I really loved the concept of The Resurrectionist, but unfortunately this fell a bit flat for me. I never really connected with the fmc, and this just did not hold my attention.

3.5 stars. Awesome cover art. The first half of this book is very similar to other books with the same historical aspects and female that wants to be a doctor. Blah blah blah. Allen was smart to have the opening sentence that she did, otherwise I would have given up. I wanted to know when the resurrecting would happen. Once it does the story vastly improves. The characters become darker, the body count gets higher, and the decisions that have to be made are incredibly difficult. The ending was a nice twist as well. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

It was ok. I wasn't really a fan of the MC and her sister not much better, nor the fellow that's a walking read flag. I liked the concept, though, so there's always that.

This book had so much potential. Unfortunately it wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters, especially the FMC.

This is the story of Dilly. Set in London in the 1880s, Jack the Ripper still walks the streets. Dilly is fascinated by medicine, and desperate to find the cure for death itself. This passion is inherited from her recently passed father, who was kicked out of the Medical College for his belief in resurrection. After his death the son of the medical school dean takes an interest in Dilly, helping her access the education she’s always dreamed of….

The premise was fantastic. Unfortunately for me the execution fell flat. There were too many moments where the character’s behavior took them out of the time period and location. Dilly doesn’t follow the social rules of the time period and neither do many of the other characters. Dilly’s sister is very religious but at this time all of England would’ve been Protestant and part of the Church of England so the clutching of a rosary makes no sense. Ben shows up to talk to Dilly and she has fallen asleep in her Father’s clothes after a night at the Medical College, but her one (male!?!?) house servant is completely unbothered by it and in the text she “smooths her skirts” before greeting Ben in the trousers and vest she wore that night.

I also struggled with the writing style. It was so flat. The mystery wasn’t interesting because I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. Dilly was selfish. Dee Dee was limp and uninteresting. Ben was clearly an opportunist who was stringing the sisters along.

This book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you for the ARC copy first and foremost!

A dark and eerie story with a unique twist on resurrection and science. I enjoyed Dilly’s character and the creepy atmosphere. Some parts felt a bit rushed, but overall it kept me hooked. Great for fans of gothic fiction and mystery! It was a quick read, and got through it in one sitting.

This book was a wild ride, and I enjoyed it a lot!

The writing was creepy and engaging, the twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat, and the characters leapt off the page in the best way!

I especially loved the resurrection magic in this world, and how it tied in so seamlessly with the medical field. More specifically, I loved the concept of how the body has a physical soul that can be transferred to bring people back from the dead. I thought it was all really fascinating to read about! Especially in a world filled with morally gray characters and haunting imagery.

There were a few moments that felt a bit slow to me, particularly in a beginning. But once the pacing picked up, I was absolutely hooked. I would absolutely recommend this eerie book if it sounds like your cup of tea!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillin Children’s Publishing Group for letting me read the digital ARC!

If you're a fan of Frankstein mixed with feminine rage and mystery this is the book for you! The Resurrectionist is set during the Victorian era and features Dilly, a 17-year-old woman who wants nothing more than to study medicine at the local college. After the sudden death of her father all her dreams of becoming the first female surgeon seem lost until she discovers her true self through science, crime, and a touch of grave robbing.

Kathleen S Allen does a fantastic job of bringing every character to life. While the focus is on Dilly and her sister Deirdre you really get to know every person, they meet. The world is dark, the story is dark, and most of the characters are unhinged, but together it worked really well. My heart breaks for both Grey and Edmund. By the end I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the next twist. I truly appreciate the ode to other authors such as Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe by having quotes at the beginning of each chapter. Such a nice touch!

I loved the ending and thought it was the perfect way to conclude Dilly's tragic journey, but I was left with a ton of questions. Why did her father never say "I love you" after he put in all that work? Do bad souls make the resurrected unpredictable or are they always doomed to be? Maybe I missed something but while I was content with Dilly's ending, I have questions about the other characters, Did Edmund get a better job?! I hope so! The only other issue I had was that several parts felt rushed. I know it is a short read, but I felt there were a few events that had a ton of buildup and then the actual event happened in a few sentences. For example, the college lecture Dilly and Ben attended. Felt like they talked and prepared for it over multiple chapters only to have the speaker come in, say "hello", wave his hands, and then say, "ok I'm done".

