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zbmorgan's review
4.0
Such a delightful change of pace. This isn't just a solid mystery with a bit of supernatural thrown in (the protagonist can see snippets of the murders through the killer's eyes) but a well researched walk through Paris in the 1800s. It's grisly, sure, and lots of time is spent in the Morgue, but the very real fact that Parisians in the Victorian era went to the Morgue for entertainment and curiosity is not shied away from here, and the sprinkling of scientific beliefs at the time gives it just enough reality to motivate the characters, good and evil. I look forward to reading the sequel.
mybooksandimaginations's review
5.0
One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the attention to historical detail as well as the addition of what is normally fantasy written as a scientific phenomenon. It was quite clever. The writing was detailed, but not bogged down, historical, but not dull, and fantastical without going to far. There were a few slow parts, but it picked up fairly quickly. This book is along the same lines as Kerri Maniscalco's Jack the Ripper series, so if you liked that one, you should try this, or vice versa.
In order to start helping her mother out with costs, Nathalie began to write for the daily morgue column, explaining each new unknown body that was found, and displayed at the Paris Morgue. One day, when she touches the glass she gets a vision of what happened to one of the girls in reverse, and loses a memory. Willing to put this abnormal event behind her, she goes back the next day, the same thing happens with a different girl. As Nathalie tries to figure out where she got this mysterious power, and who killed this murdered girls, she puts her life in danger, and discovers that while she was hunting the killer, the killer want watching her as well.
In order to start helping her mother out with costs, Nathalie began to write for the daily morgue column, explaining each new unknown body that was found, and displayed at the Paris Morgue. One day, when she touches the glass she gets a vision of what happened to one of the girls in reverse, and loses a memory. Willing to put this abnormal event behind her, she goes back the next day, the same thing happens with a different girl. As Nathalie tries to figure out where she got this mysterious power, and who killed this murdered girls, she puts her life in danger, and discovers that while she was hunting the killer, the killer want watching her as well.
a_chickletz's review
3.0
I picked up an arc version of this at a book sale so I frankly don't know if the finished version had any changes or what not. Still, it was a book and I read it.
I found it to be a fair crime/mystery/supernatural read. It reminded me of the Jack the Ripper story and it's sequels. Still, this one seemed to hold its own with the amount of historical research that went into it.
The supernatural aspect comes from the fact that the girl can put herself in the shoes of the person who is committing the crime as it is committed. Though the supernatural aspect seems a bit flighty/not strongly developed enough to accept it?
The characters were interesting - was a little shocked to find the guy the main girl was crushing on attached/engaged, yet he seemed to be stringing her along and she was falling for it? Apparently this gets resolved in book two.
I have an ARC for book 2 so while it has just come out I wonder how that book did?
I found it to be a fair crime/mystery/supernatural read. It reminded me of the Jack the Ripper story and it's sequels. Still, this one seemed to hold its own with the amount of historical research that went into it.
The supernatural aspect comes from the fact that the girl can put herself in the shoes of the person who is committing the crime as it is committed. Though the supernatural aspect seems a bit flighty/not strongly developed enough to accept it?
The characters were interesting - was a little shocked to find the guy the main girl was crushing on attached/engaged, yet he seemed to be stringing her along and she was falling for it? Apparently this gets resolved in book two.
I have an ARC for book 2 so while it has just come out I wonder how that book did?
megsbookishtwins's review against another edition
3.0
Disclaimer: I received this free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Every day, sixteen-year-old Nathalie Baudin visits the public morgue in Paris. She writes the daily morgue column for Le Petit Journal. Her job is to summarize the day’s new arrivals. But one day, as she touches the glass case, she has a vision of the newest body. She sees the young woman in her last moments as she is getting murdered. But one thing about the vision chills her to the bone – she sees in from the perspective of the killer. When more and more bodies show up, Nathalie is determined to investigate and her search for answers sets her on a dangerous path, and one that catches the attention of the killer.
Spectacle was an enjoyable read. There were a lot of aspects that I really enjoyed, such as the setting, the murder mystery, the pseudoscience, and the psychic aspect of it. The reason I’m giving this three stars is purely because it felt like a very long book and it wasn’t but the pacing really dragged in the middle and the plot sort of stagnated. But enough of that, I’m going to talk a little bit more in-depth about the stuff I did enjoy.
Spectacle takes place in Paris in 1887 and Zdrok managed to create an eerie and suspenseful atmosphere. It is great because Zdrok shows Paris as a city that is fascinated by death, from the public morgue which the citizens treat as a form of entertainment, to the catacombs that are both frightening and invigorating for the public, and finally, to the serial killer and that the public treat gleefully as a fascinating story. For Nathalie, the threat is very real and very disturbing as she stalks the killer and inevitably catches his attention but even she finds the chase alluring.
