked this book and its characters and story quite a lot.

Kell is one of the last Antari, blood magicians who can travel between worlds. There is Red London, thriving with magic and life; Grey London, a dull world that has forgotten about magic and how to use it; White London, a dying world that hungers for magic and wants to control it at any costs; and Black London, forever forgotten, the cause to the separation of the worlds. Kell is bound to Red London’s Royal family and travels between the worlds to deliver messages between regents. However, Kell likes to bring tokens from the different Londons, music boxes, chess pieces, etc, which is illegal and dangerous. When one of Kell’s visits to White London goes awry, he has to find a way to stop a dangerous chain of events he himself helped put into motion. His final destination: Black London. He will not be alone in quest: he will be helped by Delilah Bard, a thief and aspiring pirate who wants to live an adventure. Together, they will set off to help save the Londons from a terrible fate.

Kell is a very interesting character, full of possibility. As many characters in fantasy, he has lots of power, which can lead him to save the world or destroy it. Lila is amazing and completely fascinating. I loved seeing how she views the world and reacts to the different events. Both of they are morally gray and ambiguous, not being totally good or bad. Most of the times they fight for themselves and their ideals, wherever this might lead them. However, I was a little disappointed with the antagonistic side of the story. I was hoping for a little… more. I thought the bad side was quite evident and so were the reasons behind their actions.

There were some interesting plot twists and the book doesn’t stop for one minute. We are always jumping from situation to situation, trying to understand who to trust and where the story is leading us and what might happen in the end.

The side characters were also interesting, even though some of them could have been more well-developed. I hope to get to know more about Holland and Rhy. I already like Rhy a lot, but it would be nice to get him to be more participative in the events of the story. The same goes to Holland, the only other living Antari. His back story and motivations were not that explored and he would certainly be an incredibly nice character to get to know about. His complexity already shows and I think Shwab can do wonders with him.

SPOILER I refuse to believe he is dead. He wasn’t when Kell sent him to Black London and, as they both say, it is very difficult to kill an Antari. Black London is there to be explored. I demand more from both Holland and this other shady London END OF SPOILER.

I’m looking forward to knowing what will happen next, even though some of the possibilities are quite evident, and a little cliché as well.

SPOILER Of course Lila is Antari. She has magic inside her, she can travel between worlds and she has a glass eye END OF SPOILER.

Over all, a great read, full of magic, action, and morally ambiguous characters that will travel with you through several different and fantastic worlds. I strongly recommend this book.

Book Review: Mr Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars #2)

Book: Mr Kiss and Tell

Authors: Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham

Series: Veronica Mars

Published: 2015

TW: Rape

Veronica is now settled in her life in Neptune. She has a car, an apartment, and Logan is finally on shore leave. Veronica is hired by an insurance company to determine a rapist. A girl was found half dead in a ditch, beaten and raped. She spent months saying she didn’t remember what happened to her. Now she does and she is accusing a former member of the Neptune Grand hotel staff as her rapist. That could give her millions if proven true. Veronica is hired to prove or disprove her story. Meanwhile, Weevil’s trial is happening and Keith Mars is adamant on making the sheriff department, and the Sherriff himself, pay for planting evidences.

Mr Kiss and Tell is a very nice Veronica Mars story. It is always awesome to have Veronica involved in a case she is passionate about, seeing her kicking ass and taking names. The story is fast paced, never stopping too much, going from one case to the other or giving us a glimpse of Veronica’s life.

As usual, with Veronica, things could never be simple. She doubts herself, the world, her cases, her relationship, her job, her life, everything. Typical Veronica that we love and cherish. Her relationship with Logan is its usual turbulent state, with its bumps along the way. Her relationship with her father is still awesome as usual, as is her friendship with Wallace and Mac.

Leo also appears a lot in this book, which I quite liked. I like Leo, he was one of my favorite of Veronica’s boyfriends. He is very important help for Veronica during her search for the rapist and a nice character as well.

