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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Reread: Omg this was even better on reread!! I feel like I missed so many details the first time through
If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll know I was not very impressed with THE BEAUTIFUL. I almost decided not to read THE DAMNED, but changed my mind based on reviews from friends who felt similarly for the first book. And it is better. The story picks up very shortly after the events of The Beautiful and immediately I had the impression that I would be getting more of what I’d originally signed up for: VAMPIRES.
For the first half of the book, I was really enjoying myself. We were getting more vampire lore, more insights in the Court of the Lions and very little Celine. I was not minding that one bit! From the moment Celine was introduced in the story again, however, my interest decreased drastically. All of the vampire lore seemed to have been put on hold for the sake of a memory loss trope. I’m not a fan of this trope in general, but I do recognize that it can be a great drama factor. However, I didn’t enjoy the way it was used. From the moment Celine and Bastien see each other again, an instant attraction and obsession blooms between them, and I found it as unbelievable now as I did in The Beautiful. I would very much like to love this couple, but the lack of memorable moments and common ground between them makes it hard for me to grow attached or enjoy their pining. Most of the times, Celine and Bastien come across to me as rash and whiny.
My aggravation continued with the world-building. While I loved the whimsicality of New Orleans in the first book, the magic of the city hardly made an appearance in the sequel. Instead of focusing on the vampires and werewolves that were info-dumped and rushed in the first book, the author decided to expand her world further with faerie realms and ties to the protagonists that were…questionable and lacking. More focus on the feud between the Court of the Lions and the Brotherhood would have been much more engaging, but alas…
So what did I like about The Damned? The secondary characters were definitely what kept me going. While I found them hardly fleshed out in the first book, I noticed a general development for all the characters, but especially the secondary ones. Especially those belonging to The Court of the Lions. Arjun and Jae were especially well done, to the point where I found them to be the most interesting of the entire cast…which is a good thing, given the description of the next book.
For the first half of the book, I was really enjoying myself. We were getting more vampire lore, more insights in the Court of the Lions and very little Celine. I was not minding that one bit! From the moment Celine was introduced in the story again, however, my interest decreased drastically. All of the vampire lore seemed to have been put on hold for the sake of a memory loss trope. I’m not a fan of this trope in general, but I do recognize that it can be a great drama factor. However, I didn’t enjoy the way it was used. From the moment Celine and Bastien see each other again, an instant attraction and obsession blooms between them, and I found it as unbelievable now as I did in The Beautiful. I would very much like to love this couple, but the lack of memorable moments and common ground between them makes it hard for me to grow attached or enjoy their pining. Most of the times, Celine and Bastien come across to me as rash and whiny.
My aggravation continued with the world-building. While I loved the whimsicality of New Orleans in the first book, the magic of the city hardly made an appearance in the sequel. Instead of focusing on the vampires and werewolves that were info-dumped and rushed in the first book, the author decided to expand her world further with faerie realms and ties to the protagonists that were…questionable and lacking. More focus on the feud between the Court of the Lions and the Brotherhood would have been much more engaging, but alas…
So what did I like about The Damned? The secondary characters were definitely what kept me going. While I found them hardly fleshed out in the first book, I noticed a general development for all the characters, but especially the secondary ones. Especially those belonging to The Court of the Lions. Arjun and Jae were especially well done, to the point where I found them to be the most interesting of the entire cast…which is a good thing, given the description of the next book.
Wow, this series is going in a completely different direction than I expected! There is so much more to this world than just vampires and werewolves. I'm really looking forward to the next book!
I feel we don't see enough of Celine in the first half of the book. The little we do see she is a shadow of what she was in book one. A real shame since her character gave such life to the first installment.
The story feels as though it is a filler for upcoming events and I was definitely hoping for more out of this book. The stakes did not feel as high this time and the ending felt rushed and a bit disjointed.
That being said, Renee Ahdieh writes beautifully complex main characters. The secondary characters sometimes fall a bit flat, her vampires definitely get more attention and back story than her wolves.
I was slightly surprised this was not going to be a duology, possibly because of her previous novels, however it has definitely been left open for future books. Maybe it should have been a duology, given that it does feel like certain events could easily have not have happened and the plot would not have suffered.
I can't wait to see how the story evolves and grows in upcoming installments, hopefully the stakes will be raised again and we get back the feeling from The Beautiful.
The story feels as though it is a filler for upcoming events and I was definitely hoping for more out of this book. The stakes did not feel as high this time and the ending felt rushed and a bit disjointed.
