Presented by James Patterson's new children's imprint, this deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion...
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.
The story's shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling, #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.
MY THOUGHTS
This book has a lot of hype surrounding it. I mostly ignored the hype, until it was offered on audiobooksync. Then I decided to give the book a try.
Audrey Rose lives a life of privilege, but there is one thing that makes her a little different from other ladies of Victorian England: She likes to dissect bodies. Even though her father disapproves of it, Audrey Rose spends a lot of her time at her uncle's lab, learning about forensic medicine. When grisly murders start happening in London, and her uncle is put in the spotlight thanks to his profession, Audrey Rose decides to investigate the murders herself.
To be honest, I don't see where all the hype comes from because this book seems pretty similar to other YA historical mysteries. Especially the protagonist. Sure, her interest in dissecting bodies is unusual, but her personality was the usual "strong girl" spirit we see in YA. She's feisty, opinionated, independent, and points out how sexist things are in her Victorian London. She's not like other girls. She clearly had a personality, but I oftentimes felt like the book was trying too hard to show us her "personality". I think it mainly rubbed me the wrong way in the audio because she was constantly accusing people and yelling out people, and the constant yelling wore on me. Maybe the yelling wouldn't have been as noticeable in print. Even though she annoyed me, I did sometimes like her repertoire with the other characters. While she made dumb choices throughout the book, I did like that she advanced the plot, and it really felt like we were following her. I also think her perspective was different when it came to her dissection of bodies, as I've never read a book from the POV of a character with that interest/occupation (probably because it is an occupation that I could never ever ever do. With my extreme fear of dead things and all).
I did like the concept of this book. It is a very different perspective on Jack the Ripper. While the author took a lot of liberties with the story, it still was based around the history. There is a lot the author could have done with this inspiration because this is certainly a historical event that is surrounded in mystery. I liked how the book tries to show a woman investigating the crime and tried to give some thought about who the victims were. I also liked that the book tried to solve the mystery using Victorian forensics rather than what we typically expect from a mystery book. Tried is the keyword for all of these because I think the book could have built more on a lot of these ideas (instead of having Audrey Rose just yelling all the time). I did think the mystery went an intriguing direction by the end. It wasn't really realistic, so it's hard for me to shelve this book (it's not paranormal either, but it almost has that vibe). But, I did think it was interesting that the book explored [highlight to view spoiler] someone being related to Jack the Ripper [end of spoiler]. Although, I did have trouble following the plot at times. I don't know if it was the writing, my audiobook was skipping, or I was just disinterested at points.
As for romance, we do have a love interest in this book, in the form of Thomas Creswell. I didn't love him, but I didn't hate him. I see that a lot of readers adore him but he really felt like the typical snarky male hero. He is honestly a little like Will from the Infernal Devices and, to be honest, I always liked Jem better. I did like the witty repertoire between Audrey Rose and Thomas at times, but the constant loving bickering between them got tiresome and sometimes distracted from the plot. I can see why other readers like him, but I didn't find him particularly charming. That being said, he and Audrey Rose do fit together.
Audrey Rose lives a life of privilege, but there is one thing that makes her a little different from other ladies of Victorian England: She likes to dissect bodies. Even though her father disapproves of it, Audrey Rose spends a lot of her time at her uncle's lab, learning about forensic medicine. When grisly murders start happening in London, and her uncle is put in the spotlight thanks to his profession, Audrey Rose decides to investigate the murders herself.
To be honest, I don't see where all the hype comes from because this book seems pretty similar to other YA historical mysteries. Especially the protagonist. Sure, her interest in dissecting bodies is unusual, but her personality was the usual "strong girl" spirit we see in YA. She's feisty, opinionated, independent, and points out how sexist things are in her Victorian London. She's not like other girls. She clearly had a personality, but I oftentimes felt like the book was trying too hard to show us her "personality". I think it mainly rubbed me the wrong way in the audio because she was constantly accusing people and yelling out people, and the constant yelling wore on me. Maybe the yelling wouldn't have been as noticeable in print. Even though she annoyed me, I did sometimes like her repertoire with the other characters. While she made dumb choices throughout the book, I did like that she advanced the plot, and it really felt like we were following her. I also think her perspective was different when it came to her dissection of bodies, as I've never read a book from the POV of a character with that interest/occupation (probably because it is an occupation that I could never ever ever do. With my extreme fear of dead things and all).
I did like the concept of this book. It is a very different perspective on Jack the Ripper. While the author took a lot of liberties with the story, it still was based around the history. There is a lot the author could have done with this inspiration because this is certainly a historical event that is surrounded in mystery. I liked how the book tries to show a woman investigating the crime and tried to give some thought about who the victims were. I also liked that the book tried to solve the mystery using Victorian forensics rather than what we typically expect from a mystery book. Tried is the keyword for all of these because I think the book could have built more on a lot of these ideas (instead of having Audrey Rose just yelling all the time). I did think the mystery went an intriguing direction by the end. It wasn't really realistic, so it's hard for me to shelve this book (it's not paranormal either, but it almost has that vibe). But, I did think it was interesting that the book explored [highlight to view spoiler] someone being related to Jack the Ripper [end of spoiler]. Although, I did have trouble following the plot at times. I don't know if it was the writing, my audiobook was skipping, or I was just disinterested at points.
As for romance, we do have a love interest in this book, in the form of Thomas Creswell. I didn't love him, but I didn't hate him. I see that a lot of readers adore him but he really felt like the typical snarky male hero. He is honestly a little like Will from the Infernal Devices and, to be honest, I always liked Jem better. I did like the witty repertoire between Audrey Rose and Thomas at times, but the constant loving bickering between them got tiresome and sometimes distracted from the plot. I can see why other readers like him, but I didn't find him particularly charming. That being said, he and Audrey Rose do fit together.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I am a bit disappointed. This book has so much hype around it and I struggled to see what was so amazing about this book. I did like it, but on the whole, it didn't feel like a groundbreaking read. The plot was interesting, but I found the characters a bit annoying. Now, I did read this on audio, so maybe it reads differently, but I don't think that was the case. I will go ahead and read book two to see if I can feel the hype.
3 Stars
Meaning: I liked it
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