Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1)

Usually me + hyped-up YA novel = crushing disappointment. But how could I hate a book that could be summed up as Wednesday Addams and Sherlock Holmes have guarded flirtation over forensic science lab? I mean, that\’s just ace. STALKING JACK THE RIPPER begins literally with the heroine arms deep in viscera, and continues in that vein (pun sort of intended). Audrey Rose is the daughter of the wealthy British upperclass and is expected to sit down and have teas and not pal around with her creepy uncle in his lab full of dead people. But dead people have way more appeal to her than dresses or tea – especially when she meets a boy named Thomas who shares her passion for corpses and deductive reasoning. Said reasoning comes into handy when news of a serial killer stalking the London streets hit the presses. The killer in question is, of course, Jack the Ripper, and he\’s mutilating the bodies of dead women in such a grotesque fashion that even Audrey Rose, girl with the self-professed constitution of steel, feels like losing her lunch and swooning dead away. As more and more clues come to light, she\’s faced with the grim realization that the killer might be someone she knows. Sometimes, deductions lead you down paths better left untrod. So I did not hate this book like I expected (I do not have a good history with hyped-up YA). I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It reminded me of Barry Lyga\’s Jasper Dent series. For 3/4 of the book I was sucked in and even found myself being amused by the burgeoning relationship between Thomas and Audrey (even if I personally found the love interest to be pedantic and annoying). I loved that this is a book aimed at girls that doesn\’t sugarcoat or tiptoe around unpleasant things. I appreciated the research that went into this and the photos (real photos!) inserted into the book. My problems with the book mostly arose in the last 1/4, which is where the author writes a lazy attempt at a love triangle that goes nowhere, and one hell of a sharp-jumping ending that just about ruined the book for me. What the actual fresh hell was that. WHAT THE FRESH HELL WAS THAT. It was way too weird and about 150 kinds of nope. I am 99.9% sure I must deduct a star for that. (For those of you who are \”in the know,\” I\’m not deducting for grotesqueness but because \”it\” felt ridiculous and unrealistic and lame, just FYI.) Also yes, the heroine is a Special Specialton who is praised repeatedly by being told that she\’s as good as a man (i.e. not like other girls) and allowed to do things that would get her tossed into a sanitarium by other folks of the era, including wearing pants, performing dissections, and wandering around with boys sans escort. Yes, it is annoying, but I just tried to ignore it. It\’s the only way. STALKING JACK THE RIPPER did what it was supposed to do; it entertained me. But it also had a number of flaws (THAT ENDING). I\’m curious to see where the story it goes from here – as long as the author keeps well away from the shark tank. 3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

Stalking Jack the Ripper was everything and more. It\’s the type of book that gives a reader a funk that lasts for days. At least, it happened to me. First off, I want to praise the author\’s style. It pulls you in, from the very first page. It\’s rich and detailed, but not cluttered. It shows the author has done research before- and during writing this story. Plus, I know a thing or two about certain things mentioned in the book because I happen to have a best friend that went to med school. Moving along. Secondly, the heroine. Audrey Rose is a girl after my own heart. She\’s smart and stubborn and strong. She doesn\’t care for society and its idea of how a \’proper lady\’ should behave or what she should do. She doesn\’t care about getting married or having babies. All she wants is to assists her uncle, who happens to be a doctor. She wants to learn from him, even when everything and everyone is against it and her. I rarely come across such an awesome heroine, nowadays. The book, the story, is darker. As I said, it\’s detailed so even the gruesome scenes are written down without being sugarcoated. After all, it tells a version of the story we\’ve all heard and know of. Jack the Ripper. An unknown man that killed prostitutes. I loved the story Ms. Maniscalco has woven around this dark part of history. I love how she made all the characters fit in, including our mysterious and yummy hero, Thomas. By the way, I loved their back-and-forth, it cracked me up. I loved that this story has it all. It has feels. The climax broke my heart and, even though I\’ve had a hunch about who Jack the Ripper could be, I kept hoping I was wrong. This has made the top of my fave books list – of all time – and I cannot wait to get my hands on Hunting Prince Dracula, for more Audrey Rose & Thomas adventures! Definite reread, definite 5+++ star-rating.

I actually found PhantomRins art work for this book before I had ever heard of the book, and it was so gorgeous that I had to see what was so awesome about it that it deserved such gorgeous fan art. Well, I looked it up and the blurb on the back was absolutely tantalizing. How could this girl be the girl that loved the Ripper? Well, this book kept me guessing as to the culprit until the grand finale and it was jaw-dropping! First, let me tell you of the characters. Our MC is the lovely, intelligent, and ambitious Audrey Rose Wadsworth, lady of Londons high society. Shes sneakily studying with her uncle, Dr. Jonathan Wadsworth the practice of forensic science, dissections and all. This, of course, is not to the liking of her father Edmund or her brother Nathaniel who both think its improper for any lady, especially one of her status. Then theres the clever, Holmesian assistant to Dr. Wadsworth, Thomas Cresswell. Hes a skilled assistant and is clearly interested in Audrey Rose for more than just her intelligence, though she doesnt care to admit that she reciprocates. These are the main players in this literary game of CLUE, though we know where the body is and what weapon was likely used, its the WHO and the WHY that no one can figure out. As an assistant to her uncle, Audrey Rose is drawn in to the Ripper, or Leather Apron, investigations in a very close-up way. Shes examining these poor, butchered women firsthand and everyone from the police to her family look at her askance, as if she herself is involved in something heinous for breaking societys rules. Admittedly, her involvement probably wouldnt have happened in this era, but it sure makes for a story that has such an element of empowerment.

