The Madness Underneath Review

Photo from Goodreads

Title: The Madness Underneath

Author: Maureen Johnson

Published: February 26th, 2013 by Putnam

Plot Summary from Goodreads:

After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Devereaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance to get back to her friends. But Rory’s brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she’s become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades—the city’s secret ghost-fighting police—are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it’s too late.

Review:

Maybe because I read this one right after reading the first book in this series, but this one felt a lot shorter than the first one. In fact, I just looked at my copies of both these books and this one is a little less than 100 pages shorter than the first. Well, that explains it. I do feel like less happened in it.

I feel like this book is divided into two parts. The first half is more related to what happened in the first book and the second half felt like it was setting up for the final book (release date not until 2014 =[ ). And while I am still really upset about the ending, I also felt this book went from not much happening to everything happening at once. 

There were several new characters introduced, and not to give too much away but I was suspicious about a few of them from the start. And while I would like more of an explanation on their motives, I'm looking forward to seeing them again in the final book. 

I adored Rory in the first book, but in this one, she got on my nerves a little bit. She had been through a lot in the first book, and I think she was still recovering in this book and dealing with a lot of angst. And while angst is generally a no-no in young adult fiction, I think this a time where angst was accurately depicted. Teenage years are full of angst, especially if you're dealing with extraordinary things. Just ask Harry Potter. 

Overall, while I didn't love this book as much as I loved the first book, I did really like it and I will definitely be reading the last one when it comes out! 

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