The Fiction Feature

Orphan Monster Spy – Review

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen is a historical fiction book about the Holocaust. It is told from the POV of Sarah, a Jewish teenage girl whose German father’s genes allow her to fly under the radar. When Sarah meets a British spy in the war, she is recruited by him to go undercover at a school for Nazi girls to find out the plans of a Nazi scientist.

I don’t usually read historical fiction, but I really liked this book. Sarah was an interesting character and even when the action stopped, her spying never did. Sarah’s skills of deduction and blending in were extremely impressive, and I was on the edge of my seat wondering when she might falter. This book was actually pretty slow at the start. However, this is probably because of the massive exposition that was needed for Sarah’s character.

There were definitely some disturbing triggers in the book. Sarah was frequently abused by her classmates at the school and some of the other children and teachers had also been through a lot. This book was very historically accurate, and the trope of the young girl spying without suspicion is actually one based on real young women in WWII.

Overall, I would give this book…

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Serpent & Dove – Review

Serpent & Dove is a fantasy novel by Shelby Mahurin. It has multiple point of views, including that of Lou, a witch and thief in hiding from her mother and the authorities, and Reid, a member of the religious society of witch hunters known as the Chasseurs. When Lou is captured by Reid under charges of thievery, she accidentally frames him for assault. To prevent Lou from being arrested and Reid from being fired, the two must get married immediately as if they always were. The rest of the book is the development of their relationship and Lou’s endeavor to keep her identity a secret.

This book utilizes a very overused trope, fake marriage or marriage of convenience, and I loved it. Usually I hate romance novels, but I loved this one and I eagerly await the second installment in September, 2020. It does have some adult content and a LOT of swearing and inappropriate language, but I didn’t have much of a problem with that. This is pretty stereotypical, but it’s still worth the read.

Overall I would give this book…

⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ as a fantasy novel.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ as a romance novel.

Stalking Jack the Ripper – Review

Stalking Jack the Ripper is a historical fiction book by Kerri Maniscalco set in 19th century London. The story is told from the point of view of Audrey Rose Wadsworth, a seventeen-year-old girl born into some extent of nobility. The social norm is that she would only live to serve a husband or other male relative, but Audrey Rose wants to learn her uncle’s trade: forensic medicine. This story takes place in the time of the Jack the Rippers and Audrey Rose and her friend and love interest Thomas Cresswell must investigate the bodies of the victims under the guidance of Audrey Rose’s uncle and the murders themselves.

Overall, I found this to be a great book. The story is dry at some times because of setting and aforementioned social norms, but it made up for those places with others. The description of the bodies and murders can be interesting for some and horrifying for others, myself being in the former category. While the setting did keep some things from happening, the characters still had a lot of depth. Some creative liberties were taken, but overall Stalking Jack the Ripper is relatively historically accurate, which makes it all the more captivating.

I’m not a huge fan of the historical fiction genre, but I did enjoy this book and plan on reading the rest of the series. I’d recommend this book to fans of some True Crime shows in general and any murder mysteries. I watched the BuzzFeed Unsolved Jack the Ripper episode before reading this book, and while it mainly served for comedy, there was some background that I could refer back to.

Overall I could give this book…

⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.