Holy Moley! This audiobook was an absolute funbomb of a thrill ride! The audio is an excellent production of three narrators in this retelling of Sweeney Todd. The three POVs are Mrs. Lovett, Sister Catherine and the gentlemen who respond to the faceless Mrs. Gibson, whose journalistic investigation prompts correspondence that opens this story. It is an epistolary novel, using diary entries, articles, letters and official documents as Peg reveals her story of trauma, love, betrayal and bloody murder in a meat pie.

I loved it! Well paced, historical horror with great characters and immersive drama. Clark and Demchuk create a sympathetic yet monstrous character in Mrs. Lovett, who struggles against the powerlessness of being a poor woman in Victorian England. Her life gets continuously turned upside down by people who pretend to be helping her but who are monstrous in their own rights. But Lovett keeps landing on her feet, motivated by rage and desperation.

And my goodness. The ending. Very clever. A fun and bloody read, reminiscent of Victorian Psycho.

I liked this one but didn't love it. It's called The Butcher's Daughter and on the cover is a woman holding a meat pie. I wanted more of her story once she took over the business. I don't want to give anything away I just felt like the first half of the story could have been shorter and giving us more murder and mayhem would have been even better.

Thank you RBmedia and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to The Butcher's Daughter on audio.

I really enjoyed my time with this book. The narrators is so good and they are a great fit for this story. They brought the story alive.

You get sucked into this lovely, dark Victorian setting and follow a delicious Sweeny Todd atmospheric horror and the book are written in the format of letters and diary entries which made it more interesting.

If you love the dark, grim world of Sweeny Todd then I can highly recommend you to read The Butcher's Daughter and follow Mrs. Lovett and enjoy a dark, delicious Victorian horror story 🖤

This was an engaging novel. This book is written (or read since this is audio) in the epistolary style. This felt more engaging and immersive but I love this style of writing so the letters worked for me. The characters are engaging and the social commentary was intriguing. The narrator really brought this story to life!

I had a hard time with this one. I found some parts confusing. Many parts were redundant. I just didn't have a good time. 3 stars

Many thanks to Net Galley and RB Media for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, narrator, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio ARC of this title in exchange for my review.

I didn't know I needed to read this book, but I'm so glad I did! I heard about it from a book reviewer I follow and was so excited to be able to get a copy and dived right in! I have read the Sweeney Todd story and seen the movie, but it's been a few years. After finishing this one, I want to go back and re-watch the movie!

The format for the book was quite interesting, and I would love to see the printed book. The writer did a wonderful job writing in a dated way to fit the setting. The characters were well written, though morally questionable in fact.

This is certainly a horror novel! Lots of trigger warnings.

4 stars.

I had really high hopes for this audio. The narrators did a good job but I felt that the story dragged out a bit. While there were some twists and shocks, it just didnt pack that punch for me.

This was deliciously depraved and macabre. I love Sweeney Todd so much. Seeing the origin of Mrs. Lovette was such a treat. Definitely check your triggers, but if you like unsettling thrillers this is the book for you.

Book Rating:⭐️5/5

Anyone who knows me knows I live for a gothic/Victorian vibe—and this book delivered in every way! If you’ve ever loved Sweeney Todd and wondered, “But what about Mrs. Lovett?”...this is exactly the book for you.

I went in with an open mind and was completely blown away by what these two amazing authors created. Nothing felt overdone, cliché, or like a basic retelling, it was fresh, original, and so immersive that at times I forgot it was even inspired by a well-known story. The characters were written with such depth and authenticity that I got super attached. Even when they were wreaking absolute havoc, I couldn’t stop thinking about them, I just wanted to stay in their world forever.

Despite being a longer read, it flew by, and I was honestly sad when it ended. The horror elements were awesome, but what really made this book shine was the phenomenal character development. Without that, it wouldn’t have hit nearly as hard.

HIGHLY recommend this if you’re looking for a gripping, gothic horror novel with unforgettable characters!

any one can be monstrous
Now this is character led Horror! This is A24 in book form!
Retellings are not always my things, but when they are flipped to Female led with a Feminist slant you know I am there.
I had the audio of this book and it was completely captivating, I was so deeply entrenched in the streets of London I almost forgot I already knew how this story ended- only to be sooo pleasantly surprised with the actual ending. My jaw was on the floor and I was left with the biggest smile.

