Escaping From Houdini

3.75/5 stars

Book 2 complete for O.W.L.'s 2019 Potions - Next Ingredient: Sequel

Initial Thoughts: This installment was very enjoyable and I loved that I was able to jump right back in Thomas and Audrey's story. In this book, Audrey and Thomas absolutely infuriated me and I do not know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but props to Kerri for making have such strong emotions about the characters. I definitely enjoyed this book more than Hunting Prince Dracula (I think that one suffered from second book syndrome). I also think it is probably my favorite of the three because there was no slow building like with Stalking Jack the Ripper. This book immediately had me intrigued and trying to figure out who the killer was but also angerly flipping pages because of what Audrey and Thomas were doing (or not doing). The epilogue for this book has me super curious about what our favorite characters will get up to in Capturing the Devil.

It was the most disappointing book of the year for me. And it was so much more painful because I was looking forward to reading it.

But that was extremely bad. I managed to get through 30% of the book. I hate all that Let's-pretend-we-have-some-relationship-for some-grand-goal-but-we-will-not-tell-your-boyfriend-because-his-reaction-needs-to-be-authentic. Really? What kind of shit that was?

I love this series but thomas was done so dirty in this. i obviously still loved the vibes, the mystery, and audrey rose but the love triangle made this one my least favorite in the series. 

I just love this series ❤️

Things I liked in this book:
- The additional love interest element.
- The setting of the book on an old fashioned cruise liner.
- I still absolutely love Thomas and his character.

Now for the things I didn't like.
- I'm honestly getting kind of annoyed at Audrey Rose's character. She seems to be blundering through all the time without thinking things through. (even though she's supposed to be this rational and intelligent character)
- Her constant crying about wanting her independence, and making decisions to feel more in control of her life even when its not the wisest choice.
- Some of the situations in the book that seem unnecessary for the main plot. Like the whole situation where she's is training in the carnival. How did that play into anything else that happened later on in the book? Did she use her new slight of hand training for anything? No. Did she vault down into the room using her newly found skill in trapeze to save the day? Not even close. What was the whole point of including those situations in the book besides just using them as space fillers?
- I hate seeing relationships where the guy is super understanding, giving, and does everything for the female main character and the female continues to blunder about doing whatever she wants without providing the same level of commitment and consideration to a relationship. Thats how Audrey Rose and Thomas's relationship feel like to me.

Overall I feel like at this point, I'm just forcing myself to finish the series because I already have the 4th book.

I just can't. I have no idea where to start with this book, it was so good and heartbreaking and it left me with such a strange feeling. I laughed, I cried and I wanted to throw it against a wall. It is so hard to talk about it right now and to have some order in my thoughts, because they are all over the place. I finished the book last night and I didn't want to write the review right away, I said that it would be better if I waited until morning. Well, morning's here and I still have no idea what to say, because there are TOO MANY things to say.

Well, let's start with the spoiler-free review. Let me tell you: if you liked the first 2 books in the series, you are going to LOVE this one. I think it's my favourite so far, because it was so good and it made me feel so many things. Obviously, I have already fallen in love with Thomas Cresswell and he's such an amazing character. However, this book made me fall in love with him even more. He's so precious and amazing, he would do anything for Audrey Rose and his love for her has no end.
In this book, we see how their “relationship” takes some weird turns, how they encounter some problems and if their love for each other is strong enough to survive the horrible things that happen on the RMS Etruria.

Now, let's talk about the fun part: SPOILERS AHEAD.

Mephistopheles. That's all I have to say. I hated this character SO MUCH, because he made me kind of fall in love with him. Yes, that's weird, but I did NOT want to love him. I wanted to hate him because he created problems between Audrey Rose and Thomas. He made Audrey Rose break Cresswell's heart and mine too, because when Thomas realised that Audrey Rose may have feelings for Mephistopheles, I could feel his sadness. I was so sad, even now it makes me cry just thinking about those chapters. Poor, dear Thomas.
I was really mad at Audrey Rose for doing that to Thomas, but somehow I understood her. Mephistopheles is such an interesting, magical character that you cannot help yourself and want to see more of him. That's what happened to Audrey Rose, she got stuck in his web of lies and manipulation. However, he was not THAT BAD in the end. But I still hated him for coming between my 2 favourite characters and making Audrey Rose question her feelings for Thomas.
It was so obvious that the two of them are made for each other, I had high hopes that Audrey Rose was going to realise that and give up on her almost-feelings for Mephistopheles.
I loved what she did in the ending and how she saved Cresswell's life, as well as her realization that her feeling for Thomas could not be made less powerful. And even if she had some feelings for Mephistopheles, they were not enough and he was not the right man for her.


This book was brilliant. I can feel my heart breaking whenever I'm thinking about it and that's a sign that this book definitely deserves 5 stars.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH That was SO GOOD!!!!!!! I really, REALLY liked the motive behind the killings this time, as well as the whole theme of the midnight carnival!!!!!! I've always wanted to go to something like that tbh!!!!!!!!!! I will admit, this Is my least favorite of the series so far, because of the deceit aspect between Audrey Rose and Thomas. I've never been a fan of that troupe, and with the love triangle aspects thrown in, it got slightly tiresome. That being said, I still GREATLY enjoyed it!!!!!! I definitely did not expect who the murderer was this time, either!!!!!!!

it was okay but idk something felt off.. hope everything comes together in the last book

