Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

~ megs14malloy

Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper, #1)Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Stalking Jack the Ripper is the first book in the series of the same name featuring young protagonist Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her charming friend, Thomas Cresswell. Audrey Rose is a great character, although at times a little flat, I liked the idea behind her. A young lady who doesn’t buckle under the pressures of conventional society. Audrey Rose wants to use her mind and more specifically, she wants to use it to study forensic medicine and thusly, crime.

She apprentices with her Uncle, which she has to keep secret from her father and the rest of the world. Her Uncle, who happens to be a forensic scientist, teaches at a local college and advises the local law enforcement on crimes. When the Jack the Ripper killings begin the bodies are brought to her Uncle’s laboratory to be studied and due to that, Audrey Rose becomes interested and tangentially involved with the case. It is during this early stage of the investigation that she first meets Thomas and a sort of hate-to-love relationship begins – one of my favorite YA-tropes. The banter between them is really sweet and Thomas stole my heart as well along the way!

The setting is Victorian London, one of my favorite settings, but for me this didn’t really feel that way. I felt like it could have been set anywhere. The atmosphere wasn’t as rich as I hoped it would be and that is my only real gripe with this book. Well that and the fact that I thought certain sections dragged a bit or were slightly unnecessary.

Overall, I thought the mystery was fun and I liked the risky situations that Audrey Rose put herself in. I definitely plan to continue on with the series. In fact, the last page of this book probably bumped my star rating a half star. I loved how it leaves you off in the perfect spot to have you strongly anticipating the second book. The next book features the legend of Dracula so, totally my aesthetic!

Original: FINALLY getting to this one which I bought when it was a new release a million years ago. This is my first book I am trying to complete for
Spookathon
 which will meet challenge #3 to ‘read a book not set in our time period’. Victorian London is my aesthetic and forensic science, yes please! This should be a good one for me!

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Review: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

~ megs14malloy

The Death of Mrs. WestawayThe Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

The Death of Mrs. Westaway is a twisted tale of long buried secrets and newly developed deceptions. Mostly set at a decrepit old estate property where the coldness gets under your skin, I think I enjoyed the setting most of all. I went into this hoping for a gothic atmosphere that would pull me into the story and that’s exactly what I got.

Our main character, Harriet ‘Hal’ Westaway, is a very young woman down on her luck since the unfortunate hit-and-run death of her beloved mother. One day as she is believing she has hit rock bottom, she receives a letter in the mail announcing that her Grandmother, Hester Westaway, has passed and that she is due to the solicitor’s office to attend the reading of the will as she is named a beneficiary. Harriet, knowing there must be some sort of mistake as her Grandparents died years ago, decides to test her luck and go pretend to be the Harriet Westaway named in the letter. At most she is expecting a small financial payout that will allow her to pay off some debt and perhaps live a little more comfortably. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined what would take place once she entered into this dangerous game.

I don’t want to say too much more regarding the plot as I feel it is best to go into it knowing as little as possible. I will say that the family she meets upon traveling to the Westaway estate, Trepassen House, is very interesting indeed and it was a ton of fun watching the truth unfold. Again, to me the setting and atmosphere of this were fantastic. I could picture the cold, the snow, the eerie lake, the attic room with the bars on the windows; the estate was brought to life within the pages. I live for that in a story. At times, I felt I knew the answer to the mystery and I was correct on parts of it, but it was so twisted it was hard to tell until the final reveal whether I was on the right track or not. Truly a lot of fun to read.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes some gothic vibes weaved throughout their mystery/thrillers. My only slight criticism was that the beginning was a little slow. I had this same feeling while reading, The Woman in Cabin 10, another one of Ruth Ware’s books but luckily, for me, the introductory portion of this story didn’t drag quite as much as that one.

In the end, I am so happy that I picked this one up and I will definitely continue reading Ware’s books in future. If this one is any sign, it’s that her works are getting stronger and stronger!

Original: Spookathon Book #2 (read a thriller) – switching up my initial TBR (as I ALWAYS do) and starting this before it’s due back at the library! Excited to start!

