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alizasminilibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As a lover of The Originals, Twilight and Historical Fiction, The Beautiful checked all of my boxes. While this was the first novel in the series it sucked me in and sets up well for the continuation for the next book.
While there are still so many unanswered questions, which are all annotated in my book, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to put the pieces together as more and more was revealed. Even the main character, Celine, has secrets that are not spelled out until later on into the series.
The characters that we meet such as Bastien and Odette are intriguing. While we only see a few of them on a regular basis, it is hard to not notice the love and loyalty they share.
I immediately started the next book in the series and I cannot wait to share my thought on that one too!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, Stalking, Sexual assault, Death, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Confinement, and Gore
takarakei's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The beginning of this was very interesting, but it kinda lost me in the middle. I've heard book 2 is much better so I might continue on audio.
did w/ audio narration which was good
🌶️3/5 from what I remember it was open door but not overly descriptive
did w/ audio narration which was good
🌶️3/5 from what I remember it was open door but not overly descriptive
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Racism
bookishromantics's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Stalking and Sexual assault
Minor: Racial slurs
allyordyna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Woah. Blew twilight out of the water, I must say.🤯
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Classism, Gore, Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexism
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Racism
starlessnights's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
emma2578's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
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
4.0
I absolutely loved the atmosphere of New Orleans, the author did an amazing job of romanticizing the city through description. Celine was an amazing strong headed lead character, I often found myself admiring her wits throughout the novel. As for the romance, I prefer Micheal over Bastien, but I can see why so many people would disagree. The antagonist was compelling, and left me shocked during his reveal. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading the next book in the series.
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Stalking, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Gore
stormywolf's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
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
4.0
Audiobook Read by Lauren Ezzo
Unabridged Length: 13.2 Hours
Listened at 2x Speed
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, I have no complaints. A stellar narration, nailing tons of accents and emotions, was enough to put this production in my recommendations, to say nothing of its value as a pronunciation guide. With the emoting, especially in horror and action scenes, the volume and speed of reading does go up a bit, so that's something to keep in mind if you're not reading along, or at an increased playback speed. But if you're looking for an audio that offers a solid voice performance, this one should definitely be on your short list.
Unabridged Length: 13.2 Hours
Listened at 2x Speed
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, I have no complaints. A stellar narration, nailing tons of accents and emotions, was enough to put this production in my recommendations, to say nothing of its value as a pronunciation guide. With the emoting, especially in horror and action scenes, the volume and speed of reading does go up a bit, so that's something to keep in mind if you're not reading along, or at an increased playback speed. But if you're looking for an audio that offers a solid voice performance, this one should definitely be on your short list.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Rape, Sexism, Cursing, Gore, Murder, Stalking, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, and Racism
princess_azula's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Stalking, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Racial slurs
nebraskanwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Violence, Stalking, and Racism
Minor: Rape
ashlightgrayson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I found the characters the most interesting part of this story. If you have a preference for more action packed books that are fast paced, this book may not be for you. There is a lot of mystery and intrigue involving mysterious murders occurring in New Orleans in the late 1800s. There is a significant amount of time, especially in the first half of the book, dedicated to character development and their relationships with each other. I think this was a good choice because by the time you find out more about the murders you are emotionally invested in what happens to the characters. There are a lot of mixed and ethnically diverse characters from different countries in the story. In a lot of books with historical settings most characters, if not all, are white, so it was great to see the existence of people of color not be something that was ignored. In fact, most prominent characters in the story are mixed race/people of color. They also aren't represented as servants or of a subservient class. I think with historical fiction a lot of authors ignore the fact that there were people of color in the past who were: white passing, were freed slaves, or had enough privilege or power to be able to live in certain social circles. It was refreshing to see a lot of these characters struggle with their racial identity within the context of the book's time period. It gives a very realistic depiction of what that must have been like for a lot of mixed race people. I was easily able to relate to it as mixed Afro-Latinx person myself.
The characters have flaws and feel like real people. They also have different levels of privilege and there is a particular part in the book where a character's privilege is pointed out. This scene in the book was one of my favorites because it appropriately made it clear that this individual had not recognized their privilege before the inciting incident in this scene. Despite this, it is clear that they are not a bad person because of it. A lot of people in real life don't recognize their privilege until they are called out on it, and it just means they made an honest mistake. Ahdieh did an amazing job giving nuance to both characters in the situation while still making social commentary within the story.
There is more than one perspective in the book and it switches back and forth between the main characters and the murderer in question. The perspective you get from the murderer makes the villain incredibly compelling and is part of what kept reeled into the story. Despite the slow pacing, the perspective from the villain was like an intermittent reminder that there was a looming danger within the story. You also don't get enough hints to accurately be able to point out an obvious culprit for the murders, so the story left me at the edge of my seat the whole time.
As for the romance, the slower pacing let us get to know Celine and Bastian really well. Both of them have interesting backstories and the historical context of the story plays a role in their decisions they make about the relationship. I like that the historical context wasn't ignored because it helped me stay invested in the story. Bastian is also just charming and likeable and his interactions with Celine are always fun to see.
Overall, if you're into murder/mystery and historical fiction, this is something I think you would enjoy. Don't expect vampires to be in the forefront of the book, it is something that is mostly in the background. They aren't completely ignored, but this also isn't something I would call a vampire book.
The characters have flaws and feel like real people. They also have different levels of privilege and there is a particular part in the book where a character's privilege is pointed out. This scene in the book was one of my favorites because it appropriately made it clear that this individual had not recognized their privilege before the inciting incident in this scene. Despite this, it is clear that they are not a bad person because of it. A lot of people in real life don't recognize their privilege until they are called out on it, and it just means they made an honest mistake. Ahdieh did an amazing job giving nuance to both characters in the situation while still making social commentary within the story.
There is more than one perspective in the book and it switches back and forth between the main characters and the murderer in question. The perspective you get from the murderer makes the villain incredibly compelling and is part of what kept reeled into the story. Despite the slow pacing, the perspective from the villain was like an intermittent reminder that there was a looming danger within the story. You also don't get enough hints to accurately be able to point out an obvious culprit for the murders, so the story left me at the edge of my seat the whole time.
As for the romance, the slower pacing let us get to know Celine and Bastian really well. Both of them have interesting backstories and the historical context of the story plays a role in their decisions they make about the relationship. I like that the historical context wasn't ignored because it helped me stay invested in the story. Bastian is also just charming and likeable and his interactions with Celine are always fun to see.
Overall, if you're into murder/mystery and historical fiction, this is something I think you would enjoy. Don't expect vampires to be in the forefront of the book, it is something that is mostly in the background. They aren't completely ignored, but this also isn't something I would call a vampire book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Racism, Stalking, Sexism, and Racial slurs
Minor: Slavery and Gore