A New York Times bestseller!
Two starred reviews!
Description
Two starred reviews!
An instant New York Times bestseller!
From Printz Honor–winning and New York Times bestselling author Julie Berry, a true-crime-nail-biter-turned-mythic-odyssey pitting Jack the Ripper against Medusa. “A powerful exploration of human connection during nightmarish times” (Kirkus Reviews).
It’s autumn 1888, and Jack the Ripper is on the run. As London police close in, he flees England for New York City seeking new victims. But a primal force of female vengeance has had enough. With serpents for hair and a fearsome gaze, an awakened Medusa is hunting for one thing: Jack.
And other dangers lurk in Manhattan’s Bowery. Salvation Army volunteers Tabitha and Pearl discover that a girl they once helped has been forced to work in a local brothel. Tabitha’s an upstate city girl with a wry humor and a thirst for adventure, while farmgirl Pearl takes everything with stone-cold seriousness. Their brittle partnership is tested as they team up with an aspiring girl reporter and a handsome Irish bartender to mount a rescue effort, only to find their fates entwine with Medusa’s and Jack’s.
Reviews
★ “If Looks Could Kill drips with the historical and sensory detail Berry's readers have come to expect from her work. . . . a meticulously thoughtful exploration of vengeance, justice, mercy, faith, and sisterhood.”
—Shelf Awareness, starred review
★ “This expansive historical novel with Medusa-inspired fantasy elements features Jack the Ripper, Salvation Army missionaries, and new-made Gorgons in New York’s Bowery, 1888. . . . Berry’s call to awareness of misogyny in its many guises is strong and clear. And, as is her way, she treats historical detail with a light but sure hand and religious conviction with sympathetic clarity.”
—The Horn Book, starred review
“A YA thriller unlike anything you’ve read before . . . dark, fast-paced, and utterly addictive, it’s the must-read of the fall.”
—Parade Magazine
