Chelsea Humphrey

Oh boy. Please don't come after me, but y'all.... I did not play well with this one. I'm not going to hash out everything here, because I'm clearly in the minority, and also because you can read all of my similar thoughts on Jamieson's review HERE. To sum it up, the whodunnit was predictable from the first moment the villain was introduced on page, none of the interesting factors, such as Audrey's biracial heritage, were explored beyond inclusion for mere cosmetic detail, and DEAR GOD I WAS BORED. I've heard so much about people adoring Thomas Cresswell, but he didn't feel any different than a carbon copy of the many book boyfriends that precede him in other series, minus the fact that he is thrown into the Victorian era rather than modern day. I hate that I didn't love this, but I also feel like it's best for me to stop with the series here, instead of forcing myself to continue on just because these books have worked so well for other readers. If you enjoy YA historical romance, this one may work well for you.

Katerina

Two words. Thomas Cresswell. Alright, of course there will be more words, I just needed to give you a proper motivation to grab this extraordinary book, and an obnoxiously yet damnably brilliant British boy seemed like a good idea. Now that I have your attention, let's move on, shall we? “One taste of warm blood is never enough, Miss Wadsworth.” Jack the Ripper. The Whitechapel Murderer. Leather Apron. Whatever you call him, he's still the same; a monster that lingered in the shadows, bathed in blood and gore and terrorized London with his brutality and depravity. There are numerous theories about his identity, but none of them was confirmed. And so, Kerri Maniscalco crafted her own tale. A tale of heroes and villains. “There’s nothing better than a little danger dashed with some romance.” Audrey Rose Wadsworth was not a proper lady. She chose science over blind faith, and spent her afternoons cutting up dead bodies rather than taking her tea with actual proper ladies, discussing eligible bachelors and gowns. Her dark curiosity was never satisfied, so she cut and stitched and cut and stitched, until one day the mutilated body of a prostitute shook her to the core. And it was not the last. Assisted by an insufferable mortuary student, she made the solution of these horrible crimes her top priority, while her family was falling apart and Jack the Ripper was always one step ahead, solidifying his reign of terror. But sometimes answers can do more damage than good. “Fear is a hungry beast. The more you feed it, the more it grows.” Stalking Jack the Ripper was macabre. Gruesome. Ghastly. Morbidly fascinating. The descriptions could be so graphic, that bile rised up my throat. The ambience so eerie, I couldn't suppress my shivers. The mystery so tangible, my heart bet frantically in my chest. Kerri Maniscalco's palette contained gloomy colours, grey for the mist that covered London, black for the shadows that hid the Ripper's work, mixed wit

April

THE REVIEW IS POSTED *this review fills with minor spoiler. Read at your own risk.* "Roses have both petals and thorns, my dark flower. You needn't believe something weak because it appears deli- cate. Show the world your bravery." Wow. I'm so freaking disappointed with this book. Look, I didn't even have high expectation toward the book, because I know my expectations toward books often don't end up well. So I might as well not to expect anything, but the things is, it's really hard not to expect anything when this book sounded so good and oh my God, the cover's so pretty! and yeah, I expected good things from this book. But the book didn't meet my not-so-high-expectation. so here are the problems I have with this book. Audrey Rose Wadsworth I could not feel any connection between me and her. Like at all. In my opinion, she was just so boring and flat character. Oh and she annoyed me too. Am I missing out something or is she just an annoying person? she felt responsible for something that wasn't her fault. Somehow, some way, I was responsible for this man's death. So if I could talk to her directly I would say, " Are you kidding me? how can you responsible for that man's death? that is not your responsibility, Audrey Rose. That is the killer's responsibility. That's the killer's fault." that also made me think, if I accidently fell from the staircase or slipped on the floor, would she feel responsible for not saving me or preventing it from happening? I don't know whether I'm missing out something about this or she's just an annoying person. The Romance Honestly, I don't know what to say about about the romance besides boring and lack of the that romance spark. In my opinion, the romance was rushed and it made me think like " Wait ... what is happening?!?" when they were about to kiss. I'm not saying it's insta love, because in my opinion, it's certainly not an insta love, but the romance happened too fast and it was rushed. I thi