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Spookathon Update – Day #3

~ megs14malloy

Hi bookworms! Since it is day 3 of Spookathon, I thought I would provide a quick update on my reading stats thus far. As I had initially anticipated, I have had to switch up my TBR for the week a tiny bit. Basically, I want to be able to complete all 5 challenges but realized after day 1 that I would never be able to get to 5 physical books. Because of this, I decided to pick up an audiobook to complete one of the challenges.

I chose, The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware, to complete the ‘read a thriller’ challenge. If you read my earlier ‘Spookathon TBR’ post, you may remember that initially I had wanted to read Baby Teeth by Zoji Stage. However, that is NOT happening. I just won’t have the time. Now, I did read another Ruth Ware book a few weeks ago, The Woman in Cabin 10 which I rated 3.5-stars. While there were moments I did really like, there were also a lot that were mediocre at best for me. The Death of Mrs. Westaway is her latest book having released in May of this year and I have heard a lot of good things about it.

As I felt with The Woman in Cabin 10, this one also started out a little slow for me but I am over 1/4 of the way in now and it is really starting to pick up. In this one, our main character, Hal (short for Harriet) receives a mysterious letter that her Grandmother has passed and she is set to inherit a vast sum of money. Problem being, they have the wrong Harriet Westaway, as both of Hal’s Grandparents passed away years ago. Being in dire straights financially, Hal decides to take the risk, to travel to the funeral and attempt to impersonate this other Harriet Westaway. I am just to the portion of the book where, the funeral being over, she has traveled back to the manor house and is just meeting with all of the remaining family. Lucky enough for her, the woman whose daughter she is supposed to be is dead and was estranged from her family anyway so no one is yet privy to her deception.

Yeah, so I am liking it so far and cannot wait to see where it ends up. I have about 10-hours left on the audio so a lot of book left to go. We’ll see. I am predicting at least a 4-star for this one, perhaps and hopefully, higher.

I am also currently reading, Stalking Jack the Ripper, by Kerri Maniscalco. This I had on my original tbr to meet the challenge, ‘read a book not set in our time period’. As this book takes place in Victorian London during the time of the infamous Jack the Ripper killings (1888), it perfectly meets that prompt. As luck would have it, and unbeknownst to me prior to opening the book, this also completes the ‘read a book with pictures in it’ challenge, as it has creepy old photos of London, crime scenes, medical abnormalities, etc. I am always a fan of killing two birds with one stone so I was very pleased to make this discovery. I started Stalking Jack the Ripper on Monday and have just over 50-pages left so may actually be finishing it tonight!

Tomorrow the plan is to start The Wicked Deep, by Shea Ernshaw, to complete the ‘read a book with a spooky word in the title’. On Friday or Saturday, I will start Toil and Trouble: 15 Stories of Women & Witchcraft, which will complete the ‘read a book with purple on the cover’ as well as being the ‘group book’ for the readathon. I know there is no way I will finish Toil & Trouble by the time the readathon ends on Sunday but I am going to give it the old college try anyway.

That’s it for now fellow worms! What are you all reading this week? Leave a comment below or contact me on any of my social media platforms – links to the right>>>>

Cheers and happy reading!

Review: The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

~ megs14malloy

The Cabin at the End of the WorldThe Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-WTH DID I JUST READ-STARS**

Well, this book launched me into the throes of a full-blown existential crisis.

What is life? What is love? What are words? What does anything mean? Did I just read this? What did I just read? Is there anybody out there? Are you there God, it’s me Meg?

Wen and her Daddies, Andrew and Eric, head off on a family vacation to a little cabin in the woods of New Hampshire to unplug from the world for a while. The cutest little family ever to family. I fell in love with them from the very first chapter and knew immediately that this book would crush my soul. It did.

As Wen is outside catching grasshoppers, cataloging and naming them (as you do), a stranger appears. Wen knows she shouldn’t talk to strangers but this man seems nice and eventually gets her to let down her guard. It’s not until his friends appear that Wen realizes something is horribly wrong.

What happens next is too messed up to even summarize for a review. I was so invested in this. I loved the format and really enjoyed how my mind was screaming, “NOOOOOOOOOOOO” pretty much the entire time. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a tense, slightly brutal read. If you are someone who likes everything to be tied up with a nice little bow at the end however, this may not be the book for you. Tremblay likes to make us think. Really well done!

