BLURB:
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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BOOK REVIEW:
CHARACTERS: 4/5
PLOT: 4/5
WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 3.5/5
OVERALL RATING: 15/20
Having lived in the East End for most of my life, walking the same streets for school/work etc you can't help but know and be fascinated by the grisly history of the area and by one of its notorious killers. So normally I am not a big fan of historical fiction and especially not of such a gruesome topic. But considering the killer was never caught my curiosity was piqued; I wanted to see where a YA book would go with this story.
So, to begin with the writing style was very readable, I found it engaging and overall felt authentic enough for the time period that I wasn't jarred out of the story because a misplaced modern turn of phrase. In that respect I found it very well done. The plot however was slightly predictable and after a while it was actually easy enough to guess the killer. Still the ending was suitably shocking enough that I forgave the predictability of it all. I particularly liked how the paranormal was brought into the story it fit so well with what was popular among the victorians of the day that I enjoyed that little story arc very much. However there were some twists that were added in that felt incongruous to the rest of the plot and frankly confused me:
spoiler:
Now in term of characters I have to say I didn't warm to Audrey Rose as much as I hoped I would. Mainly because of her lack of common sense. Wandering the streets at night with a killer on the loose does NOT make you a strong willed independent woman, it just makes you a reckless, foolish one! As an aside a big gripe I had (I don't think this is a spoiler as it has no impact in the story whatsoever!)was how the author handled Audrey Rose's Indian heritage. It was so awkwardly handled. It was mentioned so offhandedly, that for awhile I didn't know if the author was saying that Audrey Rose is from a family of British colonists living in India or whether her grandmother was actually Indian. Either of those situations, considering the volatility of the region and the prejudices of the time surely should have played a bigger impact on Audrey's life. I get that this is essentially a murder mystery and the focus is on solving who the Ripper is but then I would argue why make her quarter Indian at all if it is to have no bearing on the story. Vague mentions of sarees and curries does not do this justice. Far better in my opinion to leave out such an important idea then to butcher its execution. But this is not a character flaw rather the
I did however feel a bit more invested in her as the story progressed. but for all that I was far more intrigued by her Uncle and Thomas. These characters seem to be far more nuanced and had more substance then Audrey Rose. I particularly enjoyed Thomas's character and found the 'outrageous' things he said quite entertaining.
Lastly I guessed who the killer was frankly I wished it had been someone else, for so many spoiler reasons so I can't say anymore.
But for all that, I was very surprised how much I enjoyed it, granted it is not my usual read, and frankly the YA label lulled me into HUGELY underestimating the gore factor! but despite all the issues I've listed I thought it was a very good start to the series. I am interested to know how Audrey Rose and Thomas's romance progresses and how they will become a crime-solving duo. Would still recommend!
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