Overall, I thought the book did a great job of bring a very eerie and disturbing story to life. If this is your vibe, I highly recommend it!!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillin Children's Publishing Group for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars/5 stars

Thank you for the ARC copy!

This was a fantastic YA horror novel that fully uses its Victorian Jack the Ripper setting to its full potential. It's dark, gothic, horrific at times, fast-paced, and it will fulfill all of your Frankenstein retelling cravings (with a bit of a dash of Pet Sematary feels), but now with the full force of female rage against thwarted ambition and being trapped in a society that always sees you as lesser.

Dilly is a wonderful, complex protagonist to follow, full of both ambition, scientific curiosity, a longing for acknowledgement of her abilities and to be truly seen, and a deep love for her sister, her only surviving family member. All of these conflicting desires drive the plot along its madcap and bloody path, and genuinely, I don't think it could go any other way. I very much enjoyed the twist that Ben is a sadist and basically Jack the Ripper in this universe, and it was very satisfying when he is finally killed. I also very much enjoyed the fact that Deidre came back wrong, and even though it was heartbreaking, it was fitting that Dilly was the one who had to put an end to her. Also, I saw the twist at the end coming, but I still loved the reveal and all the implications of that.

A quick warning that this novel is quite gory (although that's also extremely fitting to this plot), and the only reason I'm taking half a star off is because I would have loved more of an exploration of the twist at the end about how <spoiler>Dilly was also resurrected</spoiler>.

Definitely read this if you love Victorian horror and want to spend the day consumed with flipping pages and seeing how Dilly descends into the full nightmare of fulfilling her dream of becoming a resurrectionist.

The Ressurectionist is an eerie tale of a macabre girl obsessed with death as she learns what it means to be alive and to operate between the fine lines of life and death. I love this genre of twisted medical Victorian stories, and Kathleen S. Allen has masterfully captured the gothic and mysterious essence of it. Filled with characters you love to hate and twists and turns at every section, this novel is perfect for fans of Edgar Allen Poe, The Monstrumologist, A Study in Drowning, Jack the Ripper, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and concerning women in STEM.

A Frankenstein retelling filled with feminine rage and ambition! The writing is lovely and draws you into a beautifully macabre Victorian time. The story follows a young lady that’s determined to be a surgeon, her sister, and her discovery of a family secret written into her father’s journals. This gothic tale is filled with bits of science, academia, eeriness.

Thank you so much for the ACR read.

This book fell in that weird in between for me. I definitely don’t dislike it and would potentially recommend it to a very specific audience. It was a quick read with a creepy vibe and a beautiful cover. The characters were kind of ridiculous in a way that made them entertaining, and I actually laughed a few times.

My favorite part was the short insights from Dilly at the beginning of each chapter. Those were the most interesting to me. I’m still not sure if the writing style just wasn’t for me or if it was missing something.

Also, poor Edmund.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A solid four stars. Unexpected and dark, this is a quick paced Victorian gothic boogey tail. It also asks the big questions that literary tradition includes: what is the true nature of humans? Good or evil? The characters are well made enough to draw sympathy and revulsion in equal measure. Horror fans will adore this one, and mystery lovers will find themselves rapt, too. Great details about Whitechapel, London, and Victorian living. This a good one, and very intriguing. Also, fairly graphic with gruesome scenes, so enter at your own risk.

An absolute yes! I stayed up all night to read this, I could not put it down! Deirdre and Dolly had the most fascinating dynamic in the book, I loved the way their twin bond was almost a tug of war once Deirdre was resurrected. I think Dilly’s hubris and folly was so compelling that I was rooting for her the entire time despite the fact that I knew it would end up terribly. It was a fun read, fast paced and action packed!

I don’t like giving one star reviews. Especially to ARCs. Especially to books that I was looking forward to reading. As much as I wanted to be generous and give this a 2, I was ranting and raving so much while I was reading this book that I can’t help but give it a 1.