That being said, Renee Ahdieh writes beautifully complex main characters. The secondary characters sometimes fall a bit flat, her vampires definitely get more attention and back story than her wolves.
I was slightly surprised this was not going to be a duology, possibly because of her previous novels, however it has definitely been left open for future books. Maybe it should have been a duology, given that it does feel like certain events could easily have not have happened and the plot would not have suffered.
I can't wait to see how the story evolves and grows in upcoming installments, hopefully the stakes will be raised again and we get back the feeling from The Beautiful.
I have no chill and will love vampire books forever. Celine is such a fantastic heroine and I basically adore everything about her. I really enjoyed how much Ahdieh expanded the narrators in this one and getting inside so many other characters' heads. The introduction to the Wyld and Vale was excellent.
Slightly spoiler-y comment:
Can I just say I really feel for Michael, though? He does not deserve the treatment he receives from all angles.
Slightly spoiler-y comment:
Can I just say I really feel for Michael, though? He does not deserve the treatment he receives from all angles.
I loved this book so much more than the first one. First of all, the cover is so pretty. Aside from that, the first book left me with so many questions and so many loose ends. The world building, outside of New Orleans was lacking for me. I feel like it’s rare to like a sequel as much (especially not more) than the first book.
However, this book remedied all of the problems I had with the first one. The author provides so much more history. I felt transported to another world. The ending was great and I cant wait for the third book!
However, this book remedied all of the problems I had with the first one. The author provides so much more history. I felt transported to another world. The ending was great and I cant wait for the third book!
I wasn't completely impressed with the first book and it really carried on to the next. When I think it's about to start getting good It just kind of snips it short and doesn't really satisfy my hunger.
I was interested to see how things when with her mother and it hints at the next book being more about that side of her family but.... Idk not even the fight scenes were that amazing to me.
Also, it always kind of bothers me but I noticed even more so in this one how much I do not care for smells to be described. I don't know what honey and hot metal will smell like together..... Other than burnt sugar.
I was interested to see how things when with her mother and it hints at the next book being more about that side of her family but.... Idk not even the fight scenes were that amazing to me.
Also, it always kind of bothers me but I noticed even more so in this one how much I do not care for smells to be described. I don't know what honey and hot metal will smell like together..... Other than burnt sugar.
3.5 stars. A good premise but not quite as gripping as the first. And yet I look forward to the final installment!
This was More like a 2.5 star book for me T.T
I received this digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
So at the end of my review of The Beautiful I said that I felt the series had a lot of potential, and despite not being wild about the book I was rather excited for the sequel. I figured The Damned would put Celine at the centre of a Vampire vs Werewolf conflict, and in some ways I was right, but at the same time so, so, wrong.
I asked for more vampires and The Damned definitely delivered. The lack of vampire action was one of my biggest issues with The Beautiful, but this book has supernatural creatures in spades. There’s a whole lot of world development in this one, some of which should have been mentioned in the first novel, but this book really revealed New Orleans’ supernatural underbelly and I loved it.
Again, the way Renée drags you into her world is amazing. I felt like I was standing on the streets of New Orleans with the characters, and everything felt so lavish and beautiful. This was one of the things I enjoyed the most about The Beautiful, and it’s sequel certainly makes use of the authors skill again!
The blurb makes it sound like we’ll be following Celine’s perspective, but instead The Damned’s main focus is Bastien. I could definitely see why the Renée would give us both perspectives, as Celine and Bastien are apart for most of the book, but I did find it rather irritating that his perspective was in first person. I understand why first person was used for the villain in The Beautiful, and I actually really enjoyed this clever way of using a change of tense, but it didn’t have the same results in The Damned. There were also so many different perspectives happening in this book, and if I’m honest most of them didn’t add very much to the plot; instead, the perspectives felt very “woe is me” and I don’t feel like they added much to the narrative, in fact I think the switching POVs made the first third really drag.
If the first half was a drag then the second half was a rip-roaring mess. So much happens and no one, including the reader, is given enough time to process anything. Admittedly this messy second half stuffed full of reveals was way more fun and definitely saved this book for me. It was a whirlwind I didn’t mind being stuck in. Due to this rather rushed approach we lose a fair bit of character development, especially for the people Celine associated with. Who the heck were those girls in the shop? I still don’t know and I’ve finished the book. I also think the love triangle aspect with Michael should have just been left out. Their relationship was never given enough time to develop, and I never at any point believed that Celine would choose to marry him; it felt like the trope had been added for no real reason other than the minuscule amount of drama it caused.
I think The Damned has really solidified that this series probably isn’t for me. The Beautiful had so much potential but the sequel just didn’t manage to live up to it, and I think that’s due to the amount of character development and plot shoehorned into it. I was hoping for vampires and werewolves in New Orleans, and instead this book took me, rather suddenly, to a whole other place and I was disappointed.
Recommend: This book definitely wasn’t for me, but I think if you really enjoyed The Beautiful then you’ll enjoy its sequel
I received this digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
So at the end of my review of The Beautiful I said that I felt the series had a lot of potential, and despite not being wild about the book I was rather excited for the sequel. I figured The Damned would put Celine at the centre of a Vampire vs Werewolf conflict, and in some ways I was right, but at the same time so, so, wrong.
I asked for more vampires and The Damned definitely delivered. The lack of vampire action was one of my biggest issues with The Beautiful, but this book has supernatural creatures in spades. There’s a whole lot of world development in this one, some of which should have been mentioned in the first novel, but this book really revealed New Orleans’ supernatural underbelly and I loved it.
Again, the way Renée drags you into her world is amazing. I felt like I was standing on the streets of New Orleans with the characters, and everything felt so lavish and beautiful. This was one of the things I enjoyed the most about The Beautiful, and it’s sequel certainly makes use of the authors skill again!
The blurb makes it sound like we’ll be following Celine’s perspective, but instead The Damned’s main focus is Bastien. I could definitely see why the Renée would give us both perspectives, as Celine and Bastien are apart for most of the book, but I did find it rather irritating that his perspective was in first person. I understand why first person was used for the villain in The Beautiful, and I actually really enjoyed this clever way of using a change of tense, but it didn’t have the same results in The Damned. There were also so many different perspectives happening in this book, and if I’m honest most of them didn’t add very much to the plot; instead, the perspectives felt very “woe is me” and I don’t feel like they added much to the narrative, in fact I think the switching POVs made the first third really drag.
If the first half was a drag then the second half was a rip-roaring mess. So much happens and no one, including the reader, is given enough time to process anything. Admittedly this messy second half stuffed full of reveals was way more fun and definitely saved this book for me. It was a whirlwind I didn’t mind being stuck in. Due to this rather rushed approach we lose a fair bit of character development, especially for the people Celine associated with. Who the heck were those girls in the shop? I still don’t know and I’ve finished the book. I also think the love triangle aspect with Michael should have just been left out. Their relationship was never given enough time to develop, and I never at any point believed that Celine would choose to marry him; it felt like the trope had been added for no real reason other than the minuscule amount of drama it caused.
I think The Damned has really solidified that this series probably isn’t for me. The Beautiful had so much potential but the sequel just didn’t manage to live up to it, and I think that’s due to the amount of character development and plot shoehorned into it. I was hoping for vampires and werewolves in New Orleans, and instead this book took me, rather suddenly, to a whole other place and I was disappointed.
Recommend: This book definitely wasn’t for me, but I think if you really enjoyed The Beautiful then you’ll enjoy its sequel
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is everything I remembered from the first novel: Celine and Bastian are in love. In the end, Bastian gets attacked, becomes a vampire, and Celine loses her memories. There is a love triangle with a not-yet werewolf. It is set in 19th-century New Orleans. So I needed some time to get into The Damned. Which is a me-problem. I know. But the book is also not very good.
The writing style is very overdescribtive. At the same time, I don't feel any emotions for the characters. The bond between Bastian and Celine is just there. The pining, the longing, don't translate from the page into my head. At the same time, the villain of the book (and probably of the series), Émilie, just doesn't land as a villain. She is supposed to be a madwoman, but her actions are too obscure. How are her actions getting her the revenge she wants? What is even worse is that she is correct in her anger. Similarly, the werewolves are morally better than the vampires with a better societal structure, and I don't understand why they are not portrayed in a better light. The fairy subplot comes out of nowhere. It might have been included, simply because fairies became big at that time.
Young Adult vampire literature often fulfils certain tropes. One of them is the tortured vampire love interest. As the title suggests, Bastian sees himself as damned. But why? He doesn't seem particularly religious. His lifestyle has not changed. Ahdieh tosses words around (like damned or blood foe) that simply don't mean anything.
One exception to this mess is Celine. Her memory loss constantly felt like something was wrong and I, as the reader, could very easily sympathize with her. I wish we could have spent more time exploring this aspect.
Honestly, the setting and characters would be great for a crime novel. But as it is, The Damned is cheesy in a very annoying way and can be easily forgotten.