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mariawheeler 's review for:
The Beautiful
by Renée Ahdieh
“Trust in this important lesson I learned long ago: Rage is a moment. Regret is forever.”
The Beautiful follows a young woman named Celine who is living in a Convent in New Orleans after running away from her life in Paris. The moment she gets to New Orleans she is quickly swept into elite society and a group called the Cour De Lions. There she meets the second main character Bastian and they work together to try to uncover mysterious murders connected to Celine.
This is a novel I had pushed off reading for a while... Hence me reading it in 2021! I'm glad I read it but I don't see it standing out to me. This book confused me in a way that I don't have many feelings and opinions on (not in a bad way), it was just good.
The funny thing about this book is that when it was marketed it seemed as though it was going to be bringing back the vampire craze. But this book was more of a gothic thriller/mystery rather than a book all about the supernatural, which I'm guessing is part of the reason for my feelings!
For the most part, I enjoyed the novel for its mystery and above all its amazing characters and world-building. The book really is a page-turner, in the way that you always want to know what is going to happen next! The mystery is well presented but I have to say, the ending did leave me wanting a bit more but I'm hoping for that in the sequel! Secondly, the characters are nice to read about and pretty well developed. I really loved reading about Celine and her ambition to make her way in her ‘new world’ given the time period. Also, the romance between the main two characters is enjoyable for the most part, but again didn't overly stand out! The last thing I'll mention in this book is the world-building, which is, as the French say, magnifique! Renée really encompasses that gothic mystery aura in her writing and I think it is what made the book so enjoyable for me since I was disappointed with the lack of vampires! Also, I'm someone who loves historical accuracy and this novel is amazing when it comes to the fashion element and elite society at the time!
3.5/5 stars! Pretty solid book, but I should have read more reviews to prepare myself! I will definitely be finishing the trilogy and I can't wait to see more from Bastian and Celine!
~SPOILER SECTION~
The first thing about this book I'm going to talk about is the romance! Ugh! I thought it was going to be enemies to lovers, and it was... for the first two chapters of them being together! I wish there was more banter between the two, but hopefully more of that in the next books!
Pippa is just a gem, who I wished we could have seen more from and the same goes for Detective Grimaldi as well! Bastians past with the detective doesn't go into much explanation but near the end, we started getting sneak peeks of possibilities which I liked. Lastly, the fashionista Odette has the best character in the book! I just love her playful personality!
Now let's talk about our villain: Nigel. Did anyone else think the ending fell flat? I would have loved to have had the villain of the story to have been someone closer to Celine and Bastian but it was just Nigel, who only spoke in probably two chapters of the whole book. I liked the plot twist at the end, how Bastian is now a vampire but besides that, I felt like we were on a rollercoaster to find out who the murderer was, only to find that the thrill had already passed. And, don't take this as a bad review! It's a great book but is just wish there was more near the end.
Even though there was some controversy surrounding if it was good or not, I'm glad I picked it up. If I would recommend this... I don't know. But, I will finish the series and the paranormal experience!
3.5 ⭐️
The Beautiful follows a young woman named Celine who is living in a Convent in New Orleans after running away from her life in Paris. The moment she gets to New Orleans she is quickly swept into elite society and a group called the Cour De Lions. There she meets the second main character Bastian and they work together to try to uncover mysterious murders connected to Celine.
This is a novel I had pushed off reading for a while... Hence me reading it in 2021! I'm glad I read it but I don't see it standing out to me. This book confused me in a way that I don't have many feelings and opinions on (not in a bad way), it was just good.
The funny thing about this book is that when it was marketed it seemed as though it was going to be bringing back the vampire craze. But this book was more of a gothic thriller/mystery rather than a book all about the supernatural, which I'm guessing is part of the reason for my feelings!
For the most part, I enjoyed the novel for its mystery and above all its amazing characters and world-building. The book really is a page-turner, in the way that you always want to know what is going to happen next! The mystery is well presented but I have to say, the ending did leave me wanting a bit more but I'm hoping for that in the sequel! Secondly, the characters are nice to read about and pretty well developed. I really loved reading about Celine and her ambition to make her way in her ‘new world’ given the time period. Also, the romance between the main two characters is enjoyable for the most part, but again didn't overly stand out! The last thing I'll mention in this book is the world-building, which is, as the French say, magnifique! Renée really encompasses that gothic mystery aura in her writing and I think it is what made the book so enjoyable for me since I was disappointed with the lack of vampires! Also, I'm someone who loves historical accuracy and this novel is amazing when it comes to the fashion element and elite society at the time!
3.5/5 stars! Pretty solid book, but I should have read more reviews to prepare myself! I will definitely be finishing the trilogy and I can't wait to see more from Bastian and Celine!
~SPOILER SECTION~
The first thing about this book I'm going to talk about is the romance! Ugh! I thought it was going to be enemies to lovers, and it was... for the first two chapters of them being together! I wish there was more banter between the two, but hopefully more of that in the next books!
Pippa is just a gem, who I wished we could have seen more from and the same goes for Detective Grimaldi as well! Bastians past with the detective doesn't go into much explanation but near the end, we started getting sneak peeks of possibilities which I liked. Lastly, the fashionista Odette has the best character in the book! I just love her playful personality!
Now let's talk about our villain: Nigel. Did anyone else think the ending fell flat? I would have loved to have had the villain of the story to have been someone closer to Celine and Bastian but it was just Nigel, who only spoke in probably two chapters of the whole book. I liked the plot twist at the end, how Bastian is now a vampire but besides that, I felt like we were on a rollercoaster to find out who the murderer was, only to find that the thrill had already passed. And, don't take this as a bad review! It's a great book but is just wish there was more near the end.
Even though there was some controversy surrounding if it was good or not, I'm glad I picked it up. If I would recommend this... I don't know. But, I will finish the series and the paranormal experience!
3.5 ⭐️