Nathalie is a formidable protagonist, as she was inquisitive and determined, but I did also love that she had flaws. She had some really great interactions with those around her, especially her Mother. When the pacing slowed in the middle, Zdrok did rely on her characters, rather than the mystery, to move the story and I personally don’t believe she was all that successful and I would have preferred if she kept the faster pace up, but each to their own as I know some people enjoyed the slower pace. Spectacle also has an interesting psuedo-science and psychic aspect that I enjoyed too!
Overall, Spectacle was a book that I did enjoy that was mainly a hit, but did also miss the mark a little bit too. If you are looking for a slower paced historical murder mystery then Spectacle is one I would recommend you check out.
Every day, sixteen-year-old Nathalie Baudin visits the public morgue in Paris. She writes the daily morgue column for Le Petit Journal. Her job is to summarize the day’s new arrivals. But one day, as she touches the glass case, she has a vision of the newest body. She sees the young woman in her last moments as she is getting murdered. But one thing about the vision chills her to the bone – she sees in from the perspective of the killer. When more and more bodies show up, Nathalie is determined to investigate and her search for answers sets her on a dangerous path, and one that catches the attention of the killer.
Spectacle was an enjoyable read. There were a lot of aspects that I really enjoyed, such as the setting, the murder mystery, the pseudoscience, and the psychic aspect of it. The reason I’m giving this three stars is purely because it felt like a very long book and it wasn’t but the pacing really dragged in the middle and the plot sort of stagnated. But enough of that, I’m going to talk a little bit more in-depth about the stuff I did enjoy.
Spectacle takes place in Paris in 1887 and Zdrok managed to create an eerie and suspenseful atmosphere. It is great because Zdrok shows Paris as a city that is fascinated by death, from the public morgue which the citizens treat as a form of entertainment, to the catacombs that are both frightening and invigorating for the public, and finally, to the serial killer and that the public treat gleefully as a fascinating story. For Nathalie, the threat is very real and very disturbing as she stalks the killer and inevitably catches his attention but even she finds the chase alluring.
Nathalie is a formidable protagonist, as she was inquisitive and determined, but I did also love that she had flaws. She had some really great interactions with those around her, especially her Mother. When the pacing slowed in the middle, Zdrok did rely on her characters, rather than the mystery, to move the story and I personally don’t believe she was all that successful and I would have preferred if she kept the faster pace up, but each to their own as I know some people enjoyed the slower pace. Spectacle also has an interesting psuedo-science and psychic aspect that I enjoyed too!
Overall, Spectacle was a book that I did enjoy that was mainly a hit, but did also miss the mark a little bit too. If you are looking for a slower paced historical murder mystery then Spectacle is one I would recommend you check out.
thebookberrie's review against another edition
1.0
Do you ever read a book that just makes you appreciate another book so much more? Me right now thinking that huh, [b:Stalking Jack the Ripper|40727470|Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper, #1)|Kerri Maniscalco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530823449l/40727470._SY75_.jpg|47434536] was actually really damn good, at least compared to this one.
Spectacle is about a teenage girl who writes a daily morgue column for a popular journal. Her job puts her in the way of dead bodies that Nathalie finds both fascinating and routine. Until while visiting the newest dead body, a young girl, Nathalie gets a vision of her death that could only have been from the murderer's point of view. When yet another young girl ends up dead, the city of Paris fears that she wasn't his last victim and more will be on the way. As Nathalie gets to the bottom of her newfound power, she gets closer to the murderer and puts herself and those she loves in danger.
Oh dear god this book was all over the place. There is all this talk of people getting experimented on so they have powers and talk of that happened so much. Nathalie kept referring to her visions as "magic" and I don't know, I just didn't like calling it that. It wasn't really magic, in a magical sense, it was just some random ass ability that came from blood transfusions or something. Her power seemed interesting at first but it didn't really make sense, and it never even really helps?? Nathalie does not get anywhere close to solving this mystery herself.
Also Nathalie is selfish as hell. After using her power twice (by accident), she nopes out and refuses as more girls get killed and she even tells a dead body "sorry lol just worrying about myself here!". The only thing that gets her ass in gear is her friend getting murdered. This friend by the way is only seen via letters they are sending back and forth (just filled with exposition) until she shows up for a couple pages, only to get killed after. And yet this murder is supposed to be oh so important and the turning point for Nathalie. Yeah, okay.
This book truly was a discount version of [b:Stalking Jack the Ripper|40727470|Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper, #1)|Kerri Maniscalco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530823449l/40727470._SY75_.jpg|47434536] but instead of being fun and cute with a mystery that ends pretty neat, we have Nathalie just being really dense and fighting with her family and friends. And of course all the time that was spent of her complaining about having to wear pants at her job. Which was a super weird job to give her but okay.
