Interesting blend of historical fiction and chick lit. Character development wasn't so great but Colette was likable after awhile. ( )

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer is a fun ghost story about a supernatural series of murders. With history, culture, and language elements, it's an interesting and invigorating read. Collette Iselin goes from the cream of the crop with her rich family and snotty friends to living on the edge of poverty and attending her prestigious school on scholarship. She hasn't told her best friends for fear of social rejection, so she is constantly walking on eggshells around them. She wants nothing more than to move away to live with her rich daddy, but for now, she's stuck with her poor mom and annoying brother. Despite their financial issues, her mom has saved up enough for her to take a class trip to Paris, France, where Collette's life takes a massive turn. She'd anticipated for it to be life changing, but I doubt she was expecting to encounter the ghost of Marie Antoinette trying to kill her for revenge. Revenge for what? You'll have to read to find out.

I loved this book. Even though it was written for middle grade children, it's a fun and enchanting afternoon read for any adult. It has cross-content connections to Social Studies in French history and culture, and it's a fantastic addition to any classroom. From a diversity standpoint, Collette in the story has lived in poverty for over a year at the start of the book, and her parents are divorced. Her family also lives in a small apartment, so students could relate to her experiences if their families are also non-nuclear. ( )

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer: Incredibad Teen Fiction as good as it sounds

Found at Goodwill, this Katie Alender thriftstore find was well loved by it’s previous owner. With pages dog eared so fantastically that the corners were physically missing (I have been told this is ‘purse wear and tear’), this was bought for the pure joy of reading rediculous fiction. It was unregretably enjoyable, while understandably juvenile in most ways, leading readers with any intuition down barely disguised channels.

Spoiled and entitled American teen Collette Iselin. She holds a secret back from her rich Bratz doll friends- Collette has moved into a tiny apartment, wears carefully purchased thrift clothing, and is on scholarship at their elite Private school. Daddy, recently Mid-Life-Crisised to his own space, has left poor Collete in a social ladder dead zone.

In preparation for a ‘life changing’ trip to Paris with her French class, Collette finds a mysterious box in the claustrophobic confines of her apartment storage facility. Handed down from her Great Grandmother, the box contains a beautiful antique necklace heirloom. Meanwhile, Paris teen socialites are being beheaded mysteriously.

Any guesses what happens next?

You are probably right. And a boy is involved. And teenage introspection. And heavyhanded language. And and and..

Pretty great book for what it is worth ;) ( )

The most important thing in Colette's life is her social standing, something that depends directly on her family's wealth and her friendship with Hannah, the most popular girl at her expensive school. But now her life is being turned upside down by her parents divorce, no longer will she live in the big house surrounded by expensive things, now she is forced into a small apartment with her poor mother and annoying brother. How could her life get any worse?

The one good thing in Colette's life right now is her school trip to Paris, with its promise of romance and high fashion this will be best trip of her life, so long as she can hid the fact that she, and her family, are no longer wealthy. A task that proves harder then she anticipated due to her visions of a woman in a powdered wig and elaborate ball gown, a woman who seems to be at the heart of a recent serial killing spree, and it looks as though Colette may be her next victim.

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer brings to life a Queen from the past, out for revenge on the descendants of those who have wronged her. A story of a superficial girl, history, romance and death set in the heart of France. Colette is a girl as self centred and materialistic as her so called friend Hannah, and although there is a cute French boy to show her the way, it will take a serial killer for her to appreciate the finer things in life. A book that becomes more involving with each chapter read. ( )