ARC Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1)
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publication Date: September 20th, 2016
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Pages: 336
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Reviews for book 2 & book 3

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.

When I stumbled upon Stalking Jack the Ripper at ALA earlier this year, I really had no idea what it was. I saw that it was presented by James Patterson and I thought it sounded interesting enough, even if mystery isn't my favorite genre. When I got home and realized it was a highly anticipated September YA release I was really excited to get to read it! To be honest, I kind of wish I had never gotten on board the hype train because this didn't live up to my high expectations.

The main character of this story is Audrey Rose, a girl who is more interested in dissecting corpses than attending tea parties, much to her family's dismay. She is not a bad character, but for some reason I just could not connect with Audrey quite as much as I wish had. I did feel like the author did a great job of showing her as a product of her time, while also making her strong and independent. The main issue I had with Audrey Rose is that she tries so hard to show how independent she is that she is actually reckless on a regular basis. I love strong female characters, but I have a really hard time with foolish ones and that is how she came off on a couple occasions, which was pointed out by other characters.

I absolutely loved Thomas, the Sherlockian love interest. I found him to be charmingly awkward and perhaps a little clueless at times, while also being totally brilliant. I did enjoy their romance although I wish it had been touched on a little more instead of the constant bickering and creeping around to spy on each other. The author has said that there will be more of a focus on romance in future books, so we have that to look forward to! Audrey's uncle, brother, and father were also interesting characters who I always wanted to know more about and never quite felt like I could get a good read on.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the feeling that I was never 100% sure who the big bad was. There were times I was pretty sure (and I was actually right in the end after a wrong guess early on) but I was never sure enough to tell anyone else what my hunch was! That's how good the mystery is written! The reveal of who Jack the Ripper actually was fun, inasmuch as I finally got to see if I was right! Unfortunately, the way the reveal was actually, well, revealed was kind of a let down. The action was not quite enough to hold my attention and everything, including the twist, just kind of came at a snail's pace, not enough to get me really excited about any of it.

I will give it to Kerri - she knows how to create a world and an atmosphere that feels both historical and unsettling. Although I had issues with other parts of the book, the world building was phenomenal! The addition of old photos (some gruesome, some strange, and some not-so-strange) made things interesting and helped to set the mood. I will say that based on the hype I've been hearing, I expected this book to be much more creepy. Maybe I've been desensitized by the number of horror books I've read but, while I did feel a little uneasy at times, I never felt truly creeped out.

Overall this book was just okay for me. I think if I hadn't gone in expecting to be totally blown away by an incredibly creepy mystery, I may have enjoyed it a little more. I felt like Stalking Jack the Ripper was a decent mystery with an interesting historical setting. I feel bad for not loving this one as much as everyone else seems to, but I came away feeling pretty "meh" about the whole experience. I would definitely recommend this for mystery fans though because it did keep me guessing!

Weekly Recap: 8/28 - 9/3

My Super Exciting Life 

This week has been pretty uneventful and that's totally fine with me! It actually started with some Disney excitement when I visited Magic Kingdom with a friend for a few hours. Other than that I've worked, watched old seasons of Survivor, and done a lot of reading. It's so nice to have plenty of time for reading! Unfortunately, that's the extent of my exciting life this week and I don't have much else to report...

New Books

Traded:

Library:

Purchased:

In Case You Missed It

Monday audiobook review of The Wolf Road
The topic was my school reads for Top Ten Tuesday
Thursday book review of Between Shades of Gray
On Friday I posted link-ups for the Horror & Dystopia Challenges
On Saturday I discussed why commenting back is important



This Week I Read

Upcoming Reviews

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I'm linking up to Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post!

Commenting back and why you should do it

Happy Saturday, friends! Today I want to talk about a topic that I haven't discussed here before, but that is near and dear to my heart. (Possibly dramatic, just roll with it.)

Comments are actually the best

One of the best feelings in the world is waking up to an inbox full of blog comments. Literally (and maybe sadly) the first thing I do when I wake up, before I even get out of bed, is check my email and look for "Disqus" in the subject line!

Although I did originally start my blog for my own enjoyment, a big (HUGE) part of it is interacting with the book community! Without the amazing discussions I get to have here each week, I probably wouldn't have been blogging for two and a half years and I certainly wouldn't have had this much fun!

I realized very early on in my blogging experience that I couldn't (and wouldn't want to) do this without all of you and the unique opinions that everyone brings to each discussion post. I found Bloggers Commenting Back, which is basically a group of bloggers committing to not only comment back to comments on their own blogs, but also to visit those blogs and find something fun to talk about on them! After two years of participating, I honestly can't imagine doing things any other way! (Seriously, everyone go join!) Sure, sometimes I get busy and have to put it off until tomorrow, but I try!

Because this was something I adopted early on, I'm always surprised when I find that there are bloggers who never comment back and rarely visit other blogs.

Why is commenting back important?

