This felt like the perfect book to read to kick off Autumn - as a previously huge vampire fan, I was very excited to dive back into a spooky world, especially one set in 19th-century New Orleans (was really hoping for it to feel like The Originals if I'm being honest). I did really enjoy the setting and all the French elements interwoven throughout, but sadly that was one of the strongest parts of the book for me. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Sebastien and Celine, but I wish it was explored more, and the fact that the whole vampire element was used as the grand reveal at the end and yet had been marketed heavily as a vampire story was disappointing. I don't think I'll be continuing with the series, especially after seeing that there are 3 more after this one - unfortunately I just didn't love the story enough to get through that much more of it.

Unfortunately this book really wasn't for me. After attempting to read this on several occasions in several formats including the audiobook. I just couldn't get into it.

I do adore Ahdieh's writing and the setting was gorgeously described but I found both the characters and the plot a little lacklustre and i kept putting the book down and waiting years to pick it up again to try to see if it was just my mood effecting my enjoyment but I have now gifted my physical copy to a local school library and concluded I am not the audience for this one.

I really enjoyed this one, as I have also loved this authors previous books, my only problem with it is that it did feel a little bit rushed at times but other than that, I thought this was a very solid novel about vampires and can't wait to read the sequel.

Rounded up to a 4.5⭐ The Beautiful has become my new obsession. The writing was just addictive from the start. I went into this book truly fascinated by the main character Celine, her past and her story.

Just from the start the book was a 3/4 star for me, and then the middle was hitting me with all the feels and 5 star was looking more and more likely.

Celine moves from Paris to New Orleans hiding a big secret, she meets a new friend (Pippa) and then they start their new life at the convent in New Orleans. The setting is dark and beautiful and I just felt swept away.

The introduction of Bastien (bad boy with attitude) and his friend Arjun just left me with a million questions, and desperately hoping for more celine and bastien interactions.

Bastien belongs to a "club" The Court of Lions and it is fancy and delightful but full of mystery. Surrounded by his closest friends, Celine gets swept up into this world.

Not all is sweet in this tale, as from the start the biggest theme is murder and mystery. Vampy vibes throughout. I was constantly trying to guess who was supernatural, and who was the mysterious killer. I loved the small sections from the killers point of view, and trying to piece together the clues throughout.

I honestly really enjoyed The Beautiful, but sadly the ending left me slightly confused, with a lot of reveals in a short period of time. I honestly guessed nothing and was wrong about all the characters! With that being said this book did have it all, mystery, horror, supernatural, romance and humour.

My favourite quote was "Rage is a moment, regret is forever."

For me overall a 4.5 star, but literally touching that 5 star. This book is so underrated!! I can't wait for the sequel. (Update: I have now purchased the sequel!!)

Absolutely atmospheric and utterly addictive. A new favourite for sure.

*Thank you Netgalley and The Publishers for an Earc of this wonderful book, I'm so glad I finally got to read this beauty.*

The Beautiful:

Our story is set in 1872 and we are introduced to our main character Celine Rousseau. Celine moves from France leaving behind her father and a terrible secret to New Orleans. Along with a friend that she makes on her way there, Pippa, she finds herself captivated by the city. Her and the other girls that board the ship to their new life will live and work at a local convent. However, when Celine gets there, she finds that her skills are not as transferrable as she once thought. So instead of working at the convent, she finds that she can make a bit of money by trying to sell her handmade handkerchiefs.

Whilst selling her handkerchiefs at the stall, a young girl called Oddette recognises her talent and asks her to make her a dress for the upcoming masquerade ball. Celine accepts but must clear this through Mother Superior at the convent. Celine and Pippa head off for the address that Odette gave them and come across somebody getting hurt. She steps in and helps the victim but she catches the eye of the young man harming the victim. His name is Sabastien. They finally reach their address and find that it is a restaurant called Jacques’. They ask for Odette and are lead to a room filled with gamblers of the rich kind and beautiful men and women.

Filled with intrigue, Odette admits that everybody in that room possesses some kind of magic, and admits that she can read a person’s future with a single touch. But suddenly they hear a scream and find Annabelle, a girl from the convent, dead. Celine is afraid that they might find out about her past, which includes murder, that she ran away from. Trying to get her story straight, she and Pippa sit down to talk but find that Bastien has sent his friend Arjun to help them. Turns out he didn’t really want to help them; it was more of a ploy to keep his name out of it.

Oddette wanting the dress at no matter what cost, invites her back to Jacque’s and the conversation steers to Bastien, he walks in and hears them talking about him. There’s this infatuation between the two even though they would deny it immensely. But when he saves her from a ‘creature that flies’ they embrace and kiss passionately. Celine decides that they must remain friends despite their feelings for one another.

Enter the second love interest, Michael. Michael is the detective from the murder of Annabelle. They find that they have some sort of connection even when his Nonna makes her soup. But it is made to feel like the connection is more one sided on behalf of Michael.

Celine moves out of the convent due to the sisters not wanting her to stay there anymore due to what’s happened since she arrived, blaming her for the deaths and destruction. She moves into Nicodemus’ old hotel. In time for the masquerade ball, she finishes Oddette’s dress and wears one that she created for herself. Whilst at this masquerade ball, she finds everybody looking her; the reason unbeknownst to her, she has a bite on her neck and is suddenly taken away.

She finds herself awake on the altar at the