Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis

8 reviews

silverhill's review

emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Toxic relationship, Murder, Grief, Terminal illness, Dementia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gore, and Mental illness

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Car accident

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I loved learning about the Rockettes.  I had never heard of the Big Apple Bomber and enjoyed how the author worked the mystery into the story about Radio City Musical Hall and the dancers.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Abandonment, Car accident, Chronic illness, Murder, Death, Mental illness, Gore, Misogyny, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Medical content, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

imstephtacular's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Medical content

Moderate: Car accident, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Grief

Minor: Abandonment, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Murder, Gaslighting, and Vomit

oceanwriter's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

As expected from Fiona Davis, The Spectacular has a stunning NYC backdrop. I didn’t even read the synopsis when I picked up this book. I saw Radio City Music Hall on the cover and didn’t care to know more. Plus, having read The Magnolia Palace, I figured it was a safe bet. 

 

More or less on a whim, teenaged Marion auditions to be one of the Radio City Rockettes, figuring the audition would be as far as she’d go. Being accepted causes a riff with her father, but as time goes on, his disapproval becomes the least of her problems. After an explosion during a performance, Marion gets involved in the investigation. 

 

I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would. Of course I loved the setting and all, I just found myself disconnected from the characters and mystery. Even so, Fiona Davis’ writing style made me want to continue. I’m going to hang onto this and visit it another time. It’s been a while since I’ve visited New York. I can see myself getting a taste of Broadway and wanting to visit it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Chronic illness, Murder, and Death

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident

kcrockford's review

adventurous informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexism

cc_shelflove's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child death, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Blood

Moderate: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Chronic illness

Minor: Confinement, Car accident, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

growintogardens's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, and Infidelity

Minor: Abandonment, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

torturedreadersdept's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book was way better than the other book I’ve read by this author, The Magnolia Palace. The topic (the Rockettes) combined with other details (starting to use psychological profiling to solve crimes) and the time period (mid-50s) made it feel pretty compelling and unique! I found the main characters more likeable and was much more emotionally connected with the storylines. It was a page-turner - I wanted to stay up late and finish because I really wanted to find out what happened (not because I wanted to get it over with so I could get to my next read). I really enjoyed this book and definitely feel it is a strong historical fiction for this year so far!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Body horror, Grief, Infidelity, Stalking, Dementia, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Pregnancy