Spectacle by Jodi Lynn Zdrok

2019 seems to be the year for YA books set in France. There's Spectacle, which will release on February 12 (go preorder, people), and Enchantée by Gita Trelease, which releases February 5.

I absolutely love anything to do with France, and I also love murder mysteries. Spectacle incorporates both, while also including strong, well-rounded female characters.

Spectacle is set in 1887 Paris, and is about a series of murders committed by "The Dark Artist," and the girl who has visions of the murders as they're being committed. Nathalie Baudin is sixteen years old and the morgue reporter for the newspaper. However, everyone assumes it is a man who writes the column. One day while visiting the morgue, Nathalie touches the glass and is thrown into a vision of the victim's last moments-- from the point of view of the killer. Desperate to discover the origin of her strange power, Nathalie begins to explore her family's past, beginning with her Aunt Brigitte, who has been locked in an asylum for years. But the killer discovers that Nathalie has been having visions of the murders, and will stop at nothing to find out the root of Nathalie's power.

I really enjoyed my time reading Spectacle, thanks to the ARC I received from Netgalley. I loved Nathalie as a character; as a morgue reporter, I expected her to be a bit morbid or dark, but she was such a smart, kindhearted character who just wanted to protect her family and friends. She had the sweetest relationship with her mother, who had recently suffered burns on her hands from a fire, and with her father, who was gone from their home for months at a time for work.

Nathalie also had two best friends, Simone and Agnes. I thought that Agnes was a bit one-dimensional; then again, most of her interactions with Nathalie were through letters. I do think that her primary function was as a plot device, which made it kind of hard to connect with her as an individual. Simone, on the other hand, was larger than life. She's a cabaret dancer who leads a much different life than Nathalie; nevertheless, she's so supportive of Nathalie and hardly bats an eye at Nathalie's strange ability.

As for the mystery, I thought it was delightfully creepy. The plot twists towards the end really solidified my love of this book, as it made the whole thing much more complicated than before.

I also really enjoyed the paranormal aspect of the book, which became more apparent further into the story. So much of the plot was finding the balance between the two mysteries: the identity of the Dark Artist and the origin of Nathalie's ability.

Nathalie developed so much as a character by the end of the novel. She comes to terms with the fact that she is essentially stuck with this strange ability, but perhaps she can use it for good. I loved seeing her become more confident as she unravels the mysteries.

Oh, I also liked that the romance was pushed to the background for most of the novel. I think Nathalie has much more to worry about than a cute guy at the morgue.

I did rate Spectacle only 4 out of 5 stars, because the first half of the book, while enjoyable, dragged quite a bit. The majority of the action happens in the second half, so I was bored for a lot of the first half. This was really only a minor problem, though, because I still really enjoyed reading the descriptions of Paris and Nathalie's everyday life.

If you like murder mysteries, French culture, or anything that's a little bit creepy, Spectacle is definitely the book for you.