Review: Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer

Title: Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer
Author: Katie Alender
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: September 24th 2013
Source: Netgalley and Scholastic Press

★★

Two stars.

Colette is a junior in high school, and this school trip to Paris is just what she needs after her dad leaves her mother and family behind. She'll be there with her popular girl friends, and knows that she'll have a blast. That is, until murders start popping up all over Paris. Colette keeps spying a costumed woman who resembles the title royalty, and she, alongside a boy that she meets, must try to halt the danger.

-----

I was so excited when I received this title through Netgalley, but unfortunately, I was left disappointed.

-I didn't like any of the female characters. Not one. From the beginning few chapters, I was already against the protagonist, which is never a good thing in a book. She's obsessed with what her friends think about her, and actually gauges herself on a scale- she's prettier than one friend but not the other, and skinnier than one but not the other, so that she's the perfect addition to the trio. Never mind that they should judge on personality, just making sure that a friend doesn't out-hot you. The fact that she is acutely aware of this, and knows that the queen bee she's "friends" with could "unfriend" her at any point but continues to hang with her anyway is both discouraging and sad. She also thinks that people are only nice to others because they want something out of it, instead of just genuinely wanting to do good. I didn't enjoy reading about her.

-It wasn't scary. Mind you, I am aware of the fact that this is a young adult title. But based on the blurb, as well as the fact that serial killer is right in the title, I expected at least a shiver or an aloud, "Oh that's creepy." But none came. It wasn't all too creative, which surprised me because I really liked this concept for a story.

+ I am a sucker for a French backdrop, and this is no exception. It just sounds like such a pretty place, even when there are almost comical headless serial killer ghosts running around murdering people. It's probably by setting and the romantic interest alone that I finished this book.

+I do like the cover. Don't be fooled by it, but I do think that it's very catching and I openly admit that it's what drew me in at first.

All in all, this seems immature to me, even for a young adult book. The characters were cookie cutter and the killer was not scary, but the French setting and the romantic interest in this story help the plot plunk along. If you like paranormal stories that aren't scary, pretty French scenery, or books with a "Mean Girls" type cast, then maybe you'll like this more than I did.

Thanks to Netgalley and Scholastic Press for my copy.