Title: The Lost Star of Mariage-du-DiableAuthor: Sabina Bailey
First Published: October 30, 2022
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 40
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ, Short Stories
Format: Ebook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Rating:
Synopsis:
We swore we would wait for Ben Kathryn, we’d cling to life no matter the cost to see that his grave answered for his crime.
Even as a young teen, Shyanne Flowers was the true It-Girl of Mariage-du-Diable in the 1970s and ’80s. She was the backbone of her friend group, as beautiful as she was mysterious, and destined to follow in the footsteps of her famous mother. After her body washes up on the ocean shore one Sunday morning, her four friends make a vow to live long enough to destroy the grave of the man who stole her life.
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
The Lost Star of Mariage-du-Diable is an intriguing short story with a haunting premise: a group of friends swear an oath to take revenge on the man that killed a friend. The story has a strong start, introducing each of the main characters and establishing their relationships with each other. The narrator feels like the odd fish in the group, anxiously seeking the approval of her peers and swinging between romantic attraction and jealousy. Most of the central friend group is fixated on Shyanne, the popular girl destined to be famous.
I actually really liked the early parts of the story. The complicated character relationships, particularly between the main character and Shyanne, could make for a decent novel. The author does some good character work and captures the messiness of teenage relationships, especially where love and dating are involved.
The build-up at the start forms the backbone of the story, and unfortunately, the rest of the plot falls off. Shyanne dies around the 60% mark in a flash-forward scene, and the remainder of the novel is a sequence of time skips. The promise that the main characters decide on to take revenge felt awkward and forced. It feels like it doesn’t fully commit to the dark premise that comes with the murder and then just skips to the climax ending. I hate to say it, but there was no mystery to this ending and I found it predictable. The character motivation here felt extremely weak and played into a harmful trope, perhaps unintentionally. I would have rated the book higher if not for how the second half was handled because the beginning really was quite strong.
The Lost Star of Mariage-du-Diable is a decent first effort by the author. The idea had potential and could make an interesting novella with more time to develop the plot and flesh out key scenes. The author should absolutely keep writing because they have potential.
Quote
“We were still just stupid kids. Stupid kids who longed for each other but were too scared of ruining our friend group to act on anything.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Sabina Bailey
Sabina Bailey was born and raised in New York and currently lives with her husband downstate. When she’s not reading, writing, or drawing, she’s usually playing video games or watching YouTube videos.
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