The plot is interesting and the mystery is good. It is always lovely to see Veronica’s crazy plans and how she drags everyone else into what she is doing. As mentioned before, there is a trigger warning for rape and rape discussions, as well as the usual misogynistic quips brought to you by your favorite police department.

Something else that I liked is to see the character development for the characters, especially for Weevil and his relationship to the other characters as well as his choices during the book.

I would recommend this book to all Veronica Mars fans and fans of mystery novels.

Book Review: Lair of Dreams (The Divners #2) by Libba Bray

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Rating: 4/5 stars

An ARC of this book was provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Possible spoiler ahead!
The Diviners are the new sensation, especially Evie, the Sweetheart Seer, who has her own radio show and a crowd of fans waiting for her to tell them their secrets. However, not everything is good. A new sickness, the sleeping sickness, is spreading through the city. People simply go to sleep and then never wake up again. 
To go directly to the point: it was a lovely book and it left me terrified to go to sleep. But I didn’t feel it as strongly as The Diviners. There is less action and I felt things were resolved too easily (if they were resolved at all. Maybe not. You never know).
One thing that displeased me was the lack of Evie and Memphis. They are definitely my favorites and, Memphis especially, almost doesn’t show up. I liked the new addition to our Diviners team, Ling, a Dream Walker like Henry. Speaking of Henry: poor baby. I just wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and give him nice things. 
Sam is a character that also gets attention in this book. His story is interesting and the whole mystery surrounding him and his family is taken to a new level in the narrative. I’m looking forward to knowing what is going to happen with him and where the whole Paranormal Department is going to take us. The ending hinted at bigger things to come and new mysteries to be solved in relation to him and his family.
The dreams walks in this book were lovely and helped Henry find some answers to his past. However, I did not enjoy the mystery too much, because, for me, it was not mysterious at all. It was well-developed, interchanging Ling’s and Henry’s dream walks to their lives outside of dreams and how one was connected to the other. 
I love the mention to Gemma Doyle and how the two stories are in the same verse. It opens up lots of new possibilities. 
The only thing I can say with certainty that I did not like at all was exactly the same thing that I disliked in the first book: the love triangle. The book could certainly do without it and it wouldn’t miss a thing. Maybe Libba Bray will prove me wrong in the future, but for now I really don’t like it. 
Over all, I really recommend it. It is a great continuation to a great series. 

Book Review: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham

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My marshmallow heart is happy. 
Veronica Mars is back on business. While her father recovers from the accident that nearly took his life, Veronica has to deal with Mars Investigations business. It is spring break, students from different universities come to enjoy the beach and to party. Everything is good until a girl goes missing. V is hired by the Chamber of Commerce to discover what happened and find the girl. However, things get complicated when another girl goes missing. Can Veronica find them before it is too late?
The Thousand Dollar Tan Line picks up from where the movie stopped. Veronica is back to being a private investigator, leaving her career as a lawyer behind. I loved to read about Veronica, Mac, Wallace, and everybody else. For those who don’t know, Veronica Mars is one of my favorite series, and Veronica has to be one of my favorite characters of all time. It was great to delve back into her world and explore the criminal world with her again. 
The mystery is great. Two different girls go missing after going to a mysterious party. Two families (one of them presents a great challenge for Veronica) looking for their daughter, the interests of the rich mixed in everything, and an incompetent sheriff. Just like old times. 
The writing is nice and it manages to capture Veronica’s personality very well. Her sass is brilliant and her comebacks never seize to make me laugh. I love her relationship with her father and this book presented it very well, how both of them care for each other and how they work so well together. 
Logan is not on it so much, which makes me sad, but V is constantly thinking about him and what their relationship means and where it is going. You know, typical LoVe story. As usual, Mac and Wallace are great and they are very important to the development of the story and of V’s personality and character. 
If you like the show I completely recommend reading this book!