[Review] Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer
Katie Alender 

September 24, 2013

Point

Review copy provided by publisher
via Netgalley for honest review

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

Heads will roll!

Paris, France: a city of fashion, chocolate croissants, and cute boys. Colette Iselin is thrilled be there for the first time, on her spring break class trip.

But a series of gruesome murders are taking place around the city, putting everyone on edge. And as she tours the sights, Colette keeps seeing a strange vision: a pale woman in a ball gown and powdered wig, who looks like Marie Antoinette.

Colette knows her status-obsessed friends won't believe her, so she seeks out the help of a charming French boy. Together, they discover that the murder victims are all descendants of people who ultimately brought about Marie Antoinette's beheading. The queen's ghost has been awakened, and now she's wreaking her bloodthirsty revenge.

And Colette may just be one of those descendants . . . which means she might not make it out of this trip alive.

So I think I had really high expectations when I read the synopsis for Marie Antoinette Serial Killer.  This book in the, for me, ended up as nothing special.  It was an ok read that in end all it left me with was a really strong desire to visit Paris.  I liked the beautiful descriptions of the city but the story was bit boring. It took too long to get to the climactic ending that it felt rushed in the end.

The story is about a ghost out for revenge and she is killing the decedents of the people who betrayed her.  Colette is excited about her trip to Paris and is very excited to be going to Paris for the first time.  In Paris she finds out that her ancestor is one the people who betrayed Marie Antoinette and that now she has to fight for her life and the life of her friends.  Meanwhile, she is investigating, getting involved with cute boys and finding herself in Paris.  I liked the concept of the story it was very interesting but I don’t know it just wasn’t very spooky.  I hate to say this but if I am being honest it felt like one of those Mary Kate and Ashley travel movies but add in ghosts to make it a Halloween special.  Teenagers in a foreign country sightseeing, kissing, and finding themselves for me it was nothing new and I expected that it.  It was the concept of Marie Antoinette as a vengeful serial killing ghost that was supposed to be intriguing but it fell flat me.    The story kind of dragged in parts for me.   It felt more like a travel guide to Paris and the life and times of the Paris elite than a bone chilling ghost story.   I felt like it was easy to skim read to get to the more exciting parts.  I kind of had the mystery of motive figured out way before Collette ever got there.

It was not all bad and I didn’t feel like I wasted my time because I liked that Colette was able to change in the end.  I liked that the lesson in the book is not listening others opinion and going with your heart.  I liked that the lessons Colette learns is able to help her build better friendships and repair the friendships with her family.  She does learn that in the end it is not about popularity or the quantity of friends but the quality of friends.  It is for this reason that I have rounded my review of two point five to three laser pistols.  Maybe one day I hope to find myself in Paris as well.