Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok

Spectacle (Spectacle, #1)

by Jodie Lynn Zdrok

Spectacle is a YA murder mystery from debut author Jodie Lynn Zdrok 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.

Reviewed by shannonmiz on

4 of 5 stars

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You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

Oh, this is so delightfully messed up! I mean it, it is sometimes downright gruesome, so if you can't handle death and morgues and such... might want to skip it. But if you can handle it, this was a really good one! Let us discuss why!

  • •Nathalie was morbidly curious, yet still relatable. I mean, I don't frequent places of death personally, and I imagine most of you don't either. But I understood Nathalie's inquisitiveness too. Especially since apparently, this was a legit pastime in France. (Can we please have another shout-out to how delightfully strange old-timey France was? Love it.) Plus she isn't like, messed up- just interested in death and the macabre a bit more than the average bear. No shame, girl.


  • •The mystery kept me on my toes. I cannot tell you how many times I wrote "wait maybe it was him!" in my Kindle notes. I was usually wrong, so sue me. That's the good part though- I was wrong, because the mystery was good. I love a good whodunit. And this was one.


  • •It was thought-provoking. So many questions about death, and choices, and more stuff that I can't talk about because it would probably be spoilery, but I loved it.


  • •Friendships FTW! I love me some strong female friendships, and they were front and center in this novel! Again, I don't want to give too much away because they are important to the story, but the relationships felt really authentic.


  • •It tugged at my heartstrings a bit! That was unexpected, actually. It's not often that a murder mystery gets me teary, but here we are. (Also, does the fact that I list "crying" as a positive make me a complete masochist, or...?)


My only real qualm was that I would have liked a bit more from the ending? It definitely answered some questions, but then others were left more open. I assume there's a chance this will get a sequel? I do hope so, as I'd definitely be reading it! Also, it's pretty much romance-free, which isn't exactly a negative, but I wouldn't turn one down, either!

Bottom Line: Pretty messed up, but in the good way! A mystery that kept me guessing and characters I enjoyed make me hope this doesn't end up being a standalone!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 17 January, 2019: Finished reading
  • 17 January, 2019: Reviewed