Take a photo of a barcode or cover
tinybibliophile 's review for:
The Damned
by Renée Ahdieh
My Review:⭐️⭐⭐⭐/ 5 stars
I read the first book a few days ago so thankfully all the characters was fresh in my mind. Sebastien Saint Germain was just turned into a vampire by his uncle Nicodemus, the most powerful Vampire in the American South in 1872, after being near death. In exchange, Cecile would allow Nicodemus to erase her memories of what happened that night and of Bastien… so they could start their own lives. Bastien is disturbed from the change and does everything he can to try to turn back and be human again (and be with Cecile). Michael & Cecile try to make it work - but she suspects her friends are hiding things from her after having very vivid dreams that cannot be explained. And behind the scenes, a sinister character is trying to exact revenge on the Fallen (aka the Vampires) after generations of blood shed.
I based this rating on it simply being much better than the first book, the Beautiful. The story seems a bit more structured and easier to understand the different worlds, characters, and even the love triangle between Bastien/Cecile/Michael. The romance between the main characters in the first book was very tortured, forced, and one dimensional. I didn’t buy their little forbidden, star crossed romance. One minute they just met and the next they are in love? I learned so much more in this one. That being said, the sequel is great, but I did not love it. This whole series was a bit lukewarm for me. The love scene had me wanting more, but more so because of the injustice of waiting through two books for just that measly scene? For a paranormal YA/historical fiction based in New Orleans, a magical city in its own right, this is decent. Will I tune in for the 3rd book in 2021? Probably.