• » Discussion - Obviously. Like I said, this is really my number one reason for blogging! If it got to the point where I was literally just talking to myself, I'd probably have to throw in the towel. 
• » Traffic - Let's face it. Part of the reason we do this is to gain readers! We all want people to read our reviews and show interest in what we have to say. 
• » Fun - I have such a good time talking with people on my blog and on others! I love it when we agree and I love it when we disagree! FREE HUGS!
• » Consistency - Here's the thing: If you never, ever comment back, people will stop visiting your blog. I can confirm this based on weeks when I was away and unable to reply and my comments suffered greatly. If you want people to continue engaging with your content, you have to engage with them!

So how do you get more comments?

Okay, so something I've heard from fellow bloggers is, "No one ever comments so I have nothing to comment back to!" Well friends, sometimes you have to give to receive! There are bloggers who write posts, sit back, and wait for the readers to roll in. Unfortunately, that method is not always successful. If you want to get some good discussion rolling, you have to go out and make friends! Browse Bloglovin' or Twitter! Click links in comments on other blogs! If you comment, the comments will eventually come back to you.

A final plea

I speak for myself and probably some others when I say... PLEASE leave a link to your own blog in your comment! There are occasionally comments that are devoid of a link in the comment itself or on the Disqus profile and it makes me so sad! It's almost impossible to track them down, especially when their profiles are private or they only use their first name. Please give me a way to find your blog!

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Do you comment back? Do you find it to be too time consuming or maybe you just forget? 

Let me know in the comments! (hehe)

Horror Reading Challenge: September Link-up

Welcome to the ninth month of the 2016 Horror Reading Challenge! I hope everyone is meeting their goals so far! Please share your horror book reviews for the month of September in the link-up below using the format Your Name @ Your Blog (Book Name). If you're new to the challenge, you can see the guidelines and sign up here!

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September Review Link-up

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Dystopia Reading Challenge: September Link-up

Welcome to month nine of the 2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge! I hope everyone has met all their goals so far! If you're new to the challenge, you can see the guidelines and sign up here!


Link-up Rules

• Link up your book reviews under "Review Link-up" as follows: Name of book @ Your blog name, Goodreads, Shelfari, Booklikes, etc.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, visit and comment on the blog linked before you. This helps to create community :)
• Feel free to visit and give some comment love to other bloggers too!

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September Review Link-up

Book Review: Between Shades of Gray

Title: Between Shades of Gray
Author: Ruta Sepetys 
Publication Date: March 22, 2011
Publisher: Philomel Books
Pages: 344
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Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

I will admit that historical fiction is not my go to genre... especially not WWII historical fiction. I read Salt To the Sea by Ruta Sepetys earlier this year and came away having learned a lot of history and also with a fantastic story that I really hadn't expected. Despite the content of either book being outside of my comfort zone, I decided to give her another try with Between Shades of Gray. I'm so glad I did!

This is the story of Lina, a teenager in Lithuania who is suddenly ripped from her home one night alongside her mother and brother without any explanation. She is separated from her father and does not know where he is or why her family has been taken. The three of them are thrown into a train car alongside many other Lithuanians who have also been arrested for unknown reasons. While aboard the train she meets many people, but the most important is Andrius, who becomes very close to her and her brother throughout their journey.

The characters in this book were amazing. I loved Lina and her family, I loved Andrius and his mother, and I loved most of the other secondary characters introduced. Lina was incredibly strong for being such a young girl, almost to the point of being reckless, but it was easy to sympathize with her decisions. I felt for Lina's mother so much as she tried to make the best decisions for her children in such dire circumstances. Although romance is far from the main focus of this story, I loved the relationship between Andrius and Lina. The evolution of their friendship (and sometimes not-friendship) was believable and heart-wrenching at times. I could really feel how much they depended on each other during their time in the camps.

Although the characters are incredibly written, Between Shades of Gray is not an easy book to read. This is a book about a family in Soviet work camps. The trials the characters in this book face are difficult and uncomfortable to read about. But even with all of the terrible events that Between Shades of Gray covers, there are glimpses of goodness, not only in Lina and the other prisoners, but occasionally in those around them. It's nice to think that even in a time of great tragedy, there is good in the world. Ruta Sepetys also knows how to create an atmosphere that feels real. The writing is immersive, sometimes uncomfortably so, but it helped me to connect with the story and the characters on a level that a lesser writer wouldn't have been able to accomplish.

My major complaint about Between Shades of Gray is that it moved very, very slowly. I think that perhaps this works with the story because a big point in the book is that time does move slowly for Lina. Still, I did find myself wishing that things would move along a time or two, especially early on. I also didn't love the way the book ended (a bit abruptly), although I did like the information presented in the epilogue.

Overall, Between Shades of Gray was a really good read! I'm not sure what everyone else was taught in school, but this is one area that my curriculum blazed through at lightening speed and, like with Salt To the Sea, I feel like I came away knowing a lot more about a historical period than I did going in. I did have a couple of issues with this book, but not enough to detract much from my reading experience. If you're a fan of historical fiction, I recommend giving this a try!