4.25/5 stars rounded down.

I wish that I had read/watched Sweeney Todd prior to reading The Butcher's Daughter to gain a deeper appreciation for this story. I don't think not having prior knowledge ruined my experience, but I feel like I'm missing out.

This was an incredibly atmospheric, dark, and sinister read. I thought the layout of this book was fun with the addition of letters and the occasional illustration. This is certainly a book that I'll be purchasing for my shelves when it's released.

The writing reads more dated to fit the setting, so if you don't like older style writing, this might bother you. I found that I enjoyed it. The setting would've felt wrong had the writing been more modern. I enjoyed the characters and found myself intrigued by this whole Sweeney Todd universe. The characters were well-written and although they are very morally questionable people, I still found myself cheering on Mrs. Lovett. I'm incredibly curious to see how the stories match up and if I'll feel differently about the characters with the original.

If you haven't read the original then I think you're still able to read this, but in hindsight, I wish that I had taken the time to read it first. I have a creeping suspicion that my rating will be higher on a second read.

Obviously with this story, I would say to check the trigger warnings beforehand. If you're not normally a horror reader, there are definitely many themes that may bother you.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7178508767
Fable Review: https://fable.co/review/1a83c7b1-9602-49ba-8d4c-25cc9ea02c35/share