Review: Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok

Title: Spectacle Written by: Jodie Lynn Zdrok Published: February 12, 2019 by Tor Teen (Macmillan) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: A YA murder mystery in which a young reporter must use her supernatural visions to help track down a killer targeting the young women of Paris.   Paris, 1887.   Sixteen-year-old Nathalie Baudin writes the daily morgue column for Le Petit Journal. Her job is to summarize each day's new arrivals, a task she finds both fascinating and routine. That is, until the day she has a vision of the newest body, a young woman, being murdered--from the perspective of the murderer himself.  When the body of another woman is retrieved from the Seine days later, Paris begins to buzz with rumors that this victim may not be the last. Nathalie's search for answers sends her down a long, twisty road involving her mentally ill aunt, a brilliant but deluded scientist, and eventually into the Parisian Catacombs. As the killer continues to haunt the streets of Paris, it becomes clear that Nathalie's strange new ability may make her the only one who can discover the killer's identity--and she'll have to do it before she becomes a target herself.

You know when there is a YA historical mystery I'm not going to be far behind wanting to read it. Especially one with fantasy elements and one set in Belle Epoque Paris. This is such a me book. Which is why I was so thankful to Alyssa (aka WiththeBanned) for sharing her ARC with me. And while this book wasn't perfect it was engaging and compulsively readable.

My favorite thing about this book was the setting. I like historical fiction and because of that I read a lot of it. The best ones do a really good job of establishing time and place. This was one of those books. The author clearly did her research into what life was life in Paris during the end of the 1880's. For me, Paris really came to life in this book and it had me wanting to go back to the city. I also feel like she did a great job with establishing the culture of the time for the wealthy class, with their fixation on dressing up to visit the morgue and attending seances. I even found myself wondering if there was actually a serial killer in Paris at the time because it did feel so grounded in the history. I felt like this setting was a great aspect of this book and with someone who has been wanting books set in Belle Epoque Paris, that is a definite plus.

I also really enjoyed the fantasy elements of this book. It added a great layer to not only the setting, but the plot of the book. It reminded me a lot of The Diviners series by Libba Bray. It had that same kind of vibes. It was sometimes gory and grotesque and sometimes mysterious and fantastical.  I really like that the magic had clear rules and consequences and that each person's powers were different and that they were connected to the individual. What I really like is that it was grounded in science and history. The experiments that lead to the magic seemed like the kind of thing that someone would actually have done. It felt possible which made me enjoy it even more.

However, I wasn't totally impressed by the plot development and pacing. I am a plot-driven reader so a strong plot is very important to me, especially when it comes to mysteries. I like my mysteries to be complex and solvable. I want to be able to solve them along with the reader. Here I felt like this was the kind of mystery where they didn't want you to solve anything. They wanted to just surprise and take you for a ride with interesting twists and turns. Which is fine, and definitely what this book did, but that's not the kind of book that I enjoy. I wish it was more of a detective novel. But instead it just felt a little bit disconnected where a big reveal was then followed up with a slower sections where things would drag until the next twist. If there was more of a slow build up to a big reveal I think I would have enjoyed the plot more.

The characters too fell a little flat for me. I did like the main character of Nathalie. I feel like she was probably the most interesting character. She's one of those historical fiction heroines who is a bit ahead of her time and wants to be something that society doesn't really accept her as because she is a woman. A good amount of this book is her figuring out exactly who she wants to be and not caring about what society says about it and that is something I will always get behind. But the rest of the characters didn't make a great impression. This is the kind of book where you very easily could have a had a squad behind you with Simone, Christophe, and Louis but they were just tangentially involved. But this book was much about Nathalie and she really carried it.

All in all, I thought this was a good read. It's fast and engaging with a good historical setting, an interesting magical system, and a plot full of twists and turns. It's not the most complex mystery I have read and the pacing was a bit off but I still really enjoyed it. It was a book I was really looking forward to and it met my expectations.

