Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper, #1) by Kerri Maniscalco, James Patterson
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery (YA)
Pages: 326
Goodreads
Presented by James Patterson's new children's imprint, this deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion...
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.
Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.
The story's shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling, #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.
This is the second book I finished this year and I am so glad I loved it (that would have been very disappointing if I had 2 low star reads at the beginning of the year).
This had a bit of a slow start. I put it down for a couple of days because I was a tad bored with it – but when I finally picked it up again and stuck it out through the boring bits, it really picked up.
I guessed who was the killer very early in the story. I don’t think it’s super obvious, I just watch too many mysteries and horrors so I could easily figure it out. Even so, I was still intrigued and loved the story.
The characters were all well-developed but left plenty of mystery throughout (especially Thomas). Thomas was my favorite – he reminded me of Sherlock Holmes so much. I loved the scenes where he explained how he got to the conclusion he got to (just like Sherlock). I also enjoyed the main character, Audrey Rose. However, I did have a bit of an issue with her.
There is a lot of feminist themes to this book. It’s understandable to have the MC mention how ridiculous it is that women are restricted in what their interests can be – especially given this book takes place in the late 1800’s. What irritated me was that on almost every other page she made a comment about how she can do anything she wants…but then when something bad happened she would lose all that bravado. It was disappointing because I wanted her to actually be able to do the man’s job without the man having to coddle her when she cried or threw up at the sight of blood.
Something I did like was the slow-burn romance. I’m glad that there wasn’t actually too much of a romance for most of the book. However, and this is a spoiler, I didn’t like: View Spoiler »
Long story short, this was such a good book. It had mystery, a pretty good female MC, a slow burn romance, and one of my new favorite YA book characters. I loved it so much, I immediately bought the second book and can’t wait to start that one!
Have you read this? What are your thoughts? Do you have any other recommendations for books similar to this one (because I loved it so much I want to read more in the genre)?
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| Overall: | 5 / 5 |
19 Comments
I still haven’t read this, although I don’t know why, because everyone seems to love it! Hopefully soon! Great review!
I definitely recommend it if you like mysteries!
I loved this book!!
I have the second one to read which I can’t wait for and the third one is out this year 🙂
YESSSS. I need to read the second one before the third!
glad you enjoyed it molly! i’m really interested in it because it’s a jack the ripper story, however i also have heard amazing things about audrey 🙂
I hope you like it if you get to it 🙂
Oh yay, I’m so glad you liked this one! I also enjoyed it, and I LOVED the sequel. Thomas Cresswell is my faaaaaavorite.
Thats so good to hear! I can’t wait to read the sequel!
Aghhh I don’t know why I haven’t picked this book up yet! I know it’s one I’d love. Maybe I’ll get to it one day. I’m so glad to hear you loved it! There’s so much hype for it!
I hope you like it when/if you do!
Glad you enjoyed this one. I bought this after seeing a good review on another blog but I’ve not actually read it yet. It’s good to hear that even though you guessed the killer it wasn’t obvious. I hate when mysteries are too predictable. I can’t wait to check this one out.
I hope you like it and don’t find it TOO predictable!
Glad to hear you liked this one! Hoping I can finish it soon. I’m only a couple chapters in!
Have you finished!?
I’ve seen this around so much but I never thought it might be something I’d be into tbh but it sounds good! (btw, I kind of enjoyed Wintersong? Shocking, I know!)
I thought the same thing with this book but the hype made me try it haha I’m glad I liked this one (as opposed to wintersong haha)
I’ve been meaning to read this book for months! I even read the sample on my nook and was very much invested from the word go, so why I haven’t is a mystery. However, I can totally understand why the Main Character being all “I’m just as good as men are!” and the writer falling back on the old, tired cliche of her being delicate when she should be strong is frustrating. I suspect this will bug me as well.
In better news: my birthday is in 12 days and I certainly plan to purchase both this and Nnendi Okafore’s Binti series. And, of course, a new release so I’m not so behind on my book blogging game.
AH HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY! I hope you enjoy this one when you read it! The MC being delicate when I didn’t want her to be may just be a personal issue I had with the book as I haven’t really seen other reviews that say that >.< So maybe it won't bother you too much! Fingers crossed :)
Although you’ve said a couple of time that you don’t read a lot of mystery or thriller, I’ve been enjoying all your reviews in the genre.
Would you say that as long as the characters and relationships are strong, you’re more interested in these different book categories?