OVERVIEW
This book was AMAZING!! I knew absolutely nothing about the Rockettes, Radio City Music Hall, New York City, or New York City history. This is the second book in a row that I knew NOTHING about the premise of the book. YES!! Fiona Davis delivered a strong, interesting, and well-written novel!!
I was so happy to continue reading historical fiction! The premise of this novel is the story of a Rockette and her unfortunate involvement in the murder spree of a bomber in NYC. The main characters were Marion, a Rockette; Peter, a psychiatry resident; and New York City. There are a lot of secondary characters including Marion's family, Peter and Marion's friends, and the Roxette organization. It was a historical novel that had it all including a big mystery, romance, and family dynamics!! I love it!
Since the story primarily takes place in 1956 (there are some flashbacks to 1992), the societal issues that were foisted upon women and the somewhat negative view of Rockettes by some were very integral to the novel. There were some men who were way beyond their time seeing women as equals, but they were in the vast minority. Additionally, the strength and power of strong female relationships and friendships were hugely featured which I loved! I thoroughly enjoyed the description of the Rockettes, costuming, and dancing as I have never attended one of their shows. It sounds AMAZINGLY wonderful.
I loved the descriptions of some of the historically important dancers and choreographers who I was somewhat familiar with and how they impacted dance and choreography from 1956 until now. This was the beginning of the era of major productions on Broadway and an important point in dance and choreography!!
This was a really great read. Now, I want to deep dive more into the dancers/choreographers of that time period!! It is such fascinating stuff!
REVIEW: 4.5 stars
Writing: 4.5 stars
The Spectacular was a well-written historical novel with beautiful descriptions of New York City, the Rockettes, and all of the locations within the book. Fiona Davis wrote a strong and powerful book with so many layers of interest that I will be thinking about this novel for a long time. This is another well-researched historical novel and it really shows, but the descriptions and details did not bog down the ease of reading. So well done!
Character development: 4.5 stars
There were a lot of unimportant characters in this book due to the scope of the places involved, but the primary characters of Marion, Peter, and New York City were fully developed. They were fictional characters (except New York City), but I could picture them all which makes the books so much enjoyable.
The many characters were needed for the story to make sense. Marion was a Rockette and Peter was a psychiatry resident which involved a lot of people. Of course, New York City was highlighted and it was done beautifully. So the main characters were fully explored which is what I enjoy in ANY novel, period. This is my kind of book!
Storyline: 4.5 stars
As this was historical fiction, the storyline was loosely based on a true story Even though the basic storyline is based on a historical incident and fictional characters were developed around it, it was fascinating! I knew absolutely ZERO about this historical incident.
Book cover: 4.0 stars
Very pretty!
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfection! The book title is right on point!
Gut feeling: 4.0 stars
I felt that I would like it, but I loved it!
Definite RECOMMEND
INFORMATION/LINKS
The Spectacular by Fiona Davis
368 pages
3 days to read it (I inhaled about half of it today)
Read it as a LAPL (Los Angeles Public Library) ebook
Release date of 06/13/2023
https://www.fionadavisbooks.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5616401536
https://www.penguin.com/dutton-overview/
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
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