Murder for the Modern Girl

Thank you to Holiday House and Kendall Kulper for providing me an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. 3.25 ⭐️ I SUPPORT WOMEN’S RIGHTS, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, I SUPPORT WOMEN’S WRONGS. Set in the beauty of the 1920s, Ruby Newhouse is an 18-year old girl and is a flapper who can read minds. But she also lives a secret life being a vigilante and a murderer. Then we have Guy Rosewood, who has the ability to shapeshift and works in a morgue and somehow ends up investigating these murders while trying to find out some scientific explanation behind his ability. This book is certainly ideal for readers who love murder/mystery novels with an unexpected twist. This book surprised and weirded me out a lot more than it should’ve especially at the beginning, as I didn’t think it would be so different from what I’ve read before. It was certainly a fresh and clever take on the genre, but this time, with a bubbly, morally grey female lead character. I liked it at first, but the pace and dual POVs were confusing for me to follow as there wasn’t much to work on the timeline of the events and the characters’ abilities weren’t really explained so it fell a bit flat for me. I also felt that the writing was slightly underwhelming and messy, so I had to skim through the rest of the book, though the plot definitely picked up the pace and built the romance and tension towards the resolution of the complex vine of crimes by the villain (those action scenes were actually good). Overall, my reading experience wasn’t so enjoyable, though these are my own opinions. I might read this again in the future with a new perspective and will still recommend this for readers who would prefer a bit of fantasy in the marvellous premise of murder and politics.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for the eARC! This review contains spoilers.  When I read the synopsis for this book, I was immediately intrigued. A murder mystery, set in the 1920s, with supernatural abilities and vigilante justice. What more could I ask for? In the end, I gave this book four and a half stars, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun Great Gatsby glitz and glamour mystery. Possibly my favourite thing about this book was the decision to reveal the identity of the murderer at the start of the book. Ruby can read minds, and if I hadn’t read the book myself, I would assume that would take away the entire mystery and tension element of the book, but it doesn’t. Despite knowing who’s behind everything, there’s still so much to investigate and discover. Other characters get involved and weave in and out of the story, and there were enough reveals to keep me so close to the edge of my seat I was basically falling off it. I could spend the entire review talking about this particular plot point, but I won’t. However, I’m so glad that Kendall Kulper didn’t kneecap Ruby’s powers at convenient times to keep the mystery going, especially since so much time was dedicated to building said abilities. After reading the minds of her targets to determine whether they deserve to die, not doing the same to someone posing a real threat to her family would have felt out of place.  As for Ruby’s vigilante justice, I loved that she had clear rules and moral codes for herself and that she knew how to get away with it. Using the incompetency of the police to make a city safer is brilliant, and the fact that so many women banded together in support of Ruby and vouch for the good she was doing when the police actually started trying to capture her was amazing. Ruby was an amazing character to follow, from her abilities to her loyalty to those she cares about, and the fact that she connected the evidence so quickly. She’s so interesting and unique that I wanted her to succeed in everything she did, even if that was murder.  Additionally, Guy’s character and how he used his powers were super cool. The way that his use of his powers was so wrapped up in his desire to hide from his past was great, and the way he improved throughout the book was wonderful to watch. I’m probably a little bit biased towards him because I was so relieved that there was at least one competent person in the police force, especially when the stakes kept getting higher. The only reason that I didn’t give this book five stars was that despite Guy putting the pieces together for the other poisonings, he couldn’t connect Ruby being in an alley with someone who died of poison, despite knowing she was definitely tough enough to kill someone.  All in all, you should read this book. The mystery comes together so well and I was really cheering the characters on the entire time. Kendall Kulper has done an amazing job capturing the glamourous and not so glamorous sides of Ruby and Guy’s world and I’m so glad I read this book.

