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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Dragged for so long in the first 100 pages that I gave up and started skimming it. Didn't really miss much except for Bastien running around for another 200 pages. The last 50 or so pages were actually quite interesting— I just wish the entire book maintained that momentum.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
THE DAMNED explores how Bastien copes with becoming a vampire and how Celine deals with her lack of memories, as well as revealing secrets regarding her mother.
THE DAMNED started off quite slow in my opinion, with Celine being mentioned for the first time 25% into the book. What I found the most irritating, however, was how frequent the French is. I obviously understand that New Orleans is a particularly French place, however in most of the vampire scenes (and some other scenes throughout) there are several sentences per page in French that are not translated. It seems like you need to have a French GCSE to understand some of the dialogue, as I'm not Google Translating sentences every other page. This creates quite a jarring effect, taking me out of the immersion.
Throughout the book we read chapters from the perspectives of all the different characters introduced in THE BEAUTIFUL, which I thought was an interesting choice as 1) we can learn about the universe directly from those in the different sectors and 2) we don't tire of the same two main character narrators that I find happens often when I'm reading.
The book definitely introduces the paranormal aspects that THE BEAUTIFUL didn't have, with vampires, werewolves, and fey- in parts it's fairly reminiscent of the Shadowhunter world. Despite this, there isn't anything remotely gothic about the vampires, and this is a let down for me because gothic-ness is quite a large trait for vampire novels.
Ahdieh continues her technique of (pointlessly) repeating key elements of characters' backstories in THE DAMNED, with Emilie's death/caught in a house fire story being told to us 3 times across the book with pretty much identical description and nothing new added. The 'story' takes 2-3 pages each time and became rather boring and irritating after the second repetition. I also think we were told who murdered the girls from THE BEAUTIFUL, but I'm not sure- it's insinuated that Nigel was only responsible for the Celine-Sebastian situation and that Emilie manufactured the other murders to get revenge on her uncle? Emilie's role in the novels was a bit confusing to me.
The book as a whole was quite slow, picking up significantly in the last 50ish pages. THE DAMNED feels a bit like a filler/pathway novel that allowed Ahdieh to establish the lore of her universe, explore Bastien's new vampire identity, and create the timescale for Celine to gain her memories back. This makes me feel like Book 3 will definitely be more engaging, and I suspect it'll have a Cassandra Clare feel with all the waring factions, however it doesn't diminish the drag of THE DAMNED.
There isn't really any romance in this book at all, which probably contributed to why I found it a slow read. Bastien is determined to remove himself from Celine, and Celine isn't into Michael as much as he is into her. Celine becomes rather desperate for Bastien (I guess understandably if they were so deeply in love in THE BEAUTIFUL- I didn't interpret their relationship to be as intense as this book claims it was), and eventually convinces him to go against the rules and start dating again. All this time Celine is messing about with Michael's emotions, and I do end up pitying him, as it's clear that he isn't going to let her go without a fight.
To conclude, if you've read THE BEAUTIFUL then I do recommend THE DAMNED, as it isn't a bad novel but just doesn't live up to the predecessor. This book is an ideal pathway novel into Ahdieh's universe and for Book 3, and so I can appreciate it for that- however, if I were to ignore that, THE DAMNED isn't anything spectacular.
THE DAMNED started off quite slow in my opinion, with Celine being mentioned for the first time 25% into the book. What I found the most irritating, however, was how frequent the French is. I obviously understand that New Orleans is a particularly French place, however in most of the vampire scenes (and some other scenes throughout) there are several sentences per page in French that are not translated. It seems like you need to have a French GCSE to understand some of the dialogue, as I'm not Google Translating sentences every other page. This creates quite a jarring effect, taking me out of the immersion.
Throughout the book we read chapters from the perspectives of all the different characters introduced in THE BEAUTIFUL, which I thought was an interesting choice as 1) we can learn about the universe directly from those in the different sectors and 2) we don't tire of the same two main character narrators that I find happens often when I'm reading.
The book definitely introduces the paranormal aspects that THE BEAUTIFUL didn't have, with vampires, werewolves, and fey- in parts it's fairly reminiscent of the Shadowhunter world. Despite this, there isn't anything remotely gothic about the vampires, and this is a let down for me because gothic-ness is quite a large trait for vampire novels.
Ahdieh continues her technique of (pointlessly) repeating key elements of characters' backstories in THE DAMNED, with Emilie's death/caught in a house fire story being told to us 3 times across the book with pretty much identical description and nothing new added. The 'story' takes 2-3 pages each time and became rather boring and irritating after the second repetition. I also think we were told who murdered the girls from THE BEAUTIFUL, but I'm not sure- it's insinuated that Nigel was only responsible for the Celine-Sebastian situation and that Emilie manufactured the other murders to get revenge on her uncle? Emilie's role in the novels was a bit confusing to me.
The book as a whole was quite slow, picking up significantly in the last 50ish pages. THE DAMNED feels a bit like a filler/pathway novel that allowed Ahdieh to establish the lore of her universe, explore Bastien's new vampire identity, and create the timescale for Celine to gain her memories back. This makes me feel like Book 3 will definitely be more engaging, and I suspect it'll have a Cassandra Clare feel with all the waring factions, however it doesn't diminish the drag of THE DAMNED.
There isn't really any romance in this book at all, which probably contributed to why I found it a slow read. Bastien is determined to remove himself from Celine, and Celine isn't into Michael as much as he is into her. Celine becomes rather desperate for Bastien (I guess understandably if they were so deeply in love in THE BEAUTIFUL- I didn't interpret their relationship to be as intense as this book claims it was), and eventually convinces him to go against the rules and start dating again. All this time Celine is messing about with Michael's emotions, and I do end up pitying him, as it's clear that he isn't going to let her go without a fight.
To conclude, if you've read THE BEAUTIFUL then I do recommend THE DAMNED, as it isn't a bad novel but just doesn't live up to the predecessor. This book is an ideal pathway novel into Ahdieh's universe and for Book 3, and so I can appreciate it for that- however, if I were to ignore that, THE DAMNED isn't anything spectacular.
I enjoyed this book as much as I did The Beautiful. The character-building allowed each character to twist and turn the story so I was completely surprised. The addition of other paranormal creatures added an extra layer to the story. I'm already waiting for the next sequel.