Reviews

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

amy_j18's review

informative sad slow-paced

4.0

This was basically a compilation of biographies of each of the victims. It was an informative look at the infamous murders in a humanizing way of acknowledging the victims life stories. 

amymarchlawrence's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

moosalamoo_rnnr's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

justcallmeeej's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

jenmangler's review against another edition

2.0

Rubenhold focuses on the women's lives, not their deaths. She doesn't go into the gory detail of their murders the way every other source does. That doesn't mean it's not a sad story. The lives of working class and poor women in London in the late 1800s was so grim. There's an awful lot of speculation, and that really kept me from giving it 3 stars.

alexandra_ninelives's review against another edition

4.0

I don’t really know how to review a book like this so this might be short.
I feel like it was an outstanding book since it touched on the most important aspects of these killings, the human being instead of the prostitute victims or whatever people usually say when they talk about this case.
I read a Jack the Ripper book when I was about 12-13. I don’t remember much of it but I’m fairly certain when the women were mentioned how they were killed was emphasized a lot. There were even drawn pictures and everything.
This book tells us their lives. Their struggles. The struggles of being a woman in that time period. They did not have many options back then. I’m grateful to be alive now. To remember them and so many others.
Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary Jane. I hope you’re resting in peace.

Ps: I don’t believe these 5 women were killed by the same man??? Am I the only one?

mchrty's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

4.0

a fascinating, informative, and well-researched book that delves into the lives of the five women that were killed by jack the ripper, ultimately disproving the belief that he was a "killer of prostitutes," as it was commonly believed. in reality, only one of them described herself as such. circumstances, such as alcoholism and poverty, did unfortunately lead the women to their demise :,( 

this book was so hard to get through at times because of how badly women were treated during the victorian era, but i had to keep reading 'cause we can't keep letting men be praised for being murderers 🙄

richard1510's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

ninasbooks57's review against another edition

4.0

“The cards were stacked against Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Kate, and Mary Jane from birth. They began their lives in deficit. Not only were most of them born into working-class families, they were born female.” Such a sad background of these 5 women. It is sad to see how extremely worthless these women were labeled. Now a days there are programs that would help them but in London in the 1880s they were just cast out and left to fend for themselves. One thread that ran through all their stories was alcohol abuse- that alone can ruin lives. I gave it a four because it was hard keeping all the names straight. I guess the only names used in London 1880s were- George, John, William, Elisabeth, or Mary!!
Very good read!

ecolh's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Amazing to hear their stories and how society took the easy way out in how they portrayed the victims. Very informative about what life was like in Victorian London as well