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Friday, December 30, 2016

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco ARC Review

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
Format: Paperback ARC, 325 pages
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Hachette Book Group
Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
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.




You guys, I honestly can't even think about Stalking Jack the Ripper without feeling giddy. When I first heard of this book, I wasn't sure how I would feel while reading it because I'm extremely squeamish. I thought that perhaps I'd be too much of a scaredy cat to handle all of the gory details. However, to my great pleasure and surprise, I was able to stomach the gruesome parts, though at times, it was difficult since they truly are masterfully written and incredibly detailed. Kerri Maniscalco is so talented! I could really go on and on about how much I adore this book—grisly details and all.

Stalking Jack the Ripper is a Sherlock Holmes inspired-story. It follows our leading lady, Audrey Wadsworth (*cough*Watson*cough*) and her love interest—Thomas—who has amazing deductive skills, is insanely swoony, and has a know-it-all personality. Together, they are so freaking cute—I simply cannot get enough of them.

My favorite thing about this book is how much female empowerment there is! It totally shatters the accepted gender roles in Victorian London, and the women in this story are absolutely marvelous and inspiring.

This is easily one of the best books of 2016, so if you haven't read it yet, you need to remedy this immediately. Trust me, you won't regret it!


1) Kerri's writing is nothing short of brilliant. It's well rounded, fantastically descriptive, and incredibly—it truly feels and reads like something that belongs in the Victorian Era. Witty and compelling, her words will mesmerize you and make it impossible to stop reading.

2) Audrey Rose, oh how I adore thee. Smart, feisty, witty—I could go and on (and on, and on...) about this girl. To me, the most brilliant and relate-able aspect of her character is how much she struggles with wanting to be able to pursue a criminal career, which in Victorian London is solely an occupation for men. However at the same time. she also enjoys doing her make-up, wearing dresses, and being girly—all the while still preferring to have the option to wear pants. Wanting the same opportunities as men and fighting for them, while still embracing her femininity and breaking gender roles are just a few of the things that make Audrey Rose a phenomenal role model for young girls to read about.

3) Speaking of Thomas . . . if Audrey ever decides that she doesn't want him, I'll gladly take him off her hands. The man is a little socially awkward BUT that doesn't take away from how dreamy he is. Intelligence is sexy, people!

4) I love how gender roles and feminism is tackled and addressed in this book. As I mentioned before, I love Audrey, and one of her struggles is that she does love dresses and make-up, but would like to be taken as seriously as a man, and to be able to practice medicine. She's amazing.


1) SPOILER ALERT: I'm a little annoyed with Thomas' entry in the climax of the book. If he supposedly figured out who the bad guy was at the end, why did he not intervene sooner? I know I'm nitpicking at this point but it's literally the only thing that irked me about this book.







Check out my interview with Kerri!

21 comments:

  1. OOOHH YES you loved it!!! I'm so glad! It looks AMAZING, and I am dying to read it! It looks exactly like the kind of book I will ADORE <3
    Great review!

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    1. It's so good! You need to read it ASAP, trust me, you'll thank me later.

      Thank you!

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  2. This book definitely makes my top ten favourite read this year~ I can't wait for SJTR2! Love the beautiful quotes Brittany! And the swoons <3

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    1. Such a great book, and I'm so excited for book 2! Thank you so much!

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  3. So happy to hear that you liked this! I have had an ARC of this book for ages, but for some reason keep forgetting about it, so I haven't read it yet! It seems like such a fun book with a kickass heroine, and the time period of this book is one of my favorites! Loved reading your review - definitely going to have to finally read this!

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    1. YAY! You definitely should, it's a great book and definitely one of my favorites of 2016. It's one of my favorite time periods too because there is so much majesty and interesting things to explore. I hope you enjoy SJTR!

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  4. Wasn't this fantastic?!!! I was extremely close to adding it to my top reads this year. It was so unique and I loved the setting and characters all mixed in that suspenseful plot. So glad you enjoyed it!

    Tressa @ Wishful Endings

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    1. Yes, yes it is! It's definitely one of the best of 2016. I love it so much.

      Thank you for stopping by!

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  5. How had I never heard that this was Sherlock-inspired?? That puts this on a whole other level of must-read status for me! The characters sound amazing and I think I would love the dark details of the story. Need to get to this one soon!

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    1. Well, I don't know if it's Sherlock inspired but it screams Sherlock to me. But either way, you need this book in your life because I think you would love it!

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  6. lkjasdoi I'm so excited for this book. I hope personally, I can stomach the gore. I get squeamish.

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    1. I'm super squeamish so I understand. The gore is very minimal and more in a clinical sense so hopefully, you'll be okay. Good luck!

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  7. One of Us! One of Us! I know that giddy feeling well and it hasn't gone away months after reading. Your graphics are gorgeous!

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    1. Thank you so much! It's really a fantastic book. Thanks for stopping by ^_^

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  8. Great review! I've been meaning to read this book for ages but your review just bumped it up to the top of my TBR pile :)

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    1. Thank you! I'm so glad that I made you bump it up on your TBR, I hope you love it as much as I do.

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  9. Excellent review! I didn't think it was possible to be more excited about reading this book than I already was, but I really can't wait to get my hands on it now!

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    1. Thank you! I hope you love Stalking Jack the Ripper as much I do ^_^

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  10. Lovely review Brittany :D Yay for loving this book so much. <3 I have heard tons of amazing things about it. I just. I haven't watched Sherlock, ever, so I'm not sure this would be for me just yet, lol :D But so glad you loved it; and the characters and writing too :D Yay :)

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    1. Even if you haven't read or watched Sherlock, it's a really great book that I definitely recommend!

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