Hailey (Hailey in Bookland)

The ShortActual rating: 4.5* Perfect for fans of: The Diviners by Libba Bray, A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro, Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas, Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody (or if you've already read this and enjoyed it, you might like these!)Writing: 4.5 starsCharacters: 4.5 stars Plot: 4 starsOriginality: 5 stars(All out of 5 stars)The LongThis was sooo good! I had heard such great things about this book, but knowing how mysteries are hit or miss with me, I was extremely skeptical. What I expected:A romance heavy mystery where I would be able to tell who was the culprit after one chapter (at most).What I got:A scientific approach to the infamous whodunnit' story of Jack the Ripper, featuring a strong heroine with a deep dedication to her forensic studies, constantly challenging what society deems is proper. (With just the right amount of romance, of course!)I listened to the audiobook, which was awesome (I've already started the 2nd one). Despite the fact that I went the audiobook route, I still looked at the photos scattered throughout the story. They really enhanced the reading experience, making it feel like I was gathering bits of evidence alongside Audrey Rose as the story goes on. The forensics that went into this story are where I believe it really stands out. As previously mentioned, I'm not a huge mystery fan so I don't have much authority on the matter, but this was one of the most unique YA mysteries I've ever read. You can tell the author took care not only to research her subject, Jack the Ripper, but also the nature of forensics as a whole. The anatomical descriptions painted grotesque pictures in my mind, bringing the victims mutilated state to life (please forgive the terrible pun but I am weak willed in the face of bad jokes). Audrey Rose's position as a young woman in the Victorian era was an important aspect of the story as well. As a proper high society female, she is constantly underestimated and disrespected b

megs_bookrack

**3.5-stars rounded up** Stalking Jack the Ripper, the first installment of the series of the same name, is a gripping YA Mystery set in Victorian London. From the start, I was drawn to the intrepid protagonist, Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her charming friend, Thomas Cresswell, isn't bad either! Audrey Rose is a great character, although at times, I'll admit, she's a little flat. The idea behind her is really one I can get behind, however. A young lady who doesn't buckle under the pressures of conventional society. We stan. Audrey Rose wants to use her mind and more specifically, she wants to use it to study forensic medicine and thusly, crime. She apprentices with her Uncle, which they have to keep secret from her father and the rest of the world. Her Uncle teaches at a local college, as well as consults with the local law enforcement on violent crimes. When the Jack the Ripper killings begin, the bodies are brought to his laboratory to be examined. Due to that, Audrey Rose becomes interested and tangentially involved with the case. It is during this early stage of the investigation that she first meets Thomas and a sort of hate-to-love relationship begins. This is one of my favorite tropes, so I was absolutely down for that. The banter between them is really sweet and Thomas stole my heart right from the start. A Victorian London setting is one of my favorites, but for me this didn't really feel that way. I felt like it could have been set anywhere. The atmosphere wasn't as rich as I hoped it would be. Really, that's my only gripe with this book. Well, that and the fact that I felt certain sections dragged a bit or were slightly unnecessary. Overall, I thought the mystery was fun and I did like the risky situations that Audrey Rose put herself in. I definitely plan to continue on with the series. In fact, the last page of this book probably bumped my star rating a half star. I believe the next book features the legend of Dracula, so, totally my aesthetic!

Kerri

5/23/18 Update:JIMMY Books is giving away TWENTY copies of the mass market paperback that feature the MEETING THOMAS CRESSWELL novella right now on GR. Go forth and enter, friends!8/27/17 UpdateThere's a special one day promotion going on where you can get SJTR for $1.99! (Check online retailers to snag a copy.) Ends tonight at midnight!xoxo****4/6/17 updatei forgot to include the exclusive 1st chapter excerpt from SJTR book #2 (aka Hunting Prince Dracula) here!***update***For those who are interested, the first chapter is up on Entertainment Weekly. Enjoy!!! <333 am THRILLED to share these characters with all of you, dear readers and friends. my main character, Audrey Rose, is a kick-butt sort of girl, one who refuses to fit into the corseted mold society places on her, choosing to carve her own way in the world instead. she fights for these women's stories to be heard after they were silenced forever. i hope you fall in love with her (and her infuriating partner-in-crime, Thomas) the same way i have. Fall 2016, here we come! xoxoxo

