Petrucha, Stefan: Ripper

March 1, 2012
Philomel
YA Historical Mystery, 427 pages
Acquired and read: Through the local library; read within two days (though if I'd had the energy, it could have been shorter...)

You thought you knew him. You were dead wrong. 

Carver Young dreams of becoming a detective, despite growing up in an orphanage with only crime novels to encourage him. But when he is adopted by Detective Hawking of the world famous Pinkerton Agency, Carver is given not only the chance to find his biological father, he finds himself smack in the middle of a real life investigation: tracking down a vicious serial killer who has thrown New York City into utter panic. When the case begins to unfold, however, it’s worse than he could have ever imagined, and his loyalty to Mr. Hawking and the Pinkertons comes into question. As the body count rises and the investigation becomes dire, Carver must decide where his true loyalty lies.

Full of whip-smart dialogue, kid-friendly gadgets, and featuring a then New York City Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt, Ripper challenges everything you thought you knew about the world’s most famous serial killer.

Okay, you say that there's not enough YA for boys? Here, gentlemen, is a title that should tide you over.

At least for a little while.

Carver Young is an orphan. He has no idea about who his parents are, or what happened to them, but he does know one thing: he is meant to be a detective. Of course, that's a bit of a dream when you're living in an orphanage and reading dime novels to make use of your time. However, everything changes for him when he's adopted by retired (cantankerous, eccentric - well, let's just say he's crazy) Pinkerton detective Albert Hawkings - you know, of the Pinkerton Detectives?

...Anyone?

Okay, let's just say that there were awesome. But look them up later.

Hawkings offers Carver a chance at a leg-up into the world of intrigue that he wants to be part of, with his own unique mission: find his biological father. Sounds like wading through phone books and old genealogical charts, right? But Carver finds himself smack-dab in the middle of a different web of circumstance than he thought: a serial killer, right on the streets of New York City, and he seems to be the only one to hold the clues to solving it all.

But, as the author says on the back cover, "You'll never guess how. Or why..."

Well, maybe you might.

Let me tell you: if you're looking for lots of historical truths that are way weirder than fiction (an old-lady cat killer! A hidden subway! An asylum hidden on an island!), chase scenes, street fights and gruesomely murdered bodies, this is the read for you. But, I'd steer clear of it if you're the type of person who gets frustrated with easy clues, almost-to-the-letter predicable twists and...well, some major writing gaffs.

And I quote, "Carver swooned."

...Swooned? Do boys swoon? And doesn't swooning involve a lot of hand-to-the-forehead, delicate sighs of distress, rolling eyes and buckling knees?

Carver lightly falls into a kneeling position on the floor. There is no hyperventilating involved.

Also, boys don't swoon.

They manfully stumble under pressure. They bend, not break.

But, to be fair, that's pretty much the only part of the book that really rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn't put it down, and I even mentioned to my sister that this is definitely something teenage boys will probably enjoy.

And the historical figures - Theodore Roosevelt and Alice and there's a mention of Nellie Bly! Have I ever told you how much I admire Nellie Bly?

Warnings: There are some moments where you will be screaming, "Oh my God - that's SO OBVIOUS!" Please refrain from damaging the book in the process. Throwing it at the wall is also frowned upon. Also, there is some mention of exactly what kind of women Jack the Ripper preyed on.

Hathaway, Jill: Slide (Slide, #1)

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s...more

Expected publication: March 27, 2012
Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
YA Paranormal/Supernatural, 256 pages
Acquired and read: Through the lovely ladies who run the Debut Author Challenge Tours; read within twenty-four hours

Challenge? 2012 Debut Author Challenge

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

Vee Bell is narcoleptic.

But contrary to popular belief, she isn't sleeping her life away. Every time she falls asleep, she gets a vision from the last object she touched, through the eyes of the person that touched it before her. (Quite the chain, isn't it?) Of course, this little ability isn't always a gift. Vee's life got turned upside-down when she realized the worst about her ex-best friend during a school dance. And now, it's happening again.

Only this time, she's witnessed a murder.

Awesome premise, right?

Okay, time for the painful honesty. Was this book one of my "this debut was SO worth all the pain and toil and going out to the mailbox to fetch it (ooh, my shins)" titles of 2012? ...No. But it could have been.

First, let's start out with the kudos. Vee is one of those characters that can actually wear the label "Unique" without looking like a Tumblr hipster - you know, one of those kids who gets a Tumblr and takes blurry shots of the soda machine and soulful looks in the distance because that's the way to looking hip? (No offense to anyone who has a Tumblr. I am the last person to start stereotyping anyone on the way they behave.) She's narcoleptic and she dyes her hair the color of Pepto-Bismol (we don't actually get to see how she pulls it off...) and hoards her mom's old collection of 80's music.

