Review: Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok

Title: Spectacle
Author: Jodie Lynn Zdrok
Genre: YA/Historical/Fantasy/Mystery
Release Date: February 2019
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Spectacle is an atmospheric YA debut that promises thrills and horror and, fortunately, the story delivers; set in 1887 Paris, we begin the story following Nathalie, a 16-year-old burgeoning reporter who is tasked with writing the morgue report for Le Petit Journal. While visiting the morgue, which is open to the public, to research her daily article, Nathalie finds herself supernaturally entangled in a mystery of a serial killer, and discovers she may possess unique gifts that could help the police unmask the murderer. Aided by her best friend Simone and a cute young investigator, Nathalie puts her journalism skills and her unique gifts to work in unraveling a gruesome mystery.

Throughout the book, Zdrok does an excellent job capturing the morbid fascination with true crime that was as true in the 19th century as it is today. In Nathalie's world, Parisians view corpses at the morgue with their toddlers in tow, visit wax museums depicting scenes of murder victims, and enjoy celebratory drinks after watching a public execution. Even though this book takes place in the summer, it has a very eerie vibe and the setting really drew me into the story with its cafés, cabarets, and catacombs.

There were def some Penny Dreadful vibes

In addition to the time period and the setting, I also really enjoyed being in Nathalie's head; she's smart and rational, so I wasn't constantly yelling at her like I find myself doing so often with mystery books. I also loved that Nathalie actually had friends who were fully developed and had their own lives, only adding to the realism of her world, and her parents really added to the story instead of fading into the background, which I find happens all too often in YA novels. I don't want to discuss too much of the plot in this review in order to avoid spoilers, but I thought there actually were a good amount of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. I almost didn't trust a single person throughout the story, especially due to the elements of mysterious magic, missing memories, and visits to the insane asylum (I'm telling you, this book has it all). At times, the middle of the book was paced a bit slow, but it quickly picked up and sucked me back in.

I found this debut to be an excellent read that I would recommend to lovers of historical mysteries (I read all of the Lady Julia Grey books, so I'm the target audience) who also enjoy fantasy and horror elements thrown in as well. This is kind of a dark read with some gruesome details, but to me that adds to its appeal. I hope there are more books planned set in this world, because I'm dying to find out more!

Note: I received a digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Teen for providing me this copy!