Review: Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

Title:  Marie Antoinette Serial Killer
Author: Katie Alender

Publisher:  Scholastic Press
Publishing Date: September 24, 2013

Pages: 304
Genre:  YA Mystery Thriller

Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio

  

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 suddenly in danger . . .

Acclaimed author Katie Alender brings heart-stopping suspense to this story of revenge, betrayal, intrigue — and one killer queen.

I was so excited to read this book. I waited a very long time for the book to come out and I was ready for a good creepy Halloween read. I grabbed the audio as soon as I could and had me a listen. It was an OK read. I was a bit disappointed, it wasn't quite what I was looking for. The characters lacked for me and the story just wasn't as creepy as I had hoped it would be. 

Colette and her friends are off to France for a school trip. Once they are there, they end up involved in a serial killer's line of fire and Colette must find a way to stop the killer before its too late for her and her friends. Solving murders isn't the only thing on Colette's mind when she is in France. Romance, friendship, family history, and hard lessons learned are also on the trip's itinerary. 

There were some things I liked about the book. I loved the setting. It was beautiful and magical. The author did a wonderful job of walking me through the streets in Paris. Colette experienced a great part of Paris including many historical landmarks and the writing was done very well when it came to a picture perfect scene. It was painted clearly in my mind and I enjoyed my personal adventure though Paris. 

I also really enjoyed the romance in the book. It was pure and simple. Feelings that develop little by little over time and because it was such a short time, it never gets past the infatuation part. No extremes, no going overboard. Just sweet, simple, teenage romance. 

There were also a couple pretty creepy scenes when the book was told from the victims' points of view right before they were killed. I felt the chills  down my spine, the hair on my neck standing up, the anxiety of being watched and the fear of something jumping out at me. They were down right creepy at times. Unfortunately they were far and few in between. I would have loved this creep factor to have filled more of the pages. 

The story was unique and it had such great promise. There were just a couple of major downfalls. I love a good horror book and I love a good coming of age book. I am not sure these two were meant to go together in this book. The coming of age story of the book had great promise. The horror part of the book had great promise. I just don't think either one was very well developed. I felt that both parts were trying to take over the other one. I think it would have been better off if the story would have focused more on one or the other. 

The other major downfall I experienced was the character development. I didn't like the main character that much at all. She started off very shallow and very naive and in the end she was a better person but the change seemed a little extreme for me in the amount of time given. I didn;t feel she was given enough time for me to really see the change in her develop. She was a pretty mean girl one moment then bam she wasn't 

The last thing that just didn't do it for me was the ending. I felt that the climax was too quick and not climatic enough. It was just kind there then done with. The parts leading up to it was pretty intense but when the moment arrived for it all to go down, it just wasn't very satisfying for me. 

There were some really good but more not so good.  It just didn't do it for me.