Spectacle

3.7

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Author(s)

Jodie Lynn Zdrok

Publisher

Tor Teen

Genre(s)

Age Range

13+

Release Date

February 12, 2019

ISBN

978-0765399687

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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.

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.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

a thoughtful, well-crafted novel

July 18, 2021

Overall rating

3.7

Plot

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Characters

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WHAT I LOVED:
Nathalie Baudin is an extraordinary girl even before she discovers her psychometric abilities. She’s just sixteen, but she’s a journalist ghostwriting a paper’s column of new arrivals to the public morgue. Those columns and the deceased’s public display may lead these unknowns to be identified, so it’s a rather valuable job even if it is morbid.

Even so, once this strong-stomached girl realizes she may be the key to finding the Dark Artist, she wavers and briefly quits investigating on her own. As valuable as it is, she’s still a child and hunting a serial killer who is very aware of you is terrifying. Were I in her situation, I doubt I would choose differently. Nathalie may not have resumed her efforts at all if not for a catastrophic event.

The scientific thought Zdrok put into the idea of the Insightfuls is a strong point of the novel as well. Some of their gifts are incredible, but there are serious drawbacks as well that keep them in check. Nathalie’s father can heal, but he takes on a minor form of the injury or sickness he heals. Nathalie herself can see the past when she touches an object or body, but she loses a memory when she does so. For instance, her first vision takes away her memory of buying flowers from a woman that morning. The more detailed and lengthy a vision, the more time she loses.

WHAT LEFT ME WANTING:
The sense of setting is vivid; you can really feel the research and work put into bringing 1887 France to life. However, that level of detail occasionally bogs down the pacing and makes the novel a bit harder to get through.

And I must say, I have never seen a single novel anti-climax so many times. The identity of the Dark Artist? His fate? The death of another major antagonist? They’re all quick and without dramatics. You expect something a little more momentous or shocking given the state of terror they’ve put Paris in, but no. It’s like standing at the edge of a cliff thinking there’s a long way down if you go over, getting pushed over, and landing safely on a large plateau after maybe two feet of falling.

FINAL VERDICTl
There’s no romance to be found in Spectacle if that’s what you’re looking for, but I hear there is some in its sequel Sensation. I’ve also heard the sequel is a bit weaker, so I’m not sure if I will read it myself. Whether you want to read both books or treat Spectacle as a standalone, you’ve got a thoughtful, well-crafted novel to look forward to.