Book Review for The Spectacular by Fiona Davis

 The Spectacular by Fiona Davis 

368 pages, Hardcover 

Publication June 13, 2023 

Genre:  Historical Fiction, New York 

 

Taken from Goodreads:  New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis transports us back to 1950s Manhattan and the glamorous Radio City Music Hall. . . . 
 
New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion is over the moon to have been selected to be one of the Rockettes, Radio City Music Hall’s glamorous precision-dancing troupe. It’s an honor to perform in the world’s most spectacular theater, an art deco masterpiece. But with four shows a day as well as grueling rehearsals, not to mention exacting standards of perfection to live up to, Marion quickly realizes that the life of a Rockette has both extraordinary highs and devastating lows. 
 
Then one night a bomb explodes in the theater. It’s only the latest in a string of explosions around the city orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the "Big Apple Bomber." They have been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police, at Marion’s urging, turn in desperation to a radical new technique: psychological profiling. 
 
As Marion finds herself pulled deeper into the investigation, she realizes that as much as she’s been training herself to blend in—performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes—if she hopes to catch the bomber, she’ll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. But she may be forced to sacrifice everything she’s worked for, as well as the people she loves the most. 

 

My Thoughts:  This book… I do not even know what all to write about it.   The Spectacular is AMAZING!   I love everything about this book.  The setting of New York City is so realistic.   The characters are exactly what I would expect to meet in the 50’s in NYC.   The storyline brought to life Radio City Music Hall and the life of the Rockettes.     

 

Marion has dreams and they are not the dreams that her dad wants her to follow.   She won me over the minute she decided to step out of the path that would have been easy and decided to follow her heart.  I love that she took the risk and that risk pays off.    Seeing her make friends, learn to rely on herself, and find her way through a world that is full of glamour while not losing who she is made this book perfect for me.    I love seeing Marion follow her dreams.  

The Spectacular is full of history.  History of the Rockettes and all the hard work that goes into being synchronized with the rest of the dancers and history of the “The Big Apple Bomber”.   

I could picture NYC as I read the book and the story came alive for me.   NYC is on my wish list of places to visit and I cannot wait to see many of these places in person.   

 

Thank you. Penguin Group, for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  

 

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Meet Fiona Davis (taken from her website):  F  I  O  N  A D A V I S is the New York Times bestselling author of six historical fiction novels set in iconic New York City buildings, including The Magnolia Palace, The Dollhouse, The Address, and The Lions of Fifth Avenue, which was a Good Morning America book club pick. Her novels have been chosen as “One Book, One Community” reads and her articles have appeared in publications like The Wall Street Journal and O the Oprah magazine.  

She first came to New York as an actress, but fell in love with writing after getting a master's degree at Columbia Journalism School. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages and she's based in New York City.