Yes. Her mother is dead. So much for avoiding the cliche, but I guess you can't get it all.

There is also a love triangle. Gah. I hate that phrase. Triangles are pointy and sharp and no matter which way you grab 'em, you know you're going to get cut - so why bother rooting for one guy? With my luck, usually it's the loser. Fortunately for me, I wasn't too into this triangle, which included Rollins (the best friend - of course) and Zane (the new, smoldering "too good to be true" hottie that is mysteriously attracted to pink hair and randomly falling asleep in the middle of class...). If you've already read Fracture, I think you'll be able to figure out what's going to happen - that doesn't count as a spoiler, does it?
Of course, since this entire drama is set in high school, we also need the general over-helping of hook-ups, secrets, and embarrassing pictures forwarded to every single guy on the football team. Again, we refer to the Golden Rule of YA: thou must not forget the appropriate amount of teenage hormones.

See, when it comes to these type of rules, I'm a bit of a rebel.


I think my main issue with Slide was the ending. So there's a mystery. A killer's on the loose. The next target is being stalked. And then, hold on...the killer is [SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER]?! But I thought for sure it was [SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER]. Wait a minute, who is this person anyway? The majority of the conclusion went over my head. Suffice it to say: I do not envy Vee her life. Everyone has a vendetta against someone else.

To sum it up, Slide is like that mug of green tea (or coffee - I know there are some people out there who actually like the stuff) that you make fresh and warm in the morning. It smells good. You can't wait to take a sip and start your day off on the right foot. And then, you get caught up in your e-mail or your phone calls from last night and you completely forget that cup waiting on the counter. By the time you remember and add your sugar, it's cold. Lukewarm if you're lucky. And it just doesn't taste the same.

But that's the way reading rolls. You gain some, you lose some. And there's always a chance to make a fresh cuppa if the last one wasn't to your tastes.

Warnings (Or, unwanted seasoning that Kaye does not want in her tea): What is every American teenager up to when the 'rents aren't home - at least, according to Oprah and Hollywood and the Great American YA Novelist? Key word: hormones. Hooking up, breaking up, language. One girl was pregnant when she was murdered. Also, it seems like every single adult Vee looks up to is having an affair. Is it something in the water?

Johnson, Maureen: The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1)

September 29, 2011
Penguin Young Readers Group
YA Mystery/Supernatural, 372 pages
Acquired and read: Courtesy of my most beloved public library (I was first on the waiting list - oh yeah!); read within approximately six hours

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

The Name of the Star is what you fear.

Except for the whole arriving in London just for the killing spree of the century, Rory's pretty much living the life any Anglophile would die for - living it up in a posh boarding school, a cool roommate, and the possibility of having her head chopped off by the Ripper himself.


Ahem. Yes, I'd take it all except for the last part.


Though I follow her religiously on Twitter, this was the first of Maureen Johnson's books I actually finished (started Suite Scarlett back in senior year, but you know how well that went) and I was absolutely hooked from start to finish. There was a bit of a lag during the whole information dumps about boarding school, but then again I know absolutely nothing about the British education system, so let's take that as a learning experience, shall we?


In any case, there's loads of cool accented words and slang (personal favorite: "I survived November 9th and All I Got was This Bloody T-Shirt"...I'm a future English major, I've got to love irony), rides on the Tube and, of course, Ripper-mania to keep the action going right up to the last page. And even after that, I went through the acknowledgments, admired the nice author photo on the flap, and drummed my fingers against the cover a few times waiting for a sequel to magically appear in my hands.


It didn't. Ah, well, you can't blame a girl for trying.

What I found particularly awesome about the book was how it followed along with the real Ripper's crimes...and believe me, I would know. (To make a long story short, some psychology classes seem to enjoy freaking their students out for life about venturing out at night...oh, and being a female in any major city? Watch out for your neck, my pretty.)


To sum it up for whoever didn't bother to read everything up there: 


Anglophile + interested about serial killers (just as long as you're not one) = have a go with The Name of the Star. You won't regret it.


Warnings (because I can't close off this review without 'em): Death. Gory, historically accurate, heartbreaking deaths. Please consult a physician if you have any conditions that might leave you with your hands over your heart and a book conspicuously falling to the floor. The Name of the Star is a book about a murderer, not a murderer itself. 


Also, there's quite a bit of macking, a little bit of profanity, and some other innuendo. This is a YA book, you know.


Final verdict: Yes. (I'm sparing you any more of my terrible British imitations. Just...yes.)