This was a very interesting read which had me gripped. The lady was so brave and this is so well written and a credit to her

To survive an attack by the Yorkshire Ripper yet not have it acknowledged blighted this ladie's life. This is the story of her struggle.
An interesting read.

I am always grateful for memoirs especially stories of survivors. I think they are brave to share the most painful memories of their life with readers. So, I was very excited when I got approved to read the story of Mo Lea - the Yorkshire Ripper survivor. It started off good with brief history, family background and how she ended up taking an art course in Leeds, where she unfortunately had a brief and terrifying encounter with the Yorkshire Ripper.

Going into the book, I was already expecting that this will be a memoir about her survival and not focusing on the crime. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the book despite after reading more than 50 pages. The writing was monotonous and dry. I am sure that the author's story is one inspiring one and I am frustrated that I couldn't finish this book.

***Thank you Pen & Sword and NetGalley for this gifted review copy in exchange for an honest review.***

Facing the Yorkshire Ripper: The Art of Survival is exactly that. Do not pick up this book if all you want is to hear the gory details and get your true crime fix. This heart wrenching book is about how Mo Lea learned to survive after being attacked by one of the most notorious serial killers Britain has ever seen, and it had me absolutely gripped.

Mo Lea is a fascinating person, and a captivating writer. Her words make you feel like you are with her through every moment. You feel the things that she feels; the whirlwind of confusion after the attack, the frustration at not being heard, the piecing back together bit by bit of life, and overcoming the physical and emotional scarring caused by the ordeal she has been through.

Surviving an attack is not just about physical survival in the days following, but it is also about making it through every day afterwards, not knowing whether you’ll see a newspaper headline, or overhear someone talking about your attacker on the bus. Sutcliffe was very high profile, and talk of him around the time, and in the many years following has never lulled. There was absolutely no escape from the past and what had happened to her, constantly being branded as a victim, and no longer an actual person. Not only that, but also the constant worry that Sutcliffe still hadn’t confessed to the attack- if not him, was the perpetrator still out there?

You are taken on a journey through Mo’s survival, her struggles over blaming being cruelly selected simply because she is female, and her worries of how she will be perceived with Sutcliffe’s reputation of the type of women he targeted.

I love how the book focuses on art giving Mo an outlet to explore how she was feeling, and you can clearly see throughout the book, and by her work featured at the end, that it enabled her to express her anger, and her pain, and in turn help her to be successful at moving on with her life.

I am so glad that Mo decided to share her story of survival with us, and that I was lucky enough to be selected to read it. I would highly recommend this book.

This wasn’t interesting to me at all. I expected more than the constant talk of her artworks. I understood that the book would mention how she coped with it all, but it felt very religious? despite not being a religious book. It just had that constant, happy vibe despite talking about awful things to it.

I really hoped for more to be honest.

This book is a story about growth and how to survive after a horrific ordeal. I as a true crime buff absolutely lived this story. Many stories like this focused on the killer so was a nice change of pace to have focus on a brave oerson.
5**** from me.

This is not your normal run of the mill crime story. Knowing the story of the Yorkshire Ripper, Mo Lea fell victim to the killer herself, managing to survive the brutal attack that followed.

I really enjoyed reading this one. It was a different accounting than what you are used to reading, but it was gripping, and you could not turn the pages fast enough to see what happened next!

Great for weekend reads.

This book started good and let me tell you I love a good true crime book. This was passable but not spectacular.

I found that the book really wasn't what I was hoping for which would have been a lot more about nkthe actual crime but it seems to show more about the life after. I much prefer to see the facts leading up to the crime.

I just didn't see enough for me of the crime and about the actual perpetrator. The survival was unique and while I did enjoy the story of this survivor it felt not strong enough for me.

The bravery of the survivor to share their story resonates throughout this book. As a true crime fan, I had heard of the Yorkshire Ripper before but never this in-depth. It was told in a way that was easy to follow and I never felt bored which can happen a lot in true crime with too many facts at once.