Hello everyone!!
Today we are reviewing The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh the first book in the duology. It is a YA fantasy and was published in October 2019 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers.
The second book The Damned is already out (July 2020).
The Beautiful was marketed as a vampire book. Thankfully, for me, it wasn't one, at least not all of it.
This is the first Renee Ahdieh book I read and I really enjoyed her writing. It's beautiful and lyrical.
I loved the setting of the story. New Orleans is always magical.
I would prefer it though if the book was more fast-paced and not only towards the end. The ending left me with many questions but thankfully I don't have to wait to get my answers as book two The Damned is already out.
The story is a combination of romance with a supernatural murder mystery and it is done pretty well. I loved the atmosphere of the book but the book didn't manage to explain many things that are important to the story.
For me the characters were well written despite the fact that Celine was inconsistent. I enjoyed the three POVs (Celine, Sebastien & the mysterious man).
I will pick book two to see where the story goes.
Rating: 3 Stars
Synopsis from Goodreads
In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.
When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.
See you in the next post and don't forget to keep reading!!!
Athina
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