Over 300 pages of pure anticipation, creepiness, vivid anatomy; and who could forget about the mutilated corpses?
Finally, a young adult book about history that doesn't include time-travel or royalty, and isn't abhorrently boring. I'm really liking all the unique plots for young adult books that have come along in the past couple of years! Finding a young adult story about the infamous Jack the Ripper was exciting and I simply could not resist the urge to read it. This book was filled with suspence, fear, and paranoia. It was an amazing reading experience!
‣ Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her desire to make everyone aware that women can think for themselves and handle tough or graphic situations.
I really really enjoyed reading from Audrey Rose's point of view. She was a strong female character and wasn't afraid to be herself and challenge anyone who thought she wasn't capable of working in forensics or handling gruesome topics with dignity. She knew who she was and she wouldn't let anyone bring her down or confine her based on societal views.
‣ Thomas Cresswell and his adorably straight-forward flirting technique and talent of distancing himself from feeling.
Thomas Cresswell was your typical teenage heartthrob. Well, besides the fact that he disected dead bodies with Audrey Rose and her Uncle without so much as a grimace at the smell. However, he was charmingly arrogant and a helpless flirt, enthralled with Miss Audrey Rose. I totally shipped it from the beginning. His character was just really charming and interesting as it developed over the course of the book.
“My heart raced. Part of me wanted to draw him into a hug and heal his wounds, and part of me wished to ferret out all his secrets and piece the puzzle of him together this instant.”
‣ The easy banter and excitement that comes with Thomas and Audrey Rose.
Kind of going hand in hand with the aforementioned bullet points, I really liked Thomas' and Audrey Rose's personalities. And their personalities were so bold that they often clashed throughout the story. It was both amusing and adorable. Here's a non-spoiler example of a bantering conversation with Thomas and Audrey Rose (from Audrey Rose's POV, obviously):
“Hurry along, then,” I said, grabbing my orchid and securing it safely in my journal. “I want to sit by the window.”
“Hmm.”
“What now?” I asked, losing patience.
“I usually sit by the window. You may have to sit in my lap.”
‣ Plot twists were slightly obvious to point out.
I didn't want them to be, but I kind of called the plot twists before they happened. Kind of diappointing, but I loved other aspects of the story enough to still give this story a high rating.
“Pretend I am as capable as a man? Please, sir, do not value me so little!”
‣ Thomas and Audrey Rose had a lack of chemistry in their relationship. Though I feel like this has more to do with the time period, it being year 1888, rather than the two characters themselves.
While I've mentioned that Thomas and Audrey Rose did have a lot of amusing and adorable banter throughout the story, I do have to state that other than that, I found their relationship to be lacking further chemistry. But like the bullet says, it may be because of the time period. I find reading about any romances from before the 1920s to be super fast (because of the rush to arrange advantageous marriages or something like that) and also based on little more than initial attraction. I feel like they barely got to know each other before Thomas decided he wanted to try to have Audrey Rose as his own. I really hope that their relationship will gather more friction, intensity, and depth in Hunting Prince Dracula.
“You simply need to hone your powers of deduction, Wadsworth. Look at the obvious and go from there. Most people ignore what’s right before their eyes. They believe they see, but oftentimes only view what they want.”
In the end, I'm really excited for Hunting Prince Dracula. I can't wait to encounter Prince Dracula's character as well as see more of Audrey Rose and Thomas, and the hopeful further progression of their relationship. I definitely recommend that you give this book a try, if it seems like your kind of read, or even if it doesn't! It's worth the time.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
318 Pages / Paperback
Published September 20th, 2016
Publisher / Jimmy Patterson
Rate / ★★★★☆
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.
Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.