The endless boring mystery all about the people with random powers that show up randomly in different people after certain experimentation was SO much and I just wasn't interested. The powers and how they got them barely made any sense. Even the damn murder mystery was hilariously bad. The actual murderer gets killed at 80% and then the rest of the book is pretty much: uhhhh now what? The resolution was not satisfying or exciting, and the book was so annoyingly slow. It sets up for a sequel but I'm good.
Also this audiobook annoyed me SO much. When Nathalie and everyone else would talk, they would have a French accent but then everything else from the third person POV was an American accent. Either have the entire audiobook have a French accent or no French accent but the half and half got on my nerves.
Just a hugely disappointing book.
Spectacle is about a teenage girl who writes a daily morgue column for a popular journal. Her job puts her in the way of dead bodies that Nathalie finds both fascinating and routine. Until while visiting the newest dead body, a young girl, Nathalie gets a vision of her death that could only have been from the murderer's point of view. When yet another young girl ends up dead, the city of Paris fears that she wasn't his last victim and more will be on the way. As Nathalie gets to the bottom of her newfound power, she gets closer to the murderer and puts herself and those she loves in danger.
Oh dear god this book was all over the place. There is all this talk of people getting experimented on so they have powers and talk of that happened so much. Nathalie kept referring to her visions as "magic" and I don't know, I just didn't like calling it that. It wasn't really magic, in a magical sense, it was just some random ass ability that came from blood transfusions or something. Her power seemed interesting at first but it didn't really make sense, and it never even really helps?? Nathalie does not get anywhere close to solving this mystery herself.
Also Nathalie is selfish as hell. After using her power twice (by accident), she nopes out and refuses as more girls get killed and she even tells a dead body "sorry lol just worrying about myself here!". The only thing that gets her ass in gear is her friend getting murdered. This friend by the way is only seen via letters they are sending back and forth (just filled with exposition) until she shows up for a couple pages, only to get killed after. And yet this murder is supposed to be oh so important and the turning point for Nathalie. Yeah, okay.
This book truly was a discount version of [b:Stalking Jack the Ripper|40727470|Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper, #1)|Kerri Maniscalco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530823449l/40727470._SY75_.jpg|47434536] but instead of being fun and cute with a mystery that ends pretty neat, we have Nathalie just being really dense and fighting with her family and friends. And of course all the time that was spent of her complaining about having to wear pants at her job. Which was a super weird job to give her but okay.
The endless boring mystery all about the people with random powers that show up randomly in different people after certain experimentation was SO much and I just wasn't interested. The powers and how they got them barely made any sense. Even the damn murder mystery was hilariously bad. The actual murderer gets killed at 80% and then the rest of the book is pretty much: uhhhh now what? The resolution was not satisfying or exciting, and the book was so annoyingly slow. It sets up for a sequel but I'm good.
Also this audiobook annoyed me SO much. When Nathalie and everyone else would talk, they would have a French accent but then everything else from the third person POV was an American accent. Either have the entire audiobook have a French accent or no French accent but the half and half got on my nerves.
Just a hugely disappointing book.
alexacortez's review against another edition
3.0
I love historical fiction so I loved the idea behind this book but It wasn’t executed as well as I would have liked. The ending is all over the place and feels unresolved in a lot of ways.
booksarebetter's review against another edition
5.0
This was a historical thriller set in 19th century Paris, involving murders, Notre Dame, and a hint of the paranormal. Nathalie is our heroine and she is having memory problems, along with victims piling up. But the ending was a wide open cliffhanger. I can't give away more without spoilers but let me say, this was a brilliant choice for an October read. I enjoyed this a lot and though I guessed a bit of what would happen, that ending still caught me off guard. 5 ⭐!
ambeesbookishpages's review against another edition
3.0
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
Thank you NetGalley and Tor Teen for the opportunity to review Spectacle!
Spectacle was quite different then what I was expecting. Though I did have my issues with Spectacle, I was nonetheless blown away by Jodie's writing style and the dark themes she wrote about in her debut novel. Spectacle was a page turner with characters that were easily likable and a series of grisly murders that you couldn't help but want to know more about.
My biggest issue with this book that by the way it is described I was expecting a blood soaked murder mystery that was going to send chills down my spine. Though it do that at many points, the murders and who the murderer is seemed to be a sub plot rather then the main plot. A big part of Spectacle was Nathalie trying to piece together where she got her ability to see the murders from and uncovering secrets from her parents and aunt's past.
Spectacle had a lot of potential and at certain points it felt like it just fell short of it. Important parts of the story were brushed past and I wish Jodie had taken more time to describe the experiments that gave people their magical abilities and a deeper view into the things that led Tante down the road to an asylum. I knew enough that everything made sense, but not enough to be emotionally invested.
