Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

41 reviews

epeolatri's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

I have never heard anything about the women killed by jack the ripper before this book. It was very well informed and I’m so glad I read it. As the author said, it is important to remember these women as human beings and not just victims of a famous man.

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j_squaredd's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.75

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gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

I love learning about history, and listening to this book is no exception.
I found myself lost in the past listening to each woman's life and how much hardship she had to go through, and at the same time getting a glimpse into the 19th century London.
Learning more about the everyday living of the working class, opposed to the high society that has been better documented and preserved over the years, was a new outlook on what the 19th century expected of society and what support was offered to them.

I found myself talking to anyone who would listen to me about this book, and would recommend it to anyone who likes learning about the 19th century history.

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kshertz's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.25

I really really love the concept. The research done is amazing. These women were not victims and prostitutes. They were a product of their time and the patriarchy. But I felt the author loses the story in the insane amount of research and that made it hard to keep my interest and finish. I only really recommend if you’re very interested in the women and Jack the Ripper historically and love research.

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corriejn's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

A well-written and thoroughly researched accounting of the history and lives of the five Victorian era women who eventually became the presumed victims of the serial killer dubbed Jack the Ripper. The violence that ended each of their lives is not the focus, and is mentioned only in passing as the end of each woman's life. These accounts are representative of the experiences of many non-wealthy women of the time and area-- the precarities of trying to remain out of poverty and destitution, the limited choices available to women and families without financial resources, the living conditions faced in workhouses or the kind of lodging houses available to lower classes-- but provide specifics details of each woman's life. While this book is important in humanizing and dispelling some myths about these murder victims and their lives, I didn't give a higher rating because some of the language and insinuations are a bit outdated (e.g., some of the things mentioned re: sex work, addiction, or poverty/homelessness). Basically, it would have been super progressive like... 10 or 15 years ago. Still worth a read, though.

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