Kayla Dawn

1,5* - DNF at 40ish% because this sucks.Not giving it 1 star because the idea had potential and tbh it might have gotten better if I'd continue to read. But I don't want to.I was pretty sure I knew who the Ripper was and since I didn't want to continue I skipped to the end and SURPRISE.... I was right. Such a cheap "plot twist". This book could've been really good if the love story wasn't as cringy and the love interest wasn't as rude, unlikable and creepy. Seriously he is awful (He might evolve during the rest of this book but I really don't care). Being an asshole is not cool nor attractive please stoppppStupid me bought book 2 already because I was so sure I would like this.. Meh. *Potential spoiler ahead*To be fair, I definitely had the wrong expectations for this one. I thought it would be this dark thriller type of book where the protagonist actually falls in love with Jack the Ripper while KNOWING that he is the one who murders all these people. That would've been really interesting!

Natalie Monroe

"Lord help the girl he set those eyes for good. His boyish vulnerability was a weapon, powerful and disarming. I was thankful I wasn't the the kind of girl to lose my mind over a handsome face." I originally gave this two stars, but the more I thought about it, the more pissed off I felt. Stalking Jack the Ripper is what happens if you drop a girl with 21st century "feminist" ideas in the Victorian era. Everything about Audrey Rose, from her speech to her actions, screams 2016. "I had no idea my innards were composed of cotton and kittens, while yours were filled with steel and steam-driven parts." Notice I put quotation marks around "feminist." Because this book is not feminist. Sure, it sells itself as such with a headstrong heroine with a smart mouth and an obsession with the macabre (which I enjoyed, to its credit), but it's lazy feminism. It's Julie Kagawa feminism or Kristin Cashore feminism. Audrey Rose is the only capable woman in the book. Everyone else is either on Team Evil, like her stuffy aunt and the sharp-tongued girls who only dream of serving their husband at the tea party, or utterly forgettable like her cousin. I finished this book this afternoon and I can't even recall her name. That's how insubstantial she is. Just know that she's the Fun Best Friend, the kind that likes gossiping, clothes and sneaking off to make out with boys. In contrast, the men play much bigger roles. There's Thomas Cresswell, her brother Nathaniel, her father, her uncle, the policeman, and the psychic who's wearing a baggy shirt with the words, "Fucking huge plot device" on it. They all play crucial roles in the narrative, and not just as a murdered prostitute. By casting Audrey Rose against this background of intelligent useful men and unmemorable worthless women, you're basically saying, "She's not like other girls. She's as good as a man," which I don't need to tell you is incredibly insulting. Why must value be measured in masculine terms? Why can't a woman be b

Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin

Damn it all! If every time I decided to have a snack, I picked up this book and it would be at a morbidly, graphic part of the book! Hence, said snacking ceased to exist!

Tucker (TuckerTheReader)

➵ Stalking Jack the Ripper (#1) - ★★★★★ ➵ Hunting Prince Dracula (#2) - ★★★★★ ➵ Escaping from Houdini (#3) - ★★★★★ ➵ Capturing the Devil (#4) - ★★★★★ [10/08/2019] - I got my school bookclub to chose this book as their monthly pick! I'M AN INFLUENCER GUYS ************* [9/15/2019] - [Credit: Kerri Maniscalco] HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!! ********** [9/10/2019] - POP QUIZ! Anybody recognize this voice? ********** I read this stupendous novel nearly a year ago and I was super excited to re-read it. It was amazing BUT I almost felt like I was reading a different book. The overall book felt the same but the glaring detail I kept noticing was the ridiculous feminism being constantly shoved down my throat. Listen, I am 100% all for empowering young girls and women in general but it was so cheesy and cliche. As the world-famous emma mentioned in her amazing (but also heartbreaking) review there was way too much focus on feminism and not conforming to society's rules which made the book a little less enjoyable. Fortunately, that went away at the halfway point and the book was just as good, if not better as I remembered ****************** Five stars. Of course. I listened to the entire thing while at DC. No, I don't have pictures because I was tired, hungry and dehydrated. ****************** Let the yearly re-read commence!!!!! ****************** September is coming. I will be doing my yearly re-read and re-review of my all time fave! ****************** HOLY SH*T! HOLY SH*T! HOLLLYYYYY SH****TTTT!!!! ****************** I just got the offer to visit a cadaver lab!!! Should I go?!