I give Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok 8 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. If you are a fan of historical mysteries and want a quick and interesting read I would check this one out from your local library. It didn't blow me away but I definitely enjoyed it.

 Have you read Spectacle? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

ARC Review: Spectacle by Rachel Vincent

Title: Spectacle Series: Menagerie #2 Written by: Rachel Vincent Published: May 30, 2017 by Harlequin Mira (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: In this riveting sequel to New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent's acclaimed novel Menagerie, Delilah Marlow will discover that there is no crueler cage than the confines of the human mind…  When their coup of Metzger's Menagerie is discovered, Delilah and her fellow cryptids find their newly won freedom brutally stripped away as they are sold into The Savage Spectacle, a private collection of "exotic wildlife." Specializing in ruthless cryptid cage matches, safari-style creature hunts and living party favors, the Spectacle's owner, Willem Vandekamp, caters to the forbidden fetishes of the wealthy and powerful. At the Spectacle, any wish can be granted—for the right price.  But Vandekamp's closely guarded client list isn't the only secret being kept at the Spectacle. Beneath the beauty and brutality of life in the collection lie much darker truths, and no one is more determined than Delilah to strip the masks from the human monsters and drag all dark things into the light.

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

This is such a hard book to rate. I liked it in the moment but the more I sit with it and think about it I don't know how I feel. Despite originally DNFing Menagerie I ended up really liking it and actually being super excited for it's sequel. And while this was an interesting book with a complex and engaging world and likable characters, it still didn't blow me away.

One of the things that I did love about this book was the world. I don't reach much urban fantasy but I do really love the concept behind the subgenre. It's such an enthralling world as cryptids, aka mythical creatures and fae, walk among us and are treated as monsters, animals, and dangerous killers. In this book we saw that again but in an even more brutal way at the Savage Spectacle. It definitely creates this complex and engaging world that has all kinds of interesting themes about humanity, prejudice, and what makes you human.

And because much of the book is about those concepts, it makes for some really likable characters. In the course of the past two books I have become incredibly attached to these characters. Our main character is Delilah. Delilah is human but she is treated like a cryptid because she is the vessel for the spirit of vengeance. Delilah is everything a great character should be. She's smart, determined, and resourceful but she also has the great vulnerability to her as well. But I as much as I like seeing her make mistakes, it's even better to see the Fury rise. Don't we all sometimes wish a supernatural force could rise in us an destroy our enemies? I know I do. But just in general I really like Delilah as a character.

But this is a book full of interesting and complex characters. In some respects I felt like the first book had spread itself a little too thin with all the perspectives. That was resolved in this book. We saw many of the characters from the first book and even some new ones but there was a more narrow focus which was nice. But I did really like the secondary characters. Gallagher is a standout again in this especially now that we know his secret. Plus I did really like the relationship between the two of them. It's refreshing to see a strong friendship and a character who protects another without it being romantic.

But I think my biggest criticism for this book is with the plot development. It was an interesting plot and it developed in a much more steady way unlike the first book which had huge pacing issues. However, it just didn't feel cohesive. It felt like two different stories. One in the beginning and one at the end. They were connected but it still felt jarring when a twist occurred shifting the plot development completely. And to be entirely honest I don't think the plot was any different from the first book. There is so much potential to explore within the world and a lot of opportunity for drama but it didn't really deliver on that for me. I enjoyed it but it didn't take things to the next level for me.

On the whole this was an interesting read and I do like the series. It has such a fascinating world and complex and likable characters but I wanted a little more from the plot. I think there is a lot more to explore and I am excited to do just that in the next book.

I give Spectacle by Rachel Vincent 8 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. If you enjoyed the first book in this series, check out this one. Also, if you like urban fantasy and you have not read this series I definitely recommend it. It's definitely a good read that I would recommend to fans of the genre or anyone wanting to try it out.

Have your read Spectacle? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!