Search This Blog
2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (11)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (2)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (3)
- Georgia (3)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (4)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (9)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (4)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (2)
- Washington, D.C.* (2)
International:
- Argentina (1)
- Australia (3)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (3)
- China (2)
- England (25)
- France (1)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (2)
- Russia (2)
- Scotland (3)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge
2024 52 Club Reading Challenge
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge
2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge
2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge
Mount TBR Reading Challenge
2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge
Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge
Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge
The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge
The Life Skills Reading Challenge
Thursday, January 23, 2020
My First Audiobook a Slow, Gory Slog
7:29 PM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
As an aspiring journalist, 16-year-old Nathalie Baudin is thrilled to be writing a column for Le Petite Journal. Even if the editor, an old family friend, hired her only as a favor to her unemployed mother and away-at-sea father. Even if she has to dress as a boy to do her reporting. Even if the job means spending her days studying corpses at Paris' public morgue. Despite her unladylike interest in the macabre, she's as horrified as everyone else when a serial killer begins preying on the city's young women. She's even more aghast when, while viewing the victims' bodies at the morgue, she begins having nauseating visions of them being brutalized. Most confusing of all, the scenes are from the perspective of the killer. Why is she having these strange visions? What could they possibly mean?
Soon Nathalie realizes that her gruesome waking dreams are a weird gift that could help the police find the killer who has been dubbed "The Dark Artist." But that means opening herself to more violent visions, which leave her frightened and disgusted. Is it worth her sanity to encourage the blood-soaked visions? As Nathalie searches for answers, she stumbles across shocking secrets about her family and herself. Her sleuthing soon attracts the attention of the murderer. With a killer on her own tail, she must find answers—and fast—before she becomes the next corpse lying on a slab for all of Paris to view.
Spectacle, a debut novel by Jodie Lynn Zdrok, has an intriguing premise and a creepy, atmospheric Jack the Ripper feel. While neither of these elements is all that original, the combination presents a compelling jumping-off point. Unfortunately, the story Zdrok spins from it is slow, with a lot of meandering around before it gets anywhere. The tale gets repetitious and dull, making its 368 pages feel like double that. Add in a lot of bloody, gory scenes, some of which made me feel physically ill, and Spectacle became a tough tale to get through. I did become invested enough in the story to finish it, but in the end, I just didn't find the book all that enjoyable or satisfying. Needless to say, I won't be bothering with the sequel, Sensational, which comes out in February.
I should mention that I listened to Spectacle as an audiobook—my first one ever. The narrator, Laurie Catherine Winkel, is okay. Her narration is a little stiff, with her French sounding more natural than her English. My daughter says she sounds like the Google Translate voice. I don't know if listening to Spectacle as opposed to reading it altered my experience with the book or not. I think I would have felt the same way, no matter what, but I'm still a noob when it comes to audiobooks, so who knows?
(Readalikes: Reminds me of the Body Finder series by Kimberly Derting [The Body Finder; Desires of the Dead; The Last Echo; and Dead Silence] as well as various books about Jack the Ripper)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for brief, mild language; violence; disturbing subject matter; and blood/gore
To the FTC, with love: I received a free finished audio copy of Spectacle as part of a promotion offered by Audible.
5 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Reading
Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie
Listening
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
Followin' with Bloglovin'
Followin' with Feedly
-
THWIP Thursday for 21 November 202448 minutes ago
-
The Listeners2 hours ago
-
A Couple of short(ish) reviews5 hours ago
-
Time Travel Thursday5 hours ago
-
#ThrowbackThursday. December 2011 Part 26 hours ago
-
Rendezvous update 27 hours ago
-
What I’m Giving Bart for Christmas8 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
The Poison Pen Letters by Fiona Walker15 hours ago
-
-
A Quiet Teacher by Adam Oyebanji1 day ago
-
-
-
-
A Quick Update1 day ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Open for Murder by Mary Angela2 weeks ago
-
-
-
Reading Recap September 20241 month ago
-
Ten Characters Who Redeemed Themselves2 months ago
-
Review: The Duke and I3 months ago
-
Girl Plus Books: On Hiatus3 months ago
-
Sunday Post3 months ago
-
-
The Music of 2024: Q24 months ago
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?2 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Design by:
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ▼ 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)
2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
2021 - Middle Grade Fiction
2020 - Middle Grade Fiction
As an audiobook lover, I will say that you'll likely need to find your 'happy' place with them. I've noticed that some things are more 'whatever' (annoying, pleasing, shocking) when I'm being read to rather than reading in print. Narrators can make a big difference and there are some that I just can't listen to. And then there are some that I would listen to them read 'the phone book' (if the phone book existed anymore - ha!). This sounds like the kind of book that I might like, but I'll not hurry to read it. Better luck with your next audio adventure!
ReplyDeleteI am not good with audiobooks and I do think the quality of the narrator makes a huge difference. A slow book, especially for a thriller, just doesn't work for me. Too bad this was a let down.
ReplyDeleteSorry this one wasn't better.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that your first audiobook was a bit of a dud. I find that I only enjoy listening to certain genres and the narrator makes a big difference. I hope your next listen is better!
ReplyDeleteIt is too bad that your first audiobook was not the best. The narrator can make or break a book and it sounds like the latter here. Don't give up Susan. This doesn't sound like one that I would read or listen to.
ReplyDelete