I really enjoyed Nathalie's growth from the start of Spectacle and to the end of it. The story takes place over a few weeks worth of time and you can gradually to see the change in how Nathalie begins to act and think towards certain things. The friendship between Nathalie and Simone warmed my heart and I found it very similar to some of my actual relationships with friends, so I was able to feel her pain when her Simone would have disagreements. I don't thing Spectacle needed a romance aspect, it worked pretty well with out it. But Jodie did tease us with Christophe and Nathalie's interactions and by the end of the novel their relationship was very up in the air.
Spectacle did end very open ended and I can see the potential for another novel about Nathalie and her adventures since not everything was clarified by the end of Spectacle. Though I didn't love Spectacle, it was an enjoyable read and I am eager to see what is in store for these characters next.
Thank you NetGalley and Tor Teen for the opportunity to review Spectacle!
Spectacle was quite different then what I was expecting. Though I did have my issues with Spectacle, I was nonetheless blown away by Jodie's writing style and the dark themes she wrote about in her debut novel. Spectacle was a page turner with characters that were easily likable and a series of grisly murders that you couldn't help but want to know more about.
My biggest issue with this book that by the way it is described I was expecting a blood soaked murder mystery that was going to send chills down my spine. Though it do that at many points, the murders and who the murderer is seemed to be a sub plot rather then the main plot. A big part of Spectacle was Nathalie trying to piece together where she got her ability to see the murders from and uncovering secrets from her parents and aunt's past.
Spectacle had a lot of potential and at certain points it felt like it just fell short of it. Important parts of the story were brushed past and I wish Jodie had taken more time to describe the experiments that gave people their magical abilities and a deeper view into the things that led Tante down the road to an asylum. I knew enough that everything made sense, but not enough to be emotionally invested.
I really enjoyed Nathalie's growth from the start of Spectacle and to the end of it. The story takes place over a few weeks worth of time and you can gradually to see the change in how Nathalie begins to act and think towards certain things. The friendship between Nathalie and Simone warmed my heart and I found it very similar to some of my actual relationships with friends, so I was able to feel her pain when her Simone would have disagreements. I don't thing Spectacle needed a romance aspect, it worked pretty well with out it. But Jodie did tease us with Christophe and Nathalie's interactions and by the end of the novel their relationship was very up in the air.
Spectacle did end very open ended and I can see the potential for another novel about Nathalie and her adventures since not everything was clarified by the end of Spectacle. Though I didn't love Spectacle, it was an enjoyable read and I am eager to see what is in store for these characters next.
blogginboutbooks's review
3.0
I've never "read" an audiobook before, but Audible is having a deal right now that I just couldn't pass up. For my first read, I chose SPECTACLE since it has been on my TBR pile for a while now and it sounded compelling. I didn't pay any attention to the length of the book (ELEVEN hours of listening), so I got really confused when it kept going and going and going and going ... Now, I don't mind a lengthy book as long as it keeps me engaged. This one is engrossing enough that I finished it, but it got so repetitious and slow that I grew bored with it somewhere around the middle of the story. There's a lot of murder and graphic, gory scenes, but the story drags quite a bit. Part of the problem is the plot, which is familiar and predictable. I saw one of the Big Reveals coming simply because I've read/watched enough similar stories to know where it was going. Add in all the blood and guts and the overall depressing tone of the book and, yeah, I just didn't end up finding SPECTACLE satisfying or enjoyable. Bummer.
As for the narration, I don't have anything to really compare it to. The narrator spoke clearly, but a little unnaturally. Her French sounded more natural than her English. My daughter says she sounds like the Google Translate voice - ha ha. Also the way she pronounced "Nathalie" drove me crazy. I don't know why. Overall, I think she was a fine narrator. Not outstanding, but good enough.
As for the narration, I don't have anything to really compare it to. The narrator spoke clearly, but a little unnaturally. Her French sounded more natural than her English. My daughter says she sounds like the Google Translate voice - ha ha. Also the way she pronounced "Nathalie" drove me crazy. I don't know why. Overall, I think she was a fine narrator. Not outstanding, but good enough.
_camk_'s review against another edition
1.0
Definitely did not like.
-The book isn't terrible. It's just really boring and dull and it took me 4 sittings over 1 weeks to finish it when I can usually read these books in 1 or 2 sittings.
-It is painfully slow.
-The female has absolutely no common sense as well as no personality.
-The premise was good but the execution was a failure.
-The book isn't terrible. It's just really boring and dull and it took me 4 sittings over 1 weeks to finish it when I can usually read these books in 1 or 2 sittings.
-It is painfully slow.
-The female has absolutely no common sense as well as no personality.
-The premise was good but the execution was a failure.