Monday 2 March 2020

The Rip By Mark Brandi | Book Review


Today I'm going to be taking part in the blog tour, for The Rip by Mark Brandi which was kindly sent to me by Legend Press*. This was a really powerful adult contemporary which deals with some really important issues. I really enjoyed this book and I definitely think others should give it a read.




What is The Rip about? 

A young woman living on the street has to keep her wits about her. Or her friends.... but when the drugs kick in that can be hard.

Anton has been looking out for her. She was safe with him. But then Steve came along.

He had something over Anton. Must have. But he had a flat they could crash in. And gear in his pocket. And she can't stop thinking about it. A good hit makes everything all right.

But the flat smells weird.
There's a lock on Steve's bedroom door.
And the guy is intense.

The problem is, sometimes you just don't know you are in too deep, until you are drowning


What did I like about The Rip:

I really enjoyed this book. I particularly like the topics it covered in such a sensitive but well done way. This book focuses on homelessness and drugs particularly. I thought it was really interesting and I think the author did a great job in dealing with the difficult topics. 

The writing style was quite engaging and it was very easy to read. The writing was very simplistic but I think that made the story more believable and accurate, given the academic ability of the main character. 

I was glad to see that the main character was a woman. I think it is easy to fall into the trap of writing quite a stereotypical homeless character in fiction and overlook the fact that a lot of woman also are homeless. I'm glad this book was not stereotypical or cliche in that way. 

It was very short, so it was a quick read. It was really interesting. Clearly the author did a lot of research on the subject. It was very well done.

What did I not like about The Rip:

I didn't really have any issues with this book. I have seen in some places it being described as 'urban crime' personally I would say it is more adult contemporary which covers a dark subject. I wouldn't describe it as crime, as I personally don't think the mystery was that central to the plot. Other than that, I think this is a very interesting read.



Who do I recommend The Rip to:

Everyone! If you read a lot of contemporary, thrillers or really any genre, I think you'll like this book. I think it is a very universal book that could be enjoyed by many.

However, I would add that there are trigger warnings for homelessness, drugs, rape, murder, suicide and prostitution. If any of those topics you find challenging to read, you may want to go into this book with caution. 

Overall thoughts:

Overall, I thought this was a really interesting read. It covered the topic of homelessness really well, I definitely learnt a lot from reading this book. If you are looking for a dark, quick to read adult contemporary, I think you'll really enjoy this book.

The Rip comes out: 17th Feb
Buy a copy HERE

Thanks for reading, as always X

*This book was sent to me for free, however, all opinions are my own and I'm not being paid to write this review. 
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