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brandendavis144 's review for:
The Damned
by Renée Ahdieh
I don’t know how to rate this.
On one hand, I found the first few opening chapters as well as the book’s climax to be some of the best writing I’ve ever experienced, especially Odette’s first pov chapter.
On the other hand, a fair part of the middle chunk of this book takes a step away from many of the things that made me love The Beautiful so much, particularly the New Orleans setting. None of this was bad, but probably a solid 3 star read.
And on the other other hand, I am so invested in the characters of this story by this point, I’m willing to follow them wherever they take me and I’ll enjoy the ride.
The good:
- Bastien is the main character of The Damned, Celine relegated to the sidelines. As much as I loved Celine in the first book, Bastien’s arc in this story is dynamic and interesting, and had quite a bit to say about bodily autonomy, consent, and trauma.
- Odette. Once again, the best character. The sparingly few chapters we get from her are easily the best parts of this book.
- The expansion of the world. While I don’t know how I feel about where this story went, what we learn about the world overall is very interesting, and makes for some fun storytelling that I’m very much looking forward to.
- Emilie. Getting this character’s perspective was fascinating, watching her circle right around the right thing and choose the wrong one, yet keeping her motives clear, was very well done.
- Again, the ending. Ahdieh knows how to end her books. I’ve never read a fantasy book that ends with a battle on a river boat, and suddenly I feel robbed by not having more. Also, that cliffhanger.
- The delve into other characters. Jae, Arjun, Michael, and Pippa also get their own points of view told, really filling them all out as people.
The not-so good:
- Leaving Nola. Why are we leaving Nola? Let’s stay.
- The lack of Celine or Odette in this book. Both characters barely exist here, and they were really the stand-outs from the first book for me
- Bastien’s angst and self-loathing starts to become a little much eventually. It isn’t enough to make me not enjoy the book, but we definitely could’ve dialed that down a little.
- The lack of descriptions and New Orleans flavor that permeated the first book. They’re still there, but not to the extent that they were in the first.
So while I loved this book, I can very much see that it wasn’t a perfect read for me. Yet it’s still a five star. I’m so invested in this story, Ahdieh will have to do a lot of bad to get me to hate a book in this series, and I at the least enjoyed every page of The Damned.
On one hand, I found the first few opening chapters as well as the book’s climax to be some of the best writing I’ve ever experienced, especially Odette’s first pov chapter.
On the other hand, a fair part of the middle chunk of this book takes a step away from many of the things that made me love The Beautiful so much, particularly the New Orleans setting. None of this was bad, but probably a solid 3 star read.
And on the other other hand, I am so invested in the characters of this story by this point, I’m willing to follow them wherever they take me and I’ll enjoy the ride.
The good:
- Bastien is the main character of The Damned, Celine relegated to the sidelines. As much as I loved Celine in the first book, Bastien’s arc in this story is dynamic and interesting, and had quite a bit to say about bodily autonomy, consent, and trauma.
- Odette. Once again, the best character. The sparingly few chapters we get from her are easily the best parts of this book.
- The expansion of the world. While I don’t know how I feel about where this story went, what we learn about the world overall is very interesting, and makes for some fun storytelling that I’m very much looking forward to.
- Emilie. Getting this character’s perspective was fascinating, watching her circle right around the right thing and choose the wrong one, yet keeping her motives clear, was very well done.
- Again, the ending. Ahdieh knows how to end her books. I’ve never read a fantasy book that ends with a battle on a river boat, and suddenly I feel robbed by not having more. Also, that cliffhanger.
- The delve into other characters. Jae, Arjun, Michael, and Pippa also get their own points of view told, really filling them all out as people.
The not-so good:
- Leaving Nola. Why are we leaving Nola? Let’s stay.
- The lack of Celine or Odette in this book. Both characters barely exist here, and they were really the stand-outs from the first book for me
- Bastien’s angst and self-loathing starts to become a little much eventually. It isn’t enough to make me not enjoy the book, but we definitely could’ve dialed that down a little.
- The lack of descriptions and New Orleans flavor that permeated the first book. They’re still there, but not to the extent that they were in the first.
So while I loved this book, I can very much see that it wasn’t a perfect read for me. Yet it’s still a five star. I’m so invested in this story, Ahdieh will have to do a lot of bad to get me to hate a book in this series, and I at the least enjoyed every page of The Damned.