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riyabhatia15_'s review against another edition
2.0
2.5 ⭐️
Love it when a book about history and science is inaccurate in both departments. Audrey Rose is biracial, her mother was Indian. A britisher to marry an Indian woman at the time when Britain was overruling India is rare and I would have liked to know how that happened. And when it pretends to have a feminist main character who is trying so hard to be ‘not like other girls’ by pulling other women down and being a brat and was just plain rude and the epitome of the meme ‘in case you haven’t noticed I’m weird. I’m a weirdo. I don’t fit in’. The main character doesn’t really solve anything, she just stumbles upon stuff. Let’s talk about the love interest. Thomas Cresswell. Oh boy. Now, things are different when it comes to ‘dark’ romances but this wasn’t one. This is YA. Where we are supposed to like this obnoxious man child who is just plain old rude. I like a good enemies to lovers but this wasn’t even that. This was just Audrey Rose (our main character) falling for a jackass. Girl, you do you. But maybe not the right message to the younger audience it’s based for. Now for the good part. What I did like about the book was it being fast paced and the villain’s motive. (Which ofcourse the real Jack The Ripper’s true motives are still unknown and is rather different than the Jack The Ripper in this book) Driven to insanity by grief so much so that he becomes murderous and tries resurrection of his mother’s rotting corpse with organ transplant and electric shock. I had fun reading this, even though it had issues. I had fun making a joke out of the main character and I will definitely read the next book because all I want is a good time.
Love it when a book about history and science is inaccurate in both departments. Audrey Rose is biracial, her mother was Indian. A britisher to marry an Indian woman at the time when Britain was overruling India is rare and I would have liked to know how that happened. And when it pretends to have a feminist main character who is trying so hard to be ‘not like other girls’ by pulling other women down and being a brat and was just plain rude and the epitome of the meme ‘in case you haven’t noticed I’m weird. I’m a weirdo. I don’t fit in’. The main character doesn’t really solve anything, she just stumbles upon stuff. Let’s talk about the love interest. Thomas Cresswell. Oh boy. Now, things are different when it comes to ‘dark’ romances but this wasn’t one. This is YA. Where we are supposed to like this obnoxious man child who is just plain old rude. I like a good enemies to lovers but this wasn’t even that. This was just Audrey Rose (our main character) falling for a jackass. Girl, you do you. But maybe not the right message to the younger audience it’s based for. Now for the good part. What I did like about the book was it being fast paced and the villain’s motive. (Which ofcourse the real Jack The Ripper’s true motives are still unknown and is rather different than the Jack The Ripper in this book) Driven to insanity by grief so much so that he becomes murderous and tries resurrection of his mother’s rotting corpse with organ transplant and electric shock. I had fun reading this, even though it had issues. I had fun making a joke out of the main character and I will definitely read the next book because all I want is a good time.
nes24's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
delanne's review against another edition
4.0
This was definitely a surprise for me. When I picked this up I thought it looked like an interesting premise, but not something that was going to blow me away. However, after page 20 I was hooked and finished it all in one sitting!
I loved Audrey Rose - and how fun is that name to say? - and her feminist, women power attitude taking on a Victorian Era English culture. She knows what she wants and she's determined to go for it, no matter how risky or dangerous it gets. There isn’t a single person, man OR woman, she’s going to let stand in her way.
Thomas Cresswell literally brings joy to every scene he's in due to his snarky, flirtatious and borderline Sherlock Holmes-ian deductions. He's everything I want to read about in a Victorian hero and I cannot rave about how much I loved him.
Audrey Rose and Thomas together? Perfect. Literally a fantastically sassy, snarky and caring duo that I can ship to my heart’s content.
The story itself, the mystery of Jack the Ripper, wasn't much a whodunit for me, as a HOW-did-he-do-it. I guessed who it was around halfway through and, apart from one brief moment during the climax of the story where I almost felt myself wavering, I was pretty positive in my guess the rest of the time. Even so, it didn't really take too much enjoyment away for me because I just love reading about Audrey Rose and Thomas.
Maniscalco also had some absolutely beautiful and disgustingly horrifying descriptions of the world and atmosphere throughout the novel. I was not AT ALL expecting the detailed gore factor, even when it hits you in the face from the first sentence, I was always somehow expecting it to plateau in intensity, spoiler - it never did. As someone who isn't particularly disturbed by textual descriptions of such things, it didn't really bother me too much, but it's definitely something to keep in mind if you're squeamish. On the other hand, her description of the circus was just beautiful. So well written and it just made me feel like I was there with Audrey Rose experiencing it all.
This is definitely a series I wasn't expecting to like as much as I do, but I can't wait to pick up the sequel!
I loved Audrey Rose - and how fun is that name to say? - and her feminist, women power attitude taking on a Victorian Era English culture. She knows what she wants and she's determined to go for it, no matter how risky or dangerous it gets. There isn’t a single person, man OR woman, she’s going to let stand in her way.
Thomas Cresswell literally brings joy to every scene he's in due to his snarky, flirtatious and borderline Sherlock Holmes-ian deductions. He's everything I want to read about in a Victorian hero and I cannot rave about how much I loved him.
Audrey Rose and Thomas together? Perfect. Literally a fantastically sassy, snarky and caring duo that I can ship to my heart’s content.
The story itself, the mystery of Jack the Ripper, wasn't much a whodunit for me, as a HOW-did-he-do-it. I guessed who it was around halfway through and, apart from one brief moment during the climax of the story where I almost felt myself wavering, I was pretty positive in my guess the rest of the time. Even so, it didn't really take too much enjoyment away for me because I just love reading about Audrey Rose and Thomas.
Maniscalco also had some absolutely beautiful and disgustingly horrifying descriptions of the world and atmosphere throughout the novel. I was not AT ALL expecting the detailed gore factor, even when it hits you in the face from the first sentence, I was always somehow expecting it to plateau in intensity, spoiler - it never did. As someone who isn't particularly disturbed by textual descriptions of such things, it didn't really bother me too much, but it's definitely something to keep in mind if you're squeamish. On the other hand, her description of the circus was just beautiful. So well written and it just made me feel like I was there with Audrey Rose experiencing it all.
This is definitely a series I wasn't expecting to like as much as I do, but I can't wait to pick up the sequel!
lizzie_beth98's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
hugh86s's review against another edition
3.0
szczerze to średnio mnie ta książka pochłonęła, podejrzewałam cały czas, kto tym Rozpruwaczem może być... ogólnie nie było źle, trochę obrzydliwie, chociaż to już subiektywne odczucia, ale nadal ciekawie. dam szansę następnemu tomowi, może będzie lepszy
kikicalloway00's review against another edition
4.0
we should have learned long ago that victorian older brother named nathaniel is definetely bad bad news.
as seen in the cases of tessa gray and audrey rose wadsworth
as seen in the cases of tessa gray and audrey rose wadsworth
mariaconnolly's review against another edition
4.0
So.
Good.
I actually don’t care that it was not a very feminist piece it was such an enjoyable read (more like listen- the first audiobook I’ve ever listen to!)
Some people are saying the reveal was obvious but I don’t see it! It kept me on the edge of my seat and I didn’t know for sure until like a chapter before it happened
Good.
I actually don’t care that it was not a very feminist piece it was such an enjoyable read (more like listen- the first audiobook I’ve ever listen to!)
Some people are saying the reveal was obvious but I don’t see it! It kept me on the edge of my seat and I didn’t know for sure until like a chapter before it happened
librarianlopez's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
This was painfully bad.