I’m not allude to some crazy twist but I truely feel like Clarke wrote that little tid bit just for me, feels like she peaked into my brain. Which I think is a very nice touch from any author.

Any way if you loved Sweeney Todd but men aren’t all that intersecting this is the one to pick up!

I have read so much about the legend Sweeney Todd, a man that murdered a lot of people and kept their body in his basement, this book is a little different.

The butcher’s daughter by David Demchuck and Corrine Leigh Clark is focusing on Mrs. Lovett, Todd’s accomplice, a woman that used the flesh of her victims and baked it into pies.

This gothic horror novel sent a wave of chills down my spine as I read the horrific story of Mrs.Lovett, when you think you know it all, something new comes up, keeping you at the edge of your toes.

It starts when a reporter Emily goes missing, the police find letters in her abandoned apartment, letters that are about to expose deadly secrets.

As I read this gruesome novel, every part of my soul itched for answers, every part of my soul, begged me to keep reading, i was intrigued by the darkness of human nature

I would rate it 8/10 because i enjoyed it so much and I had thought it was a good read, I would recommend this to every person that out there that loves a gruesome novel that will keep you going through the day.

While I did enjoy this it was a bit of a let down that it took until the 60% mark to really get going. It did pull around in the end, I wish the pacing was a bit more consistent.

Gritty is a great way to describe this book! I read this after Virginia Feito's Victorian Psycho and really enjoyed its acuity and detail! If you love the Sweeney legend, you will equally adore this!

Thank you, of course, to Netgalley and the publishers for access to this ARC audiobook version of The Butcher's Daughter!

Have you ever read a book and thought, "Damn, was this written exactly for me?" - because that is EXACTLY how I felt about this book.

It's all blood and longing and murder and misery and madness. A perfect reimagining of the story of Sweeney Todd through the eyes and history of Mrs. Lovett - though with the one sided crush on Todd replaced with a tragic sapphic romance which obviously I, of all people, would NEVER complain about. This book does absolutely everything I could ever ask it to, though the slight twist at the end did make me giggle and roll my eyes. It is SO well researched, so if you're the type to have a particular fascination with the more morbid facts of Victorian England, you will find lots of accurate reference to tickle your fancy.

The audiobook production of this book is in particular AMAZING. 3 different voices, all of which are so compelling and add to the already enthralling atmosphere. Long story short, I really enjoyed it, holy shit!

Thank you to Corinne Leigh Clark, David Demchuk, RBmedia & NetGalley for the audioARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5 stars.
Genre(s): horror, historical fiction.

Overall impression: I went into this story blind with only a vague knowledge of the Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett serial killer lore. I wasn't sure what to expect but the story ended up being a lot more complex than I thought with tragic backstories, secret identities, interconnected characters and plot twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed the method the story was told in, through a series of letters between M.E. and investigative journalist Miss Gibson and newspaper clippings. It added another layer of mystery as I was trying to work out the true identity of the anonymous writer. The ending made me feel uneasy because the villains got away with a lot and there wasn't a sense of justice - but this isn't necessarily a bad thing in the horror genre.

Tropes:
➵ Classic story reimagined
➵ Poverty, tragedy & loss
➵ Stolen children
➵ Servant in wealthy home
➵ Body snatchers for medicine
➵ Cult elements
➵ Serial killers
➵ Hidden identity
➵ Female rage
➵ Romance sub-plot
➵ Cut-throat characters
➵ Sense of anxiety & foreboding
➵ Set in 1800's London
➵ Story told through letters

⤷ Plot/Writing:
I really enjoyed the way the story unfolded through a series of secret letters and newspaper articles. It suited the 1800's time period and added another layer of mystery to the story. The pace was fairly slow to allow plenty of time for character backstories and motivations to be explored, but it ramped up towards the end as characters were thrown back together and the revenge/justice arcs were acted upon. There were a few plot twists revealed gradually and it took me a while to work out which character was actually Mrs Lovett. It's probably fairly obvious from the blurb but because the narrator was unreliable, I was left making educated guesses until the end. The only loose end was what actually happened to the journalist Miss Gibson. She was missing from the start and it was a bit unsatisfying not knowing what became of her.

⤷ Characters:
The characters were all very complex and multidimensional. I was surprised just how interconnected they all were, and how they had crossed paths at multiple times over the course of their lives and not realised. None of the characters were innocent and they each did heinous acts, which made the ending bittersweet and unsettling.