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Review: Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

~ megs14malloy

Neverworld WakeNeverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

…time for you has become snagged on a splinter, forming a closed-circuited potentiality called a Neverworld Wake.

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl is a YA science-fiction novel that incorporates the idea of a time loop to tell the story. If this doesn’t sound like something you would be into…probably should avoid this one. If however, you are like me, and live for this type of story, definitely pick it up!

This story follows our main girl, Beatrice ‘Bea’ Hartley, as she goes to her estranged friend Whitley’s seaside mansion, Wincroft, to try to get answers regarding the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Jim. Basically, Bea and Whitley were part of a super tight friend group at their private school, Darrow, which was comprised of them, Jim, Kipling, Cannon and Martha. After Jim’s death, ruled a suicide (which Bea never believed), Bea separated herself from the rest of the group as she struggled to overcome her grief.

Once she arrives at Wincroft for their ill-fated reunion, the group (all in attendance, of course) pretty much accepts her back with good grace, as friends tend to do and they whisk her out for a night of clubbing. As we all know, nights out at the club can end dramatically and this one definitely did.

Once they finally drag themselves back to the mansion shit starts to get real freaky, real quick. A knock at the door. A mysterious creepy old dude. The rules of the Neverworld Wake are explained to them and it’s off to the races. Bea never gives up her quest to discover what really happened to Jim and that is where the rest of the narrative takes us. The group investigating and uncovering what truly happened to Jim. Secrets and deceptions are revealed as we race towards the finale.

Guys, I loved this book. I loved the mystery. I loved the sci-fi elements – anything relating to the concept of time I am down for. I loved the dynamics among the friends. I loved the characters. This group of kids were the golden children of their school. They were all so smart and ambitious. I got real Slytherin vibes from this. If you are a Slytherin and are looking for book recs, I definitely think this would qualify.

This is my second Marisha Pessl book. I love her and will basically read anything she writes. Anything. Got one of her discarded grocery lists? I’ll read that.

Initial Reaction: We are all anthologies. We are each thousands of pages long, filled with fairy tales and poetry, mysteries and tragedy, forgotten stories in the back no one will read.

I loved this. Full review to come…stay tuned!

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Review: Dead Ringer (Agatha Raisin #29) by M.C. Beaton

~ megs14malloy

The Dead Ringer (Agatha Raisin #29)The Dead Ringer by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars**
Ugh, guys! This makes me SO SAD!!! I didn’t like this one and I really wanted to…

I read a lot of Agatha Raisin books in high school and during summer break for college. This was a long time ago, certainly before I was a member of Goodreads, so I don’t even recall which ones that I read. From what I remember one of the things I really liked about the series was our protagonist, Agatha Raisin. In my memory, she was snarky, impulsive, man crazy, full of fun and daring. That was not the Agatha I found in this story. This Agatha seemed miserable, desperate in her search for a man (CONSTANTLY) and down-right rude to pretty much everyone around her.

The storyline itself was all over the place in my opinion. We were introduced to quickly to way to many side characters and as the story went on, I found myself confused pretty frequently. Having completed it, I am couldn’t tell you who the killer was or what their motivation was. I have already forgotten.

I have so much respect for M.C. Beaton as an author. She has created some iconic characters with Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth but this just was not a solid story for me. I hope if this series continues on that Agatha gets some of her old fun-loving spark back.

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate every opportunity I receive to provide my feedback on a story even if it doesn’t go 100% to my tastes.

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Review: Our House by Louise Candlish

~ megs14malloy

Our HouseOur House by Louise Candlish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy ’cause of you

…not quite the case on Trinity Avenue where secrets and deceptions run rampant!
Our House by Louise Candlish is a taut domestic drama that follows the dual narrative of husband and wife, Bram and Fi Lawson. The book starts out with a crime, a fraud within a marriage, you know who did it, and the events leading up to that crime are then pieced together over the course of the book. Through the excellent use of mixed media you get both Fi’s perspective and Bram’s perspective. Hers is told through an extensive interview she did for a podcast called, The Victim. His is told through a ‘word document’ that is sort of a confessional manifesto.

