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Denise & Jenny



A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong

Hi!
I will start this tonight.

Already 10pm here, so I probably won't get around to starting tonight anymore. Good to go tomorrow though! :)

I just started tonight. I got distracted by another book yesterday. It happens.

The beginning is quick, and pretty good. I am through chapter 6.
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I can't imagine being strangled, first off, and then waking up in a different century, in a different body? Holy shit! Plus, I hate cleaning, so I would not do well as a maid.
The last time I went to Edinburgh, I stayed in an apartment in a close off the Royal Mile. It was dark, and it didn't have many people walking by, and at times it was creepy as hell. Also very cool. Especially one night when there was a ton of fog, and I couldn't see three feet in front of me. I want to go back again. I almost took one of those murder tours at night, but I ended up not leaving the bar in tome to get to the start of it. Oh well.

Anyway, I am not hating this story so far. The characters might end up being fun. I like that her beau is not maybe the love interest that the story will give us, as they had a fight or something.
I wonder if she will solve the strangling case with the Doctor, and make it back home. The fact that she is missing her nan's last moments is harsh, but maybe they will resolve it somehow.

Anyway. First thoughts.
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I've read the first five chapters so far - figured I'd go ahead and open your spoiler tag anyway, since there probably isn't all that much to be spoiled yet.

Mallory is a lot more chill about this whole situation than I would be, that's for sure! I also hate cleaning, and I do it for a living... definitely wouldn't want to be stuck in that job in Victorian times. I wonder how long she's going to put up with it and the constant demands, especially as she can't exactly get a lot of investigating done while stuck dusting and scrubbing all day.

I loved Edinburgh! Definitely on my list of cities to visit again. So many interesting, quirky, creepy little corners... it's a great setting for a book and part of what attracted me to this one.

Have you been to the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe? A hundred years ago I was in a small theater company, and we performed at the Fringe two years running. It was so much fun. The last time I was there was off season, but I need to go to the Festival again just as a civilian. I missed too many shows being on stage. But, I did get to see some amazing plays at the big theaters as well. I got to see Alan Rickman, and Kenneth Branagh, and Emma Thompson and other big names. But I still haven't seen the Tattoo at the Castle. So many reasons to go back.

I read just a few chapters tonight, and am moving on to finish something else.
Read to chapter 9.
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I am fascinated with forensic science when it is fiction. I don't think I would have the stomach for it in real life.
The one time I saw a cadaver was in a high school science class. We visited the University medical school, and saw a body that was one used for anatomy class. I was interested, and not freaked out, but this was not a fresh cadaver. It was cool that I got to see the vocal chords. I was taking voice lessons at the time, and seeing that was neat. Not a fan of the smell of formaldehyde.

I like the fact that she gets to help the doc out a bit, and I wonder if that is what she will be doing for the rest of the book, as I doubt she will just magically jump back to her own time by visiting the alley. I wonder if she will help uncover the baddie, and her life gets threatened again, and that's when she jumps back. If she does.
It will also be interesting to see how the doc is regarded in this society. I forgot that she noticed that he is a brown-skinned man. She mentions it again though. And, what is with her past? Well, not hers, but the actual maid's past? Makes me wonder what is going on in modern times in the story.
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Jenny wrote: "Have you been to the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe? A hundred years ago I was in a small theater company, and we performed at the Fringe two years running. It was so much fun. The last time I w..."

I haven't - only been to Edinburgh that one time with my mother, whose English really wouldn't have been up to getting much out of it at the time. Would love to some day, though. Your experience sounds amazing!

Read through chapter 9 last night, things are getting more interesting now that she's getting to do some investigating.

Catriona sure does seem to have a colourful past, with new information about it popping up all the time. I wonder if we'll actually get to see her and Mallory meeting face to face somehow other than the brief glimpse Mallory got at the beginning? We don't really know anything about how the time travel / bodyswitching thing works yet, so who knows. Would definitely love to see what's happening in present day - is Catriona also stuck in Mallory's body?

Seeing the Victorian era specifically through a modern Western woman's eyes who subjectively compares it to her present day values rather than an objective historian's view is really interesting, gives a different perspective. She does keep slipping up in trying to maintain her cover, though... The doctor has definitely noticed something's up that can't quite be explained by a bump on the head.

Through chapter 23.
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Well, there is a lot to unpack. First, the fact that Duncan is such an absent minded professor that he allows Mallory to assist and offer advice and suggestions seems a little off. If is explained away, but still.
The more we learn about the real Catriona makes me want to slap her. I like the fact that Duncan's sister is a good soul that tries to help the more unfortunate like Alice, and to begin with at least, Cat. But, Cat is not worth her time.
Then, another attack!!!! The fact that the attacker may be the modern day strangler come through the time portal (or whatever) is a weird one. Absolutely no clue how she will deal with that one.
Then, jail, and the way Duncan is treated again makes me want to slap people. I really hope the sister believes Mallory's story and helps her figure it out. My guess is that she will.
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I am enjoying this more than I thought I would. It is unbelievable, but in a fun way.

I've only made it to chapter 16 so far, so I've got a bit of catching up to do before I look behind your spoiler tag. Today, though!

Okay, finished chapter 23 just now. There's a lot of stuff going on - and yep, definitely a lot of things that are making me want to slap people.
Real Cat sure seems to be a piece of work - the more we learn, the worse it gets. At this point, one can only hope she's not running around in present day Edinburgh in Mallory's body, who knows what mayhem she might cause! Of course, it's also possible that present day Mallory didn't survive the attack... don't think anyone's considered that possibility yet.
Isla is a really interesting character (can I have a regular historical mystery without supernatural elements featuring her as protagonist please?). I'm not surprised that she saw through the rather flimsy construct of lies Mallory has been spinning to try to explain away Cat's changed behaviour. She seems both smart and openminded enough to not immediately discount the possibility that Cat/Mallory's wild story could be true... definitely an asset for Mallory in figuring this whole thing out.

Ooh! Very good point that Mallory may have not survived. I want her to be able to get home, but at this point, I want her to be able to take a couple of people with her.

I just finished it. All I am going to say right now, until you are done as well, is that I hope the next story is also on KU.

I'm done!

With Mallory confiding her secret to Gray and the detective as well as Isla by the end, it feels like this first book was really just the prologue - really looking forward to seeing them try to solve a murder while actually being able to use Mallory's unique (for this time period) insights!

Ok. Do you have a theory on why the killer changed back to the real person when he was dying? Do you think that is the end of the serial killer, or did he go back to the future? Was he living in the future for the same time few weeks, or is it a weird time travel thing? Or, was he, and is Catriona, just nowhere?

Time travel always messes with my mind when there are paradoxes and the like, but this switching places thing might be even worse.

My guess is that the 1800s people did not inhabit the 2000s bodies. I think they would not have done well trying to fit into the future, and would have ended up in jail or an asylum. Where they went though, I have no thoughts on.

That's kind of the question - Mallory now assumes that because Findlay came back to his body right before he died, it means Catriona dying would send her back to the future, but we don't actually know that. If her theory holds, the killer would have been returned to the future when the body died. We have no idea what's happening there while she's traipsing around the 1800s.


Maybe time doesn't move the same on both sides of the rip (or whatever it actually is) and while Mallory's soul or whatever you wanna call it is having adventures for days or weeks on the future side only a moment has passed and she'll come back to the moment she left, her body only having blacked out for a moment? And she'll promptly find herself back having to deal with the killer she thought was quite literally history.