I could understand Mrs. Lovett's motivations to bake men into pies but never really worked out what drove Sweeney Todd to murder his victims. He definitely seemed unstable and impulsive but his backstory wasn't as fleshed out.

⤷ World-building:
The world was set up really well and I could picture the grimy London streets in the 1800's. A lot of the book was set in the lower-class areas - the butcher shop, brothel, pie/barber shop, with some scenes in the middle-class doctor's house. It definitely wasn't a time I would like to visit in person - it seemed cut-throat with body snatchers and serial killers on the loose in the disease-ridden streets.

⤷ Everything else:
I listened to the audiobook by RBmedia. There were three narrators and their voices suited the characters really well making their facial expressions and gestures easy to picture as their tone/delivery changed. I think it would have been equally as engaging and compelling if one narrator completed the entire book - with one narrator voicing most of it anyway. I was able to listen for long periods of time and felt completely submersed in the story. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what was going to happen next, and the book flew by really quickly. I definitely enjoyed the audiobook format and didn't find it hard to keep track of the characters or what article from the dossier we were up to. I think I would have found print format just as enjoyable but I probably would have read it much slower and with more breaks.

Abbreviated review will be posted to AmazonAU once published & link will be added.

First off, I absolutely love that there was book made for the backstory of Mrs. Lovett. I have been a Sweeney Todd fan for a long time and the background that this book gave in addition to the play/Tim Burton film was genius. This will definitely be in my top 10 favorite books of the year, and I will be recommending this book to everyone I know. The book is so well written that it flows as if it could be nonfiction and this could have happened in London in 1887. I am so grateful to Net Galley, RB Media, Corinne Leigh Clark, and David Demchuk for gifting me an arc of the audiobook released today. I am leaving this review voluntarily. The story starts by introducing us to an inquisitive journalist, Emily Gibson who is attempting to locate Mrs. Lovett, the woman who baked men into pies and sold them to street folk in one of the most popular pie shops in town. One day, Mrs. Lovett seemed to have disappeared and Emily is trying to figure out what happened. Flash forward, and Emily Gibson is missing. In her seemingly abandoned apartment, a dossier of letters are collected and sent to the chief of police containing dozens of letters written to Emily Gibson from the woman she believes to be the infamous Mrs. Lovett. Little does she know that this correspondence may cost her everything. For fans of Tim Burton, classic gothic literature, and fictional backstories, this book is for you. An unforgettable story that’s hard to put down, this would be a book I’d recommend to any and every reader.

Delightfully gory and insanely smart. The Butcher’s Daughter starts slow. It took me about 40% of the audiobook to really get hooked. But after that, I was all in.

I loved Mrs. Lovett's backstory. The author's telling of the story gave the baker more agency over her own story (no spoilers), but I did love that the novel did not revolve around the dependency of romance between her and Sweeney Todd. Her story felt more of a driving force of their relationship than his in this retelling.

I will say the story's climax went fast, and I had to keep backing up the audio to understand what happened, but I was incredibly satisfied with the backstory, and everything was tied up nicely.

4 stars for The Butcher’s Daughter: The Hitherto Untold Story of Mrs. Lovett

Arc read in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, RBMedia and Netgally, for the ARC!

This was a lovely addition to Sweeney Todd lore. The many new details really augmented the original story. To be transparent, I’ve only seen the Tim Burton movie and hadn’t seen the original musical. I am also aware that the two stories differ which did create some confusion when I saw how this book was unfolding.

Having said all that, this was an intriguing, emotional, journey through Mrs. Lovett’s life. This turned out to be something I wouldn’t normally seek out, but I enjoyed the ride and know there are others who will eat this story up (hehe). She was a complex character, and I appreciated how so many harrowing and difficult experiences came to shape her into the infamous Mrs. Lovett that we all love... love?...yes love.

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for the Advance Listener Copy.

An epistolary retelling of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Butcher's Daughter is a bloody and thrilling novel. Great for readers who like protagonists who are a bit off-putting, this was a very interesting read!

I really liked the full cast in the audiobook for sure! Unfortunately after halfway, the story lost me. So I am calling this a DNF but that is at no fault to the narrators. They really did well and probably the only reason I got as far as I did. Something just did not work for me. I think it is because I am on a very gothic historical fantasy type run currently with my book choices and it is competing against others that seem to be just more riveting. I will try to finish it at a later date!