I have mentioned before that I am absolute
TRASH
 for books that incorporate mixed media sources. From Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Stephen King’s Carrie, Nick Cutter’s The Troop and Marisha Pessl’s Night Film to everything in between, I just love how these different elements, be they journal entries, newspaper articles, police reports, etc., can truly bring a story to life. Is it just me? Maybe. But to me, this type of format only enhances my commitment to a storyline. In my opinion, Candlish did a really great job weaving the two perspectives together, whilst also running it along with a shorter ‘present’ events perspective. If not done well, this type of formatting can become disjointed and confusing but I never felt that here.

Now let’s talk about our two protagonists, Fi and Bram. What can I say about Fi and Bram? I didn’t like either one of them. Fi can come off a bit weak, whiny and passive aggressive, while Bram is a complete and utter coward. Did this keep me from enjoying this? Absolutely not. I am not a person who needs to like any or all of the characters in the books I read. I mean, I only like about 50% of the people I meet IRL, so how can I expect to be enamored with all the book characters I meet?

This being said, although to me personally, Fi and Bram were far from likable, I did get drawn down the rabbit hole of the lies and deceptions and absolutely wanted to know the truth behind it! I think if we can all learn a little something from this story it would be, honesty IS IN FACT the best policy.

The ending of this was fabulous! Just when I thought at least one thing was going to go the way I wanted…

Do I think you should read this book? Yes, definitely. I think this would be a great book to read around the holidays…it will make your own family life seem so much better by comparison and if that doesn’t recommend a book, I don’t know what will!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I had a lot of fun with it and look forward to reading more from this author!

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Review: The Sea Was a Fair Master by Calvin Demmer

~ megs14malloy

The Sea Was a Fair MasterThe Sea Was a Fair Master by Calvin Demmer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Sea Was a Fair Master was so freaking fun to read!

I have never read a flash fiction collection before and I wonder, are they all like this? Are they all so good? I am guessing probably not. Calvin Demmer is a master at this style! There are 23-stories within these 83-pages and each and every one of them left me with chills. Mostly horror stories, with a sprinkling of scifi and crime fiction, there is something here for everyone. Whether your biggest fear is clowns (MINE), carnivals, the psycho next door, dolls, robots, etc., you will find something in here to make your blood go cold.

I recommend reading it at night, home alone, on your kindle so you can turn all the lights out…that’s how I read it anyway and it worked for me!

If you are someone who is participating in one of the 43,651 readathons in October, you should DEFINITELY pick this one up. Currently only $2.99 for your kindle and with a short page count this is the perfect book for any Spooky Reads challenge!

I really look forward to reading further works from Calvin Demmer. One to watch IMO!

Original: Thrills & Chills aplenty! Loved this. Full review to come…stay tuned!

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Spookathon TBR

~ megs14malloy

Hi Geeks & Ghouls! I hope you are all having a wonderful October and getting all your spooky, eerie Halloweenie vibes in; I know I am! Today I wanted to go over my TBR for Spookathon. For those of you who do not know what Spookathon is, it is 1-week readathon, hosted by Kayla @Booksandlala, as well as Peter from @Peterlikesbooks and Shannon @Bookerly – you can find all of their channels on BookTube (aka YouTube), so go check them out! The dates for this year are October 15th to October 21st, there are five challenges and one group book. Click the link to the right to see Kayla’s announcement video >>> Spookathon Announcement >>> Without further ado, let’s get into the challenges, and hence, my overly ambitious TBR:

  1. Read a Thriller: For this I am choosing, Baby Teeth, by Zoje Stage. This is an Adult Thriller that was released in July and I believe it revolves around a woman who thinks her young daughter is possessed. Who doesn’t love a story with a creepy kid in it, am I right? I really don’t want to know too much about this going in but I have heard some pretty good feedback on it. I have the hardcover of this which is 304 pages.
  2. Read a Book with Purple on the Cover: For this I am going to use the group book which is, Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft, edited by Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe. This is a new YA anthology that includes stories from 15 different YA authors where the heroines are witchy in some way. It is diverse and involves a number of different sub-genres like historical fiction, scifi, contemporary, etc. This sounds really fun but it’s a chunker. I have the hardcover of this and it comes in at a whopping 405 pages.
  3. Read a Book Not Set in Our Time Period: For this I am finally getting to a book that has been on my ‘to be read’ list since 2016 and that is, Stalking Jack the Ripper, by Kerri Maniscalco. This is the first book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series. There are currently three books out in the series and I have all three so really would like to start this. This is a historical fiction YA story that follows a girl named, Audrey, who wants to study forensic medicine and I guess is apparently going to try to solve the Jack the Ripper case? I don’t know if that last bit is true or not but makes sense based on the title, I would say. I love forensic science and the Jack the Ripper case is one that I have had interest in for a number of years so this seems like it would be right up my alley. This is part of the James Patterson Imprint and will be my first book to read of their releases. I have the hardcover of this as well which comes in at 326 pages.
  4. Read a Book with a Spooky Word in the Title: For this I have chosen, The Wicked Deep, by Shea Ernshaw. I bought this book when it was released in March and have been specifically saving it for this month. This is about a small town called, Sparrow, that is cursed since two centuries before they hanged three sisters for witchcraft. Apparently every summer these sisters return and lure boys of the town into the local harbor where they ultimately drown. You would think these parents would keep their boys locked up in summer but anyway, regardless of absentee parenting, I am really excited to FINALLY be getting to this. This gives me strong Hocus Pocus vibes and I live for that! I have the hardcover version for this book, which also happens to be my favorite book cover of the year, and it comes in at 308 pages.
  5. Read a Book with Pictures: For this I decided to go with a graphic novel because I should be able to read it in one sitting and I have a lot of pages to get through already. The graphic novel I chose is, Locke & Key, Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodrigues. I love the artwork in this. I have had it for a while and I think October is the perfect time to get to it. This takes place in the fictional town of Lovecraft, Massachusetts and involves a haunted mansion of some sort which I am all about. This one is 168 pages long.

So, that is it! That is my official Spookathon TBR. Will I actually get to and finish all of these books in a week? Probably not but I am always up for a challenge. Also, I am a major mood reader so the books on this may ultimately get swapped out. I am hoping I can find at least one of these on audiobook, that would certainly help, as I always listen to audiobooks when walking my dog (which I do a lot) and commuting. My current page count for this would be 1,511 pages for the week, so 215 pages a day approximately. That’s heavy. I probably read on average 100-150 pages a day so this would be a big, big push. We’ll see!

Leave me a comment below if you are planning to participate in Spookathon. What is on your TBR for the month? Have you read any of these books, do you want to read any of these books? I want to know! You can comment here or contact me through any of my ‘contact me’ links to the right!

Cheers & Happy Reading!

Review: Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser

~ megs14malloy

Forget You Know MeForget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Forget You Know Me is a lovely examination of relationships and different types of love. It follows multiple perspectives and for me felt more like a domestic drama than the ‘thriller’ I am used to reading. The book starts off with a bang – BFFs, Liza & Molly, who have grown apart in recent years, decide on a catch-up Skype date while Molly’s husband is away. As Molly is away from her computer momentarily, checking on one of her children, Liza sees a stranger enter Molly’s house and it all goes wild from there. However, again, I wouldn’t classify this as a ‘thriller’. As a portrait of adult life, f/f friendships, marital relationships, m/f friendships and new loves, it is wonderfully done. As a thriller, it is lacking a bit of the thrill. Besides that first chapter, I was never on the edge of my seat anxiously awaiting a big reveal. A creepy thing happened and we just sort of moved on. In the end, it is wrapped up but the end was just sort of okay for me. It was a good book for sure but I don’t anticipate lying awake tonight thinking about it.

I did really enjoyed Stawser’s writing style and absolutely plan to read more of her books. The prose is well-thought out and rich in detail. As far as the characters go, they were all very well developed and we spent a good amount of time learning the main characters thoughts, past and motivations. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys contemporary literature, especially those that revolve around the complications that can arise within adult relationships.

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate it so much and as always, look forward to hearing other reader’s thoughts on this one.

Original: Why am I starting this book when I said I was going to wait until October…and it doesn’t even come out until next February!? Because I have ZERO chill. Just none.

Previously: ARC received!! The synopsis of this sounds incredible – right in my comfort zone and the perfect book for the Fall. Psyched to get started on this one – #spooktober read for sure!

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