This book takes place in Victorian London in 1888 and it is a tale of gothic horror and a bit of a Frankenstein reimagining. I love the Victorian period, that cover is truly creepy, and when I found out that this was set during the time that Jack the Ripper was active, I was even more excited to read it (despite the fact that almost every fictional story I’ve read about Jack the Ripper has let me down).


The most frustrating thing about this book was definitely the main character Odile who goes by “Dilly” (for the record, both of those names are terrible). Was I supposed to take this girl seriously? Because from the getgo I struggled to do so. For example, the first time she dresses as a boy in order to go out at night with Ben he tells her that she needs a boy’s name and calls her “Augustus.” She becomes offended and tells him she wants a better name than that and when Ben asks her what name she has in mind, she thinks about it and then is like, “Dan.” Dan, really? Pretty basic, but okay, whatever. Then, when they’re going out and about at night she’s looking around and surprised to find that the streets are empty and there’s no one else out. Ben is like, “well you know there’s a killer on the loose right?” and she tells him she didn’t know that. Um, was she living under a rock??? I studied the Victorian period quite a bit in my academic career and the Ripper murders basically threw all of London into an absolute PANIC. How would she never have heard of the murders??

But what took the cake for me was this (I literally burst out laughing, which isn’t really something you should be doing in a horror book):

Ben (hands Dilly a scalpel): “Here is a scalpel. I recall you know how to use one?”
Dilly (super offended): “I’ve been doing surgery on Deirdre’s dolls since I was nine.”
Um, what? Excuse me? Is she Sid from Toy Story?

<img src="https://www.mandatory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/gallery/movie-villains/giphy-7-copy-2.gif" width="350" height="300" alt="description"/>

Yes, cutting open a doll IS very similar to dissecting a human body, Dilly. *sarcasm*

In the wise words of Buzz Lightyear:

<img src="https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/sjfgI7IpM9Xq4jUC1mgVaHaNLkg=/fit-in/1000x628/top/filters:format_auto():upscale()/2014/11/06/316/n/1922283/f4dde918c21d966e_tumblr_mm9bari1ZW1soal5uo2_500.gif" width="400" height="350" alt="description"/>

As the story progressed, I found Dilly to be more and more frustrating.

She:
(a) “accidentally” killed a woman who is believed to be dead (she was sick and died and they buried her body but she was actually not dead. Her pulse was very slow and apparently the family couldn’t detect it, like a House of Usher thing) and Dilly removes her heart. Well, she’s certainly dead now!

<img src="https://y.yarn.co/76ebe698-e7f9-4d9f-8986-d16729a390de_text.gif" width="400" height="350" alt="description"/>


(b) Ran into Jack the Ripper in an alleyway with one of his victims. She sees him kill the woman but somehow scares him off (not sure why he would be scared off by a teenage girl but whatever). The woman was still alive so Dilly snapped her neck. Um, what? I’m pretty sure it is very difficult to do that in general, especially for a 17 year old girl!

(c) Was very gullible and took everything that anyone said to her as the truth – even the people she didn’t trust. Ben told her to kill his father but basically said it was ok because his father was a bad person…and she did it! HUH?? Why would you automatically do something like that just because you were told to???

(d) Somehow didn’t notice her dead and reanimated sister stealing bodies and reassembling them in their home! How could she miss that? Wouldn’t the bodies smell? Not to mention it’s not easy to cart bodies around. Wouldn’t Dilly have seen that?

(e) She talked a lot about how “smart” she was but in reality, she was one of the dumbest characters I’ve read about in a long time. She was taken in by everyone and I don’t know why she would just believe them at face value. Her sister was OBVIOUSLY very different after coming back to life but Dilly never put two and two together that the sister might be killing people?

I can’t with Dilly.

Actually, I didn't like any of the characters, except for Edmund. Poor, long suffering Edmund. Always loyal and always looking after Dilly, who didn’t remotely deserve his love and care. He had major Alfred Pennyworth vibes. I did really like him as a character and he was about the only thing I liked about the book, sadly.

<img src="https://i.gifer.com/pxv.gif" width="400" height="250" alt="description"/>

The end reveal was stupid and predictable. Dilly knew her father had brought someone back to life successfully. Who could it be??? You need a heart from a family member and there were only 4 people in the family: Dilly and Deirdre, the father and the mother (who died not long after giving birth). Hmm, shocker…it was DILLY who had been brought back to life the whole time! There are literally only 4 family members, 3 if you don’t count the dad since obviously he couldn’t bring himself back to life. This reveal should be shocking to no one.

