Too Long

I loved the premise of Ripped, by Shelley Dickson Carr, and I enjoyed all of the characters (though it was easy to guess who Jack The Ripper was in this novel).

It was fun to learn a bit about Cockney Slang, and to learn more about the Victorian age.
I also enjoyed picturing conversations between Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker.
Katie, Toby and Collin were interesting in both the Victorian era, and in the present day. Katie's desire to change the past, and perhaps to solve the Ripper murders is, again, an interesting premise.

I fear though the novel was much too long. The resolution could have drawn to a close at about 3/4 of the length of this novel or perhaps even half. Even my most avid YA readers would probably give up on this, due to its' length. Not because they don't enjoy long novels, but this one just doesn't develop...the middle of the book goes on and on and on, without truly adding to the issues of time-travel, the solution to the Ripper murders, or Katie learning more about how to fit in, in the Victorian era.

At times I also thought there were either some gaps, or some editing glitches with continuity...perhaps this was due to the novel's length and my despair at wanting the resolution to appear sooner than it did.

All of this being said, the author does have some talent, and I will give a second story a chance.