Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper

I haven't read many historical fiction books, so Stalking Jack the Ripper was a relatively new experience for me. I can say that I truly did enjoy its intrigue and originality, though. This is classified as: Mystery, YA Fiction, Horror Fiction.

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Synopsis: 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.

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First off, I really like the whole idea behind this book. A girl who solves the infamously unsolved case of Jack the Ripper? Awesome. And speaking of the girl, I really like her too. Audrey Rose is a modern feminist and refuses to be oppressed and close-minded as most girls in the Victorian period were. She stands up for herself. Her cousin, Liza, was also someone I loved, though she was only present for a short time. Both of these girls defy society's rules in their own ways, but they're both strong and fierce ladies of their own. A theme repeated through this book is how a girl can be beautiful and strong at the same time. A rose with thorns. The feminism was an unexpected but appreciated addition to this story.

To be honest, I didn't dislike any character here. They were all unique but likeable. Especially Mr. Thomas Cresswell, the shameless flirt. He, like Audrey Rose, is a feminist and doesn't care about society's expectations. He also adds some much-needed humor to this book. I also enjoyed how there were mentions of Indian heritage and culture, since Audrey Rose is part Indian herself. Different types of Indian foods were mentioned, as well as clothing. That was a nice touch.

I think the part I loved the most was the descriptions. They were truly disgusting and horrifying, which is awesome since a lot of horror books fail to do that. I was trying to read this while eating, and I couldn't because of how obscenely gross it was.

One thing I was disappointed with was the fact that I guess who the Ripper was about 30 pages into the book. It was just very obvious to me. Despite that, when the confrontation happened, it was still cool to see it play out though I wasn't surprised.

Stalking Jack the Ripper had a little bit of everything in it and it was a very engrossing book. It fell sort of amazing for me though, which is why I'm giving it 3.5/5 stars.