~Review first appeared on The Bent Bookworm!~“Truth is a blade. Brutal and ice cold. It cuts. Sometimes when spoken carelessly it even scars.”Escaping from Houdini (Book #3 in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series) was one of my most anticipated books of the entire year. I absolutely adored the first two – which, if you haven't read and have the slightest interest in doing so STOP READING because there will be spoilers for those two books – and so I was delighted to find out that the original planned trilogy was being expanded to four. Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell...I can't get enough of them, or the deliciously creepy situations their forensic passion leads them into! That said, I have to admit this book was my least favorite of the series so far.^Sorry, this is what I was thinking of through the first few chapters.I really do hate to say it, but in some ways it feels completely unnecessary...like why spend an entire book on the trans-oceanic voyage from Europe to America? I understand it makes for a really creepy atmostphere, when people are being MURDERED and you know for absolutely certain they are on the ship with you and no way to get off of it in the middle of the ocean...but still. Anyway, maybe that's just me, and I'm butt-hurt because I was really looking forward to seeing what they did in America and also seeing how the series ended.//SMALL POTENTIAL SPOILERS for character-type stuff, not plot//My PeopleOther than the maybe-not-necessary part of my feelings on the book...OMG WADSWORTH. What happened?!? Where did the stalwart, strong-minded girl I knew go? What...just what. Here, maybe a screenshot of my actual agony as I read will help:Not only was she suddenly needing smelling salts, but the way she treated Thomas...I really struggle to accept that it was justified. In the grand scheme of things, I understand why she did it. She put trying to find the killer and figure out what was going on ahead of her own feelings, but in the process I really feel she treated Thomas as if he was just an automaton without any kind of emotion. It felt like a kick to the stomach. And, as we all remember (riiiiight, you did read the other books), for all his cold, calculating, analytical brain cells, our boy does actually have a heart a few fibers of insecurity running through it. Now, in an author note at the end, Kerri Maniscalco actually addresses this entire issue, and WHY Wadsworth acted the way she did. I get it. I'm just not completely on board with it and I feel like it quite possibly forever altered her relationship with Thomas. Can relationships recover from setbacks? Absolutely. Do they? Sometimes. So I guess we will just have to wait and see in book four...HOW am I going to wait another year??Plot“This isn't the first time you've removed a cravat, is it?”“It would be the first time I used it to strangle someone, though.”The mystery aspect of this one wasn't as hair-raising as either one of the other two books. Enjoyable, yes, and I didn't have a very good theory until about 65-75% of the way through the book (perhaps because I was so hung up over Wadsworth and Cresswell's woes). It was very flashy and atmospheric but not all that exciting. After the first couple of bodies you kinda/sorta knew what to expect.The “show” aspect was interesting and really gave a different flavor to the setting than you would expect from a ship. It was very circus-y and all the minor characters introduced created ALL kinds of red herrings and hangups.Things That Did Surprise Me“Be cautious with who you give your heart to. And be even more wary of those who wish to steal it.”First, totally did not see the cousin thing coming. That was intriguing and really added another layer to the story. Next, do not go into this expecting Houdini to play a large part. The title is somewhat misleading. Third, WHO THE HELL is this circus master dude and WTF is he playing at (this question is mostly answered by the end but geez I hated this guy's guts for most of the book). Fourth, I still adore Mrs. Harvey. I don't think I mentioned her in my other reviews, but she is just the absolute BEST with her “nightcaps” and look-the-other way style of chaperoning.Overall, I'm giving Escaping from Houdini 3.5 stars. I really wanted to give it 4 but it just bummed me out too much, between the “meh” mystery factor and the “ACK!!” relationship factor.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+______________Omg my heart. _____________OMG LOOK AT THAT COVER. Freakin' killing me here. <3

not as great as the former two books but still good.

subo la puntuación de esto solo por el final porque no me ha gustado nada de nada 

I was so excited for this book because I love this series so much and I am complete trash for the romance. While I was waiting to read this book I read a few reviews that I knew weren't going to spoil me and while most of them were praising it I did come across some that wasn't happy about some things that happened in the book which in turn made me a little apprehensive to read it because I knew what my feelings were going to be on it. After reading it I understand why those people were upset.

Let me just say that I absolutely loved this book. Kerri does an amazing job with giving you just enough details and descriptions that it doesn't feel like to much and it sucks you into the story. When you have a book about solving a crime obviously everyone is a suspect at first but in this book I was able to narrow it down enough to have a solid guess at who the killer was which I loved. Was the killer on my list at some point of course but I never was like oh yeah it could definitely be them.

Here's where it starts getting spoilery. There is somewhat of a love triangle in this book. Y'all know I have no issues with love triangles because I pretty much love all things romance however, Maniscalco has been building on this romance since book 1 and now in book 3 she decides to add in another love interest? NO, JUST NO!! Audrey Rose and Thomas are like my OTP and to all of a sudden throw in someone else lets just say I wasn't happy.

There were times when I was so mad at Audrey Rose for the decisions she was making and my heart broke for Thomas so many times. There was one scene when I read it I said aww no poor Thomas out loud, again my husband probably thinks I am crazy lol. I wanted to smack her for what she put him through.

Luckily at the end she comes to her senses. While I was happy with how things ended I think Thomas deserved an explanation about everything that happened between her and the other guy. Her cousin told her that she needed to tell Thomas exactly how she felt but in the end it was Thomas laying his heart out. I think she needs to woman up and tell him exactly how she feels about him.

Ok so this review ended up being all about the romance side of the story sorry guys but I had some strong feelings about it. All of that being said no matter how much I hated these particular aspects of the story it still made for an amazing story and I cant help but to still give it all the stars.