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco is a dark, gripping story that I never wanted to end. Needless to say, I\’ve been having trouble keeping on top of my TBR lately with university taking over my life and all, so I\’ve been super picky with my reads lately. If something doesn\’t pull me in straight away, I set it aside to come back to sometime in the future when I have less essays to write and more time to read. That being said, it physically pained me to put down Stalking Jack the Ripper whenever I had to set it aside to get some work done. It was gripping from the very first page and even when I wasn\’t reading it, I couldn\’t stop thinking about it. The story follows young Audrey Rose who secretly apprentices under her Uncle who\’s a mortician, despite her father\’s disapproval. In a time when girls were taught that the only place for them was the home and tea parties, Audrey is going against societal norms to pursue a gruesome side of science: cutting corpses open. She helps her Uncle conduct postmortems which is where she meets the arrogant but intelligent Thomas Cresswell aka the new love of my life. Imagine a young, extremely flirty Sherlock and you have Thomas. The Sherlock to Audrey\’s Watson. They make such a fantastic team and seeing them attempt to solve the Ripper\’s murders together, not to mention the angsty banter and both romantic and sexual tension that fills the air whenever they\’re in the same room. I ship them so hard. I could\’ve done with a little more… intimacy though but I guess it was the Victorian era where it was improper to even be alone in a room with a guy, meh. (Edit: I just found out this is a trilogy so I\’m 100% now okay with the slowburn). Besides the characters, I have so many more things I loved about this book. The photos and the incorporation of things like an image of Jack the Ripper\’s letter added such authenticity to the story and made it even darker. I never knew when I\’d be flipping a page only to find something gruesome staring back at me. Kerri takes something that most of us find grossly fascinating (I mean, that explains why the Ripper case is so infamous) and gives us a sense of closure. We get to go on this mysteriously dark and thrilling adventure and we actually get answers at the end. I found myself rushing to finish so I could confirm my suspicions but feeling utterly conflicted because I also didn\’t want it to end. As the victims started piling up and we were handed a bunch of suspects, I found myself pulling my Sherlock hat on, fully invested in the investigation. One more thing I have to make very clear: I LOVE Audrey Rose. I really do. She has definitely joined my list of favourite MCs/protagonists, she\’s fiesty and stubborn and brave in a time that teaches girls they need to be the complete opposite. Even when her father threatens to toss her out onto the streets, she continues to pursue science and stands up to him – which is one of my favourite scenes in the book. Overall, I think I\’ve found a new favourite book. I guessed the culprit before the big reveal but that didn\’t matter a bit to me because I was doubting myself the entire time and the entire back story and plot was just magnificently done. I can\’t wait to read more books by Kerri Maniscalco and I just found out that this is a trilogy rather than a standalone so I can\’t wait!

Stalking Jack The Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco Title: Stalking Jack The Ripper Author: Kerri Maniscalco First Published: May \’18 Publisher: Little Brown US Genre: #Young Adult #Horror #Mystery #Thriller Pages: 360 Price on Amazon: Paperback 7.72 Kindle: 3.49 ISBN: 1538761181 Stalking Jack The Ripper is based on the heinous crimes of Jack The Ripper in Whitechapel, London. Audrey goes against her father\’s wishes and takes up an apprenticeship under her uncle in his laboratory to study forensic medicine. When their work leads them to work a string of terrible murders, Audrey is dragged into the search for an answer which leads her a little to close to home. I was excited to read this book, it sounded good and I do love stories about Jack The Ripper. Unfortunately, this book was very slow and I found the more I read, I didn\’t really have a clue what was going on. I found it to be a bit all over the place. I was about 15 chapters in and no idea what the storyline was. I found Audrey to be a really annoying and unrealistic character. Making it even harder for me to enjoy the book. So I did eventually give up on this book and I don\’t think I will be going back to it. Rating – One out of Five Stars Would I Read Again? – No Would I Recommend? – No Would I read other books by the same author? – Yes Reviews for this book can be found on: Amazon (UK) under Lu\’s Reviews Goodreads, Net Galley (If a NetGalley Book) My Blogs at readingbeyondobsession Links to this review can be found at: Twitter: @lusreviews Facebook: @lucyluisbookreviews Instagram: lucyluisreviews

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