✨ jami ✨

"Roses have both petals and thorns, my dark flower. You needn’t believe something weak because it appears delicate. Show the world your bravery.” yeah so ,, this was incredibly disappointing for me and everyone should just go watch the buzzfeed unsolved episode instead BECAUSE SHANE AND RYAN NEVER LET ME DOWN LIKE THIS BOOK DID. this book has so many issues all of which we will be going into later but the thing is, I probably could have overlooked them to some degree if this book was at least entertaining but despite this book a murder mystery and based on true crime it was so, so boringI definitely expected this book to have more direction. We're introduced to Audrey - a girl interested in science and crime. When murders start happening in her area she's compelled to investigate. I was expecting a pointed, driven book as Audrey raced to solve the crime but honestly this book was a romance in which Audrey randomly stumbled upon clues and considering Audrey was supposed to be bright and bold she was .. kind of dumb. I mean literally everyone I've seen review this book said they guessed who the murderer was on chapter 2, and so did I. On top of that, she just puts herself into ridiculous, silly situations. Like wandering off alone at night when there's a murderer, or stalking people into dark alleys, and I just was like GIRL I thought you were smart. And this all leads me to talking about Audrey Rose as a character because going into this I wanted to love her. But the whole time reading it I just wanted her to shut the hell up. her monologues about feminism were hollow and irritating and listen, I'm all for feminist characters, but WHY OH WHY are you trying to play off a girl who complains about girls at literally every oppurtunity as a feminist. Audrey Rose IS the "I'm not like other girls" girl and, seriously, you're not gonna sell that girls feminism to me.But we're gonna get back to feminism in this book in a minute too. Lets talk about romance "There’s nothi

Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥

”Fear is a hungry beast. The more you feed it, the more it grows.”Okay, let’s start this review with a little bit of background knowledge I gathered before I read the actual book and take it from there. ;-) As always I got aware of “Stalking Jack the Ripper” because so many of my friends on here read it and thus it was all over my feed. It doesn’t take much to figure that I wasn’t only intrigued by the promise but also by the idea behind the book. I mean who isn’t curious about Jack the Ripper? It’s THE unsolved mystery everyone knows about and people’s theories about his true identity are still running wild. So of course I wanted to jump that hype train and see where this was heading. Truth be told, the reviews about this book are rather mixed and by discovering the controversial opinions of other bloggers I couldn’t help but find out what this means for me. Did I enjoy the book? Yes, I did. Was it what I expected? Well, yeah pretty much! Did I find out who the culprit was? Yep, I think it wasn’t that hard to deduce, but I still enjoyed reading about Audrey Rose’s and Thomas’s musings. I guess what it ultimately boils down to is the expectations you have when you start reading this book. If you want to be entertained and like slow paced stories that animate you to think, if you enjoy fictional books that are built on real evidence, if you dig two characters that are like cat and mouse “Stalking Jack the Ripper” will most certainly be the right book for you. If you dislike male leads that are self-assured and always voice their “dirty thoughts”, if you don’t like the idea of modern day feminism in a historical fiction book, if you’re no huge fan of knowing the OTP right from the start and if you’ve read or seen too many whodunnits and are an observant person you might not enjoy this though. Okay, admittedly I knew who the killer was pretty early on in the book, but since I mostly fall into the first category I found myself enjoying the book. ;-P Also Thomas Cresswel

