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A review by ec_newman
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
3.0
The three stars is because I really, really love the idea and premise for the story and feel like two stars is too harsh.
But I got issues with this.
I heard on some video essay about Zach Snyder and the DC movie universe, that Snyder focused on just moments, brilliantly shot cinematic moments, but there were no scenes developed and threaded through the film. That's what this felt like to me. Moments that were interesting, but a lot of gaps on the emotional and logical level. The story felt disjointed to me and I wasn't as invested as I wanted to be with the characters (less on the romance). There was a lot of tell (through our MC's thoughts), not show and her conclusion-jumping felt really forced in places. It's like the research on history and science was very well done, the plot mostly there, but there was not the same attention to creating understandable characters and relationships. Being an author is hard to have all of that running smoothly.
I read this because I want to read the sequel (DRACULA, COME ON!!), and figured I needed this one first. If it wasn't about Prince Dracula, I wouldn't continue with this series. I rolled my eyes far too often.
I'm hoping this is just first author mistakes and Maniscalco improves with the next. Because again, the premises and ideas of this series are fabulous.
(Also, I felt like the gore was unnecessary. Like, was I supposed to be grossed out? Shock is one thing, but use it sparingly so it doesn't just make me want to skim.)
But I got issues with this.
I heard on some video essay about Zach Snyder and the DC movie universe, that Snyder focused on just moments, brilliantly shot cinematic moments, but there were no scenes developed and threaded through the film. That's what this felt like to me. Moments that were interesting, but a lot of gaps on the emotional and logical level. The story felt disjointed to me and I wasn't as invested as I wanted to be with the characters (less on the romance). There was a lot of tell (through our MC's thoughts), not show and her conclusion-jumping felt really forced in places. It's like the research on history and science was very well done, the plot mostly there, but there was not the same attention to creating understandable characters and relationships. Being an author is hard to have all of that running smoothly.
I read this because I want to read the sequel (DRACULA, COME ON!!), and figured I needed this one first. If it wasn't about Prince Dracula, I wouldn't continue with this series. I rolled my eyes far too often.
I'm hoping this is just first author mistakes and Maniscalco improves with the next. Because again, the premises and ideas of this series are fabulous.
(Also, I felt like the gore was unnecessary. Like, was I supposed to be grossed out? Shock is one thing, but use it sparingly so it doesn't just make me want to skim.)