Summary: 21st century girl. 18th century ghost. Heads will roll!
The city of light just got a little darker. . . . Colette Iselin is excited to go to Paris on a class trip. She'll get to soak up the beauty and culture, and maybe even learn something about her family's French roots. But a series of gruesome murders are taking place across the city, putting everyone on edge. And as she tours museums and palaces, Colette keeps seeing a strange vision: a pale woman in a ball gown and powdered wig, who looks suspiciously like Marie Antoinette. Colette knows her popular, status-obsessed friends won't believe her, so she seeks out the help of a charming French boy. Together, they uncover a shocking secret involving a dark, hidden history. When Colette realizes she herself may hold the key to the mystery, her own life is in danger. . . . My Opinion: This was such a fun book to read. For one, I very much enjoyed the characters. Colette was witty and somewhat nice, but still extremely flawed which is always interesting to read. For another, it's set in Paris, France. And I really love Paris, France. (I really love France in general.) I've been to Paris, so as the book went on I could physically see some of the monuments it talked about, such as the Eiffel Tower at night and the Arc de Triomphe. There was a lot of French history and language in the book (I was really proud to understand the majority of it!). It was so interesting. Katie Alender clearly did her research because I learned a whole bunch of stuff about French history and Marie Antoinette. While some of the information in the book was fictional (there is no such thing as the Order of the Key which was a huge part of the book), it was still so entertaining. I loved reading about the fashion, the food, the architecture. And I especially loved the chapters when the victims were murdered, because they were beheaded as Marie Antoinette was and it was funny. Characters: Colette Iselin--main character. She took four years of Spanish only to switch to French so she could go on her school's French trip. She has two friends, one who is super passive and the other who is more like a frenemy. Colette is extremely obsessed with her image, but as the book progresses, she changes. There is some definite character development, which I enjoyed. Also, Alender ties in Colette's inability to make good friends with Marie Antoinette's death, and that was pretty cool to read. (I really don't think there are any other characters worth talking about. Pilar, Colette's passive friend, is sweet, but I really don't feel like we get to know many other characters besides Colette.) Rating: 5 stars Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJust some reviews about some books I've recently read. Check 'em out! Archives
March 2017
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