The reviews I’ve seen have mentioned how gripping the first sentence is: “I killed my sister. Twice.” I’ll give you that it is definitely a sentence that will get your attention…EXCEPT for the fact that the FIRST SENTENCE is a MAJOR SPOILER for the book. She literally kills her sister for the second time at the very end of the book, but if you’ve read the first sentence, obviously you know it’s coming. Instead of tension and excitement, it was anticlimactic and boring. She should have realized her sister needed to be destroyed long before she actually did.

This book was beyond frustrating to me. It reminded me a lot of Stalking Jack the Ripper (another book I absolutely hated but a lot of people really enjoyed). Maybe if you love the story of Stalking Jack the Ripper but didn’t enjoy the romance aspects of it (since there is no romance in this book), you might like this one, but I’d hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

A frankstein-esque tale from the perspective of a teenage girl? Absolutely! I love this rise of darker fiction with teen audiences in mind.

Dilly Rothbart spends the day before her 17th birthday burying her father. After her father's sudden death, Dilly and her twin sister Dede are left alone in the world, save the manservant that has faithfully served their family for years. Dilly has dreamed of being a surgeon for years and follow in her father's footsteps. With his passing she is introduced to Ben, a student at the local medical college and the son of her father's greatest critic. Alongside Ben, Dilly falls into the world of medical colleges, grave robbery, and the search for a cure to death itself. Dilly decides to follow in her father's footsteps to become a resurrectionist.

This book was an interesting take on the Frankenstein story. What if the Dr. wasn't really a Dr. but a teenage girl trying as she might to make her way in the world and follow in her father's footsteps, the father that wanted her to have nothing to do with this line of work. The character of Dilly really intrigued me, the writer created a multifaceted character who not only kept her aspirations in mind but also worried over the hopes and dreams of her twin sister.

Dilly Rothbart has always wanted to follow her father’s footsteps and become a surgeon. It’s a path he refused to let her take, but since he died in a terrible accident, she’s determined to pursue her dream. Between entering the world of corpse-stealing and stumbling upon her dad’s journal that reveals the secrets of resurrecting the dead, Dilly’s entire life is about to be turned upside down.

I’m a sucker for retellings of classic literature, so of course I had to read this! In this "Frankenstein" retelling, we follow Dilly as she begins to figure out how she’s going to afford medical school if she manages to get into the few that accept women. With her twin sister, Dee Dee, by her side, she’s determined to make sure she and her sister both make their dreams happen. Unfortunately, things go awry when a fight leads to the untimely death of her sister, but it’s a good thing she has her dad’s notes on resurrection… It’s too bad Dee Dee came back completely different.

I could not get enough of this book. It’s really well written and had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. Each of the characters are interesting, even the supporting characters we don’t learn a whole lot about, and they all felt so real like we were actually meeting these people. The opening of the first chapter had me hooked right away, and there’s a couple of excellent mystery plots weaved throughout the entire book.

If this sounds up your alley, I highly recommend it. It’s a haunting story that takes us on a wild ride as Dilly keeps getting dug deeper and deeper in a huge mess after becoming a true resurrectionist. It’s a book that will make you find yourself still awake and reading at 3am. It makes me really excited to check out what else the author will publish in the future.

very well written horror story with some awesomely well-done writing and darkly interesting comedy, as well as horror. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

The Resurrectionist is the perfect transition book for young readers transitioning into young adults. I loved reading Kathleen S. Allen's spin on a Frankenstein-esque story about a girl so grief stricten by her sister's death so soon after their father's passing that she brings her back to life. Our main character, Dilly, is such a strong female lead, she wants to go against tradition and become a surgeon in a time when it is looked down upon for women to want to do anything other that tradition female roles. The Victorian era just adds to the overall story, from the clothes, the medical knowledge, the atmosphere, its perfect!

This was fun!! perfect for the time (October) that this plans on releasing. It was a little spooky and a lot of sass. I really enjoyed this book. Will be purchasing when it releases!