I placed my thumb and forefinger on the icy flesh, spreading it taut above the breastbone as Uncle had showed me.
-Kerri Maniscalco, Stalking Jack the Ripper, First Line
What a way to start a book, amiright?! Here we are, looking at Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco; a YA Historical Murder Mystery.
Do you want some data? I’m going to assume you do. If you don’t, feel free to just skip on by friends. (Like…the data….not the whole post. Unless you really want to)
The Data
- Author: Kerri Maniscalco
- Genre: Historical, Murder Mystery, Young Adult
- Spice: Nope. There is a little cute romance though
- Trigger Warnings: None listed but contains depictions of autopsy, corpses, and murder scenes
- Pages: 318
- Published: 09/20/2016
- Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper #1
- Goodreads Rating: 3.93
- StoryGraph Rating: 3.84
The Review
Okay. This is one of those instances where I think maybe my review doesn’t quite like line up with the reviews of other people. That’s okay. That is what is honestly fun about reviews and seeing everyone else’s opinions.
So this time, I’m just going to rip off the band aid on my review star rating. Also, please let me know if you prefer seeing the star rating at the end or if you’d like to see it at the beginning. I rated this book 5 stars and that is honestly quite surprising for me and let me give you the reason why.
This book is not amazing, revolutionary or a work of art, but it is a damn good time.
Something about this book just scratched an itch that I didn’t know I needed scratched. I did not think that I would enjoy this book as much as I did. The cards were honestly, stacked against it. I don’t tend to like YA (Young Adult) books that much anymore as I find it difficult to connect with MC’s in their teens. I almost always put away any book where it tells me straight from the get go that the main character is 16/17 etc. That’s just me. This book has a 17 year old FMC but maybe because she exists in the 1880’s I did not find her to be annoying or unrelatable. In fact, I was genuinely interested in her growth throughout the book.
“Wield your assets like a blade, Cousin. No man has invented a corset for our brains. Let them think they rule the world. It’s a queen who sits on that throne. Never forget that.”
Kerri Maniscalco, Stalking Jack the Ripper
The book is set in London during the 1880’s, when Jack the Ripper was roaming around murdering women, hence the title. Our FMC (Audrey Rose) here is working with her Uncle, examining the bodies of corpses. She is learning science, forensics and all about the human body. This, of course, is kept a secret from her father who does not believe a Lady should be engaging in these activities. Without giving too much of the plot away, Audrey Rose ends up investigating the murders of the women killed by Jack the Ripper and trying to find out who the Ripper is to stop the murders once and for all.
This book does take some liberties with the actual history, as one would expect with a fictional novel. There are inclusions of images (with citations) before some of the chapters that I actually quite enjoyed seeing. They were used typically with relation to something that happened in the previous chapter or to lead into the following chapter. The end of the book also includes some historical facts that were interesting to read. I felt like these inclusions helped enhance the book and provided me with something to grasp onto while reading.
I stepped closer, enjoying the way Father leaned away from me as if he were just now discovering that a cat, while precious and cute, also had sharp claws. “I’d rather be a lowly wretch on the streets than live in a house full of cages. Do not lecture me on propriety when it’s a virtue you so grossly lack.”
Kerri Maniscalco, Stalking Jack the Ripper
This is definitely a murder mystery at heart, and personally, I do love a good one. There is also a conversation here about sexism and the role of women in society during that period of time. Audrey Rose is actively working against what is considered to be proper and acceptable for her gender throughout this book. Her growth comes in the form of learning that she doesn’t have to hide quietly, but that maybe she can be a bit more obvious with her intentions instead.
There is also some romance elements to this that are woven through. I’m happy that it’s not like some of the other romances I read and it stays relatively innocent. I don’t feel comfortable reading about more raunchy romances with someone who is only 17. That’s just not my vibe thanks. There are 3 other books in the series though, so I am interested in seeing where the relationship between the FMC and MMC goes.
Conclusion
In the end, my rating came down to one question: would I pick this book up and read it again? My criteria for a 5 star review are not super strict and honestly, I truly believe that any book I could confidently answer “yes” to with that question deserves a 5 star rating. I liked the characters, I liked the time period, the murder mystery, and the cute budding romance. It is a book that I would definitely read again. So, it fits the rubric. It gets the 5 star review.
And that’s all she wrote friends. By she, I mean me, that’s all I wrote. I know my opinion here does not appear to be the most common one when it comes to this book but like I said before, that’s okay. If you read this book, let me know what you think. Do you agree or disagree? Were you expecting more but got less? Leave a comment! As always, thank you for hanging out.
See you all for the next post!!
Reading with teafortiffany 
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