Teodora

4.45/5 ⭐ Full review on my Blog: The Dacian She-Wolf

emma

If you opened up a PDF of this book and control-F searched it for the phrase “kind of girl,” your computer would explode. Or suddenly bypass decades of hypothesized technological progress and instantly become cognizant and emotional, developing the ability to feel just so it could ask you, personally, why the author of this book thought she could possibly write anything remotely empowering to women while taking down women at large at every turn.book is so bad and so unfeminist it could cause the singularity.Here are the main ways this book is bad:1) IT’S SEXISTThis whole thing posits itself as if it were a confection baked in a feminist bakery. An equality cupcake with empowerment frosting and the death of misogyny on top. It is, after all, a revisionist history in which we all get to pretend that a girl (a girl! Named Audrey Rose) was pivotal in the solving of the Jack the Ripper case (and please ignore the part where that case isn’t actually solved), and also that girl is a mortician living a secret life. Because she’s rich! And respected! And the whole thing should be so deliciously contrary to gender roles and also dead body-y and we get to have a great, corpsey time. This is what I wanted.If you’ve ever read one of my reviews before, this is where you get worried. (If you weren’t already worried when you saw that sweet sweet one star rating.) Because I never, never, NEVER!!! get what I want from books. And true to form, this book took one look at my hopes and dreams and asked “Oh, are these your expectations?” And then when I nodded excitedly, it ate them.Or something.Clearly, and for so many reasons we’ll get into later, this author has no f*cking idea how to write a powerful female character. Instead, she has to resort to tearing down other girls to make her value brand spoiled brat of a wannabe badass seem strong. Here are some examples.Instead of writing a character who is more focused on her work/dreams/achievements/family/friends/the scene outside her win

♛ may

Recommended to me by this poo, ♡Ninjaflower ♡ and recommended to her (and me) by the lovely, ♡ Johanna ♡ (view spoiler)[ Happy now, guys??! (hide spoiler)]

Sasha Alsberg

This is the first book I've really enjoyed reading after my horrid book slump and I LOVED it! I need more of Kerri's writing in my life, especially with her amazing characters like bloody Jack ;)

Kat

ah, here it is, the first one star of the year (womp womp)if you want a fluffy, historically inaccurate romp through 1888 london that is the kidz bop version of the ripper’s notorious crimes, read this book i guessin it u will find:1. anachronistic fake feminism doled out by audrey “i’m not like other girls!” rose, the only “capable” female character in this book that is ~supposedly~ full of girl-power! 2. an annoying love interest who is a clear sherlock holmes ripoff 3. an apparent lack of knowledge surrounding the 19th century and the serial killer that the book is named after4. a killer whose identity is ridiculously obvious the first time they walk on page, and while i love the self-esteem boost that solving a twist provides, if you’ve ever read literally any thriller in your life you WILL guess who “jack the ripper” is and it WILL be disappointing

Brittney ~ Reverie and Ink

Full review update!Wow okay this was super fun. I mean really - if you're in the market for YA Sherlock Holmes with a badass heroine and a super snarky (and charming) sidekick, definitely pick this up. I do have some mixed feelings about parts and I'll admit I skipped some chunks because ew, not for me. Some of the ending really rubbed me the wrong way, but you can see those details below in the spoiler tag.Aubrey Rose is basically an unconventional female in her society. She's super into education and volunteers her time at her uncle's lab studying forensic science. And we get all the gory details, lol. So if you're here for that kinda thing, you'll enjoy it. If not, just skip over it. I'd say the story is just as enjoyable without the details of the... dead. And then she meets the cocky, ever so flirty Thomas Cresswell who is pretty much Captain Carswell Thorne from the Lunar Chronicles reincarnate. Ohmigosh he is pretty much the reason I loved this book. The banter and everythinggggggg yessss give me more. “Thomas smiled at my eye roll, puffing his chest up and standing with one foot proudly resting on a chair as if posing for a portrait. “I don’t blame you, I am rather attractive. The tall, dark hero of your dreams, swooping in to save you with my vast intellect. You should accept my hand at once.” Anyway, a string of murders starts going down and as the story progresses, Aubrey starts to realize the murderer might be connected to her family somehow. And of course, Thomas is there to annoy Aubrey while she figures it all out. “If I don’t murder you this afternoon, it’ll be a gift sent directly from God Himself, and I vow to attend services again,” I said, holding a hand against my heart.“I knew I’d get you to church eventually.” I would just like to say, for the record (and friends can vouch for me...) I KNEW WHO THE MURDER WAS ALL ALONG. So I win a cookie or something, right? I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT.Anyway, I definitely was not into

