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A review by sarahweyand
The Spectacular by Fiona Davis
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feedback are my own.
I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book but I was pleasantly surprised! The Spectacular does a great job of teaching readers about the Rockettes and their history, and includes a lot of interesting facts and information I didn't know before reading. I would say this book is a mystery first and a historical fiction second, which is opposite from what I was anticipating, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I liked reading about Marion's struggles and personal growth being a woman in the 50s, which was realistic and therefore extremely frustrating. I liked her as a character a lot, but some aspects of the story didn't work as well for me as I wished. The romance was sweet at the end but very insta-lovey and too full of poor communication for me to get invested. In addition, the scenes with the police officers didn't feel all that realistic (not in terms of their ineptness but in terms of their communication and information sharing with Marion and Peter).
Overall, I think people will enjoy this book if they love mysteries or historical fiction. I haven't read any books about Rockettes, so that was an interesting niche to me as well. Will definitely be on the lookout for more Fiona Davis in the future!
I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book but I was pleasantly surprised! The Spectacular does a great job of teaching readers about the Rockettes and their history, and includes a lot of interesting facts and information I didn't know before reading. I would say this book is a mystery first and a historical fiction second, which is opposite from what I was anticipating, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I liked reading about Marion's struggles and personal growth being a woman in the 50s, which was realistic and therefore extremely frustrating. I liked her as a character a lot, but some aspects of the story didn't work as well for me as I wished. The romance was sweet at the end but very insta-lovey and too full of poor communication for me to get invested. In addition, the scenes with the police officers didn't feel all that realistic (not in terms of their ineptness but in terms of their communication and information sharing with Marion and Peter).
Overall, I think people will enjoy this book if they love mysteries or historical fiction. I haven't read any books about Rockettes, so that was an interesting niche to me as well. Will definitely be on the lookout for more Fiona Davis in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent