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A review by marley_james
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
5.0
This. Book. Blew. Me. Away. Instantly surpassing all expectations and earning a very high spot amongst my favourite reads. If I could sum the best parts of this book in two words- feminism and Thomas.
Set in Victorian London, our protagonist feels the restraint of sexism every day, yet sneaks out or dresses as a boy so that she can quench her curiosity of science, studying forensic science on corpses with her uncle.
The amount of sass and nerve this woman has MAKES MY DAY. Not only that, but the amount of quotable feminist lines are unmatched. My favourite part is that she advocates that girls should be able to enjoy the grotesque while equally loving typically “girly” things. Not only this, but despite having been raised in high society, she has a fierce protectiveness of women others scorn at, understanding that it’s of no fault of theirs but instead society’s.
The plot was fast paced and rewarding, and I only saw the specifics of the plot twist coming at the very end, a plot twist that then went on to further surprise me. I think this is a book where it’s actually enjoyable even knowing the ending because you could never imagine the details, and the characters are never annoying in their ignorance.
Maniscalco has included incredible amounts of research flawlessly- historically, insane amounts of the daily life and facts of this mystery are true. The book even holds fascinating pictures with dates and locations. She took liberties of course, but it’s impressive when you think of how hard it would be to create fiction around so many separate historical events. This story is gruesome in a way that absolutely fascinated me like no book has.
And then Thomas. Thomas. Our love interest is a shamelessly endearing flirt who holds so much respect for our protagonist, letting her lead the way and trusting her to blow his mind every day with her intelligence. This man had me rolling on the floor giggling.
The protagonist’s perception of the world was beautiful, the scenes enthralling and writing style captivating. I know I’m gushing at this point but I can highly recommend this book and am already dying for the second.
Set in Victorian London, our protagonist feels the restraint of sexism every day, yet sneaks out or dresses as a boy so that she can quench her curiosity of science, studying forensic science on corpses with her uncle.
The amount of sass and nerve this woman has MAKES MY DAY. Not only that, but the amount of quotable feminist lines are unmatched. My favourite part is that she advocates that girls should be able to enjoy the grotesque while equally loving typically “girly” things. Not only this, but despite having been raised in high society, she has a fierce protectiveness of women others scorn at, understanding that it’s of no fault of theirs but instead society’s.
The plot was fast paced and rewarding, and I only saw the specifics of the plot twist coming at the very end, a plot twist that then went on to further surprise me. I think this is a book where it’s actually enjoyable even knowing the ending because you could never imagine the details, and the characters are never annoying in their ignorance.
Maniscalco has included incredible amounts of research flawlessly- historically, insane amounts of the daily life and facts of this mystery are true. The book even holds fascinating pictures with dates and locations. She took liberties of course, but it’s impressive when you think of how hard it would be to create fiction around so many separate historical events. This story is gruesome in a way that absolutely fascinated me like no book has.
And then Thomas. Thomas. Our love interest is a shamelessly endearing flirt who holds so much respect for our protagonist, letting her lead the way and trusting her to blow his mind every day with her intelligence. This man had me rolling on the floor giggling.
The protagonist’s perception of the world was beautiful, the scenes enthralling and writing style captivating. I know I’m gushing at this point but I can highly recommend this book and am already dying for the second.