The description does not adequately convey the tone of this book - it’s light and airy and fun, not the dramatic romance I was expecting. The stakes are high, between Ruby’s determination to take down corrupt city officials and poison bad men, but they don’t feel high because the book won’t take itself seriously. Ruby feels more like a caricature of a 1920s flapper than a character with a personality of her own - and the same goes for her best friend Maggie. Guy’s perspective feels a bit more genuine, but neither of them truly have depth. The mystery of the book isn’t really a mystery at all - we know whodunnit from the very beginning, and the rest of the plot is just Ruby trying to gather enough evidence against him because no one would believe a young female mind reader. I didn’t have any overt problems with the book, but I didn’t necessarily enjoy it either. It’s just very different than what I was expecting, and I would probably recommend it to younger YA fans before older/adult YA fans.

DNF at 56%- PERSONAL OPINION ON WRITING STYLE Story concept: 5 stars (love the concept of the plot and time period) Character: 3.5 stars (changeling character was really confusing to read and transitions seemed clunky; Ruby was interesting) Writing style: 2 stars (the lingo of the 1920's sometimes felt modernized and just overall rubbed me the wrong way; I also don't enjoy first-person books and while there are some books that I haven't seemed to mind when it is in 1st person, this was one where I really felt it just did not read well for me) I think if you like the synopsis and are okay with a first-person/ lack of major description (some slight-world building or stronger correlation with 1920s history) book, then you'd enjoy it! I'm totally okay saying this book wasn't for me; it doesn't mean this book is bad. :)

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own. Book: Murder for the Modern Girl Author: Kendall Kulper Book Series: Standalone Rating: 3/5 Recommended For...: young adult readers, historical fiction, fantasy, thriller, paranormal Publication Date: May 31, 2022 Genre: YA Historical Fiction Fantasy Age Relevance: 15+ (murder, alcohol consumption, domestic violence, child abuse, death, gore, violence, language, child sexual assault, suicide, romance) Explanation of Above: There is murder, death, violence, and gore shown in the book. There is some alcohol consumption shown in the book. Domestic violence, child sexual assault, and child abuse are vaguely mentioned in the read. There is a couple of curse words in the book. There are mentions of suicide. There is some romance. Publisher: Holiday House Pages: 464 Synopsis: A ravishing young mind reader stalks the streets at night in kitten heels, prowling for men to murder. A soft-spoken genius toils away in the city morgue, desperate to unearth the science behind his gift for shapeshifting. It’s a match made in 1928 Chicago, where gangsters run City Hall, jazz fills the air, and every good girl’s purse conceals a flask. Until now, eighteen-year-old Ruby’s penchant for poison has been a secret. No one knows that she uses her mind-reading abilities to target men who prey on vulnerable women, men who escape the clutches of Chicago “justice.” When she meets a brilliant boy working at the morgue, his knack for forensic detail threatens to uncover her dark hobby. Even more unfortunately: sharp, independent Ruby has fallen in love with him. Review: For this most part this book was ok. It had a lot of interesting moments and you could say this is a darker, more villain version of Stalking Jack the Ripper. The book had some good character development and the overall story was somewhat interesting. The book was a fun twist on the late 1920s and had some interesting fantasy moments. However, this book was not for me. The book overall was confusing and feel really rushed and unedited. The book had a lot of interesting things happening all at once, but there was a lack of context. The pacing was fast, but also super slow in a few parts and at certain parts of the book you can completely skip whole segments of conversation and not need any of it for context as to what’s happening in the next chapter. It’s also told in multi-POV and I think the story would have been much better in a single POV narrative. The book does require you to read the synopsis before you can even attempt to read the book, which I found very disheartening and unnecessary. I actually had to reread segments of this book because I only found out the female MC is a mind reader from the synopsis. I feel like, overall, the book was trying to do too much with its story and make it more complex than it needed to be. Verdict: It’s ok, but not for me.

Thanks to the Publisher and Edelweiss for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I'll post the review once it's a bit closer to the release date. But it's an entertaining read overall!

This book is exactly what it promises. A thriller, murder mystery, powerful female, adorable love interest, and so much more. While the first half of the book dragged, I started to love it around 50%. The ending was amazing. Maggie is a friend I admire to have and to be and Ruby is such a strong powerful female lead. Guy, ahm, is so sweet, kind, and over all sunshiny. Such a fun book. Thank you Netgalley for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review.