readitsomewhere

2.5 stars. So much about this book seems like it will be awesome. Jack the Ripper! He's iconic and badass and sociopathic and incredibly scary. The setting - right in the middle of London, Jack the Ripper territory, an old church and housing unit now a boarding school. Girl can see GHOSTs. Cute British boys. But none of it holds up very well. The suspense is trite. The romance is non-existent (there was not one moment where I was interested in her budding relationship). There was one really interesting character, Stephen, whose life -both past and present- seemed mysterious, but we don't get enough. The ending works, however, in that it leaves it open for another book. But even that seems trite and overused. Even the title hints at something more sinister, something spookier than what you get.What did I LIKE? The settings were described in great detail. I felt like I was there. I wanted to be Rory in that she got this fabulous opportunity to study in London and live there. Like I said, I liked the premise. I enjoyed the more historical aspects of the book that delved into the lore around Jack the Ripper, but even that didn't deliver. Maybe it's because I just read The Historian, which has a similar ghost-hunt plot, but REALLY REALLY brought the lore and historicity of Dracula to the page. What I learned about Jack the Ripper in this book could have been relegated to a 7th grade report. I felt like I took a graduate class of Vlad Tepes when I finished The Historian. All in all, I wanted to like this a lot, and I was disappointed that it was so pedestrian.