Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Originally, I gave this story a three-star rating, but after much consideration and mulling over my feelings during and after reading it, I have come to the conclusion that I should change it to a one-star rating. As a historical fiction piece, I felt disappointed by the execution of this potentially great new series that could have put a new spin on the young adult, historical fiction crime/mystery genre, sadly it fell flat due to the following reasons:
The characters were inconsistent in their personalities and overall nature. As a reader, I felt torn between cheering on the female protagonist, who appears to be determined to stand up against turn -of-the-century London and all of its constricting social rules for women, and then turns out to be nothing more than a very naïve and easily distracted girl. Her “main Squeeze” felt completely out of touch with the time period this story was set in and even the entire context of the story. Other secondary characters felt stiff and barely present, only to serve the purpose of moving the plot along, without enriching the narrative in the slightest.
The writing felt out of sync with the time period. Multiple times I had to stop reading and remind myself that this story was supposed to be set in 1888 London and not in New York during that time period or even in the 21th century. It wavered between common teenage language and the attempt to create the gruesome reality of the unrefined London during the reign of Jack the Ripper.
The plot as outlined in the book blurb was the reason I was excited to pick up this story in the first place, Sadly, potential never became reality in the writing of this story and it fell short of the promise it made to provide the reader with a gripping tale of a young woman defying societal restraints to uncover the gruesome murders that plagued west London.
Overall, I am a bit behind the publication schedule, since the second installment of this series is about to be released, but I have to say even the glimpses and potential that this story offered weren’t enough to keep me interested in reading the sequel. I wouldn’t recommend it, there are better written stories set during the late 1800’s in London.
