A review by shorts_family
The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I would consider this story to be pretty middle-of-the-road as far as vampire novels go. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish it, but it also wasn't so enrapturing I couldn't put it down. I think my main issue is with how slow the pacing is, I feel like there were several chapters that could've been removed altogether and it wouldn't have altered any significant part of the story. No spoilers, but there was one good twist/reveal and two twists/reveals that I felt had absolutely no buildup to them whatsoever, so they didn't feel satisfying at all, unfortunately. I loved the dynamic between Celine and Bastien, and there were moments of  the book that were genuinely funny, but overall I wanted to be pulled into the book more.
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