Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

19 reviews

leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

- Devastating twist that the brother was Jack the Ripper

- Very unexpected twist; strong ending with the reveal
- Great intro to Audrey Rose as strong FMC
- Loved the banter between Audrey Rose and Thomas Cresswell
- Strong premise of her being a science/medical student as a female in the 1880s

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Alcohol

beccarox7's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Despite how tricky the premise is, it is much more respectful than you think it would be. The romance is a bit trite, but it does become quite sweet over time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Beware of dismemberment, prostitution, abuse of prostitutes, fear of disease, whorephobia, poverty, and death of a sibling.

bitchywitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexism, Vomit, Stalking, and Pandemic/Epidemic

c_e_w's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bzliz's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

This fictionalization of the infamous Jack the Ripper murders stars Audrey Rose Wadsworth, a young lady yet to make her society debut who prefers apprenticing in autopsies with her uncle to attending teas and such as young ladies of the time “should” do. In doing so she meets Thomas Cresswell, a handsome but arrogant student of her uncle’s who also apprentices for him. The pair immerse themselves deeply in the crimes to help stop the vicious killer and they can’t seem to stay apart from each other. They chase clues and face setbacks together, sharing theories and ensuring her uncle isn’t executed after being falsely accused of the crimes, but perhaps the real killer is still someone close to her. 

The book is well paced and I appreciate that Audrey Rose doesn’t fall too deeply into the “not like other girls” trap. Despite her drive toward macabre science, she still enjoys fine dresses and makeup like her peers, though she does find it hard to relate to their lack of drive toward being more than a future wife. I wish we’d gotten to see more interaction with her cousin Liza; I think she could use a positive female presence on her side given the heavy male influence around her. 

Like many mysteries, the characters don’t get a lot of development. The greatest changes here are shown only in how Audrey Rose and Thomas’s dynamic shifts to be more like partners than adversaries. I hope there’s more personal growth in the next book but I’m not holding my breath for it. 

The ending does go a bit off the rails but in a fun way. The real killer is

Audrey Rose’s brother Nathaniel. She followed much evidence proclaiming her father as the killer but in truth her brother became obsessed with bringing their mother back to life in some kind of Frankenstein style experiment. This is why he was killing and harvesting organs of women who he saw as being worthless to society.

The reveal could have played out longer and the change of heart setting up the next book felt a little heavy handed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

oh_roudha_reads's review

dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The book was good however, I think that some parts were dragged out and unnecessary. Also the ending was really unexpected like I got click-baited 🤨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Stalking

jia_pet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Terminal illness, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

abcdefgerda's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Alcohol