C.G. Drews

Well this was full of blood and bone and a spot o' tea, which is such a nice compilation. Like shout out to the finale where Audrey Rose tries to calm everyone down and says "LET'S HAVE TEA AND THINK ABOUT THIS" wow I how she's literally the only sensible person in this book. However, I have to admit...I've basically read this entire story before lmao. It was in These Shallow Graves and I did get bored in the middle of reading SJTR because I knew what was happening! I predicted the murderer like 100pgs in!! I JUST KNOW EVERYTHING I'M LIKE THE EYE OF SAURON.However it was still a downright good book and I want the next one immediately.Also can we take a moment to shout out about how feminist this is?!Obviously sexism is stampeding through the streets because it's 1800s and women are too delicate to do anything but crossstitch. So that was annoying to read, in the sense that I'm really tired of having my heroines have to prove themselves before they can have their plot. I'M JUST TIRED. Not saying it's not realistic though. Obviously. Anyway this was so so well done though?! Like for one thing: Audrey Rose was like "why can't I cut up corpses AND dress prettily" and heck I've never read that before?! Usually the girl is all shunning anything feminine to prove they are "tough" (WHICH IS SO POISONOUS: femininity never equals weakness) so the fact that this book praised BOTH was so freaking refreshing?!?Also Thomas Cresswell was a gift.He's an arrogant jackass but also uses that so he can flirt shamelessly with Audrey Rose the whole freaking book and not have anyone say "Oh wow, mate, look at all your feelings." Thomas has way too many feelings bless him ah hhahah.So the plot? Predictable but I still loved the writing!It actually took time to delve into the forensic side (WHICH IS AWESOME) and talk about how you can tell things about the death via looking at the bodies. Details = incredible. And the pacing was just downright good because it didn't drag us through useless

Elle (ellexamines)

Listen, I am acknowledging this is not the best book ever written. But I am also telling you that I liked reading it a lot. It is no-holds-barred entertainment with hints of substance underneath that I’m hoping continue to develop .Audrey Rose does autopsies. On cadavers. This is obviously not generally considered acceptable for societal women in 1888. She is kind of not the most street smart person ever and keeps doing things that are completely lacking in common sense. I do not respect or like this about her. However, I like her as a concept [and no one ever said I had to be consistent]. Despite doing Things That Anyone Could Tell You Are Not Smart, she’s an interesting character with well-done emotional arcs. Also, I shockingly like the character of Thomas Cresswell? I think I was expecting stock asshole YA hero, but that’s not what I got. He’s not trying to be an asshole, he’s just genuinely obtuse about other people’s human emotions and other people in general. Which I like because I on some level relate. I like that the love interest has that trait, which is something I think we as a society usually frame as making a person terrible.In terms of the feminism I was kind of… no. Full disclosure, I do think this narrative will improve in further books. But the thing is, this book is not really that feminist. I honestly think my favorite Em, who also has read this book and also really likes Thomas Cresswell, put it best [as usual] - this book was so caught up in showcasing Audrey going against societal rules that it completely ignored and overshadowed other women in the narrative, and it is a lazy decision. And as she also pointed out, Audrey’s Indian heritage is basically glossed over. I have two original thoughts. My first original thought is that this book could have discussed colonialism way more if it were willing to make Audrey Rose’s dad a more nuanced character. [This is a really boring thought that everyone has already had]. Love that the he