Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the review copy of “The Lost Spectacular” by Zoe Duhaime.
I really wanted to love this book. With a premise that seemed related to “The Starless Sea,” I thought the magic of characters jumping between works of literature and art would be enchanting. The idea is, but the execution is not. Noon Bonaventure comes across as just angry without any real reason as to why; her anger at her former childhood friend Munro is somewhat justified as he was late to her father’s funeral and she clearly needed him there as a shoulder to lean on. However, this is years after her father passed, not weeks. Munro himself comes across as arrogant and grasping, seeking the Spectacular not to enjoy its wonders and marvel at the magic that it is, but because he wants to possess it, much like he feels that the bookstore Noon owns, purchased by her father from Munro’s grandmother, is actually his.
This story is so disorganized and convoluted it is difficult to enjoy. I love the idea, and all of the literary references are wonderful, but it was a slog, and I had to force myself to finish it.
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