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lisakimmence3 's review for:
The Beautiful Ones
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Beautiful Ones is set in a fantastical world, based on the Belle Epoque. Nina Beaulieu is staying with her cousin Gaetan and his wife, Valerie, in the city of Loisail. She is there for the Grand Season, the goal being to find Nina an agreeable suitor. But Nina doesn't display the proper etiquette and manners that is fitting for a member of Loisail society. Adding to that, Nina is telekinetic and can send all manner of things crashing and shattering when she is distressed. Traits proven to send even the most smitten suitor running for the hills.
But Nina isn't interested in just anybody. Her interest lies in the celebrated Hector Auvray, a person who shares her power of telekinesis and has taken it one step further by making a living performing his talent on stage to large audiences. Though Nina's eyes are set on Hector, his heart still belongs to the woman who stole it, then broke it, ten years earlier. That woman is none other than Nina's cousin's wife, Valerie. When Hector learns of Nina's relationship to Valerie, he begins courting Nina as a way to get to his beloved. What a treacherous web we weave...
Ah, for me, the love triangle trope will never get old.
The Beautiful Ones had been sitting on my shelf for almost two years and I finally decided to get to it. I was nervous going into this one because, unlike the majority, I did not care for Mexican Gothic and only rated it 2 stars. I'm so happy this book had an opposite affect on me.
The setting of this novel was beautiful and definitely fitting of the Belle Epoque and all the glamour that came with that era. Nina is so charmingly down-to-earth and real; a sharp contrast to the severe and hateful Valerie. OMG, that character! She was one of the most insufferable, spiteful, manipulative, hateful characters I have ever come across. I seriously wanted to be able to jump in the book so I could slap her face.
The love triangle dilemma in this story isn't one that makes you roll your eyes but rather keeps you riveted to the page, waiting to learn what the consequence will be for each nasty action committed. And, believe me, the story is rife with nasty actions.
This book kept me turning the pages well into the night, anxiously waiting to discover what was going to happen next. It enveloped me in a world of high society, balls, fancy dress, romance, love lost and love found. I ate it up. This is one of my favorite reads of the year. I highly recommend it.