Some things are so bad that once you've been through them, you don't have to explain your reasons to anyone.

amazing. I found this book to be completely all consuming. It sucked me in with it's easy characters and beautiful setting. And quickly the thrill and fear of the murders and terror of what was happening grabbed me and I just couldn't put it down.

I'm so glad there's a book 2. I'm not ready to let Rory, Callum, Stephen or Boo go! ( )

This first installment of The Shades Of London Trilogy was a wonderful and emotionally suspenseful new twist on the traditional Jack-The-Ripper Lore and Secret Supernatural-Detective-Agents trope in general. The MC, Rory, is freshly arrived in London to live at a Boarding school away from her home in the American South and has a near death experience that leaves her with a unique and quite extraordinary ability.
Drawn into the Ripper-Fan insanity that has gripped London since her arrival, Rory soon discovers that she is the only witness to the serial murderer's identity, because he’s already dead! Now she is his next _target, because she is the only one who can see him and he is desperate for something he knows she has.
Overall I really enjoyed the characters, their interactions, and seeing the thought process of our protagonist. The story starts out being the typical teen-girl-in-a-new-town-all-alone trope, but soon turns into a beautifully written, pulse pounding young adult story with a deep plot that clearly means to be a multi-book series full of dark mysteries and sarcastic and lovingly respectful insults thrown between the characters in their realistic dialog. While the ending was still a good cliffhanger, it still settles matters in a way that make it possible to be a good stand-alone as well; Although I personally would recommend reading the other two books in the trilogy as they are also amazing and bring the plot to whole new heights, IMO. ( )

Another audio book I got from the 2019 Sync Audiobook YA Summer reading program. Nicely narrated by Nicola Barber. As Jack-the-Ripper stories go this was a fun one. :-) ( )

So, yeah, where's the second book now? I need it like a grindylow needs water! ( )

Guilty pleasure, but such a good one.

Like Mallory Towers meets Poe meets Judy Blume. ( )