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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's a good book. I enjoyed. But literally forget everything after reading it...
I always want to like Ahdieh's books more than I actually do reading them.
I don't know what the problem is, other than possibly there's little bits of action drowned in lots of inner emotional dialogue rehashing stuff we already know...until there's a sudden harsh death.
This second book in The Beautiful series following vampires, fey, and werewolves (mostly in their human form in New Orleans society) as they jockey for power, make promises, care for each other in found families, and betray each other because of prior alliances. At the center of this story are two groups: Michael Grimaldi the policeman from a family of werewolves, Sebastien St Germain from a family of vampires (and turned to vampirehood in the last book), Celine Rousseau who makes up one point on their love triangle, and the society of Cours de Lion, or the Scooby Gang of half-fey, vampires, etc. Sebastien and his notorious uncle have gathered around him for protection.
If you read the last book, you'll know there was a betrayal and Sebastien ended up vampire and separated from Celine-- quite a delicious place to be. And Ahdieh capitalizes on that delicious tension a little bit, but spends far, far too much time wallowing in Sebastien's existential angst.
A little less talk, a little more deliciously tension-filled scenes of Celine and Sebastien meeting under their new circumstances, please.
Then the rest of the book reveals some revelations (well-foreshadowed, so not too revelatory actually) about Celine's parentage and a bunch of deals made that forces Celine into dangerous territory with some of the Scooby gang and Sebastien. And wow, that's the spine-tingling part (with creepy added bonus winter fae) that should have been half the book, truly. Sadly it slips by too fast.
So, yeah, The Beautiful is a series worth reading, and I'll probably read the third installment now that Michael is a force to be reckoned with, but I don't really like how all these characters that have been built up over entire books get suddenly sucked away, and how we wallow a bit too much in Celine and Sebastiens repetitive angst. But meanwhile, the prose is luxurious, the New Orleans setting sumptuous, and the side characters wonderful.
I don't know what the problem is, other than possibly there's little bits of action drowned in lots of inner emotional dialogue rehashing stuff we already know...until there's a sudden harsh death.
This second book in The Beautiful series following vampires, fey, and werewolves (mostly in their human form in New Orleans society) as they jockey for power, make promises, care for each other in found families, and betray each other because of prior alliances. At the center of this story are two groups: Michael Grimaldi the policeman from a family of werewolves, Sebastien St Germain from a family of vampires (and turned to vampirehood in the last book), Celine Rousseau who makes up one point on their love triangle, and the society of Cours de Lion, or the Scooby Gang of half-fey, vampires, etc. Sebastien and his notorious uncle have gathered around him for protection.
If you read the last book, you'll know there was a betrayal and Sebastien ended up vampire and separated from Celine-- quite a delicious place to be. And Ahdieh capitalizes on that delicious tension a little bit, but spends far, far too much time wallowing in Sebastien's existential angst.
A little less talk, a little more deliciously tension-filled scenes of Celine and Sebastien meeting under their new circumstances, please.
Then the rest of the book reveals some revelations (well-foreshadowed, so not too revelatory actually) about Celine's parentage and a bunch of deals made that forces Celine into dangerous territory with some of the Scooby gang and Sebastien. And wow, that's the spine-tingling part (with creepy added bonus winter fae) that should have been half the book, truly. Sadly it slips by too fast.
So, yeah, The Beautiful is a series worth reading, and I'll probably read the third installment now that Michael is a force to be reckoned with, but I don't really like how all these characters that have been built up over entire books get suddenly sucked away, and how we wallow a bit too much in Celine and Sebastiens repetitive angst. But meanwhile, the prose is luxurious, the New Orleans setting sumptuous, and the side characters wonderful.
Renée Ahdieh is one of my favorite authors, she never fails to deliver incredible romances and unbelievable stories. I was so excited to finally jump back into the world of Le Cors de Lions and Bastien and Celine. However, the Damned felt rushed to me. The constant jumping from every character’s perspective led to a disjointed storyline that wasnt easy to get into to. There was a lot of potential for this book but I think it fell short
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I miss when it was just vampires and werewolves and not all the added fantasy lore. But I still enjoyed it.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First of all, that cover. Second of all, Bastien and Celine. Call me foolish, and I know I’m a sucker for this so I probably am, but I loved the forced separation/tension between Bastien and Celine due to the events at the end of The Beautiful.
The damned is a good continuation of its predecessor, with much of the same goodness that The Beautiful provided. I feel like this sequel is similar in its vibe, how the romance was handled, and most of the storyline. That makes it a good sequel. It shows that The Beautiful was always intended to be more than one book, rather than turned out to be a success so let’s make a few more of these.
Regardless, the story did take a few turns that I didn’t fully understand, specifically within this world that Ahdieh has built. Unfortunately I do not want to spoil anything so I really cannot get it into this.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed The Damned because it provided much of what I loved about the first book in a similar way, which to me was a recipe for success. A strong three stars.
The damned is a good continuation of its predecessor, with much of the same goodness that The Beautiful provided. I feel like this sequel is similar in its vibe, how the romance was handled, and most of the storyline. That makes it a good sequel. It shows that The Beautiful was always intended to be more than one book, rather than turned out to be a success so let’s make a few more of these.
Regardless, the story did take a few turns that I didn’t fully understand, specifically within this world that Ahdieh has built. Unfortunately I do not want to spoil anything so I really cannot get it into this.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed The Damned because it provided much of what I loved about the first book in a similar way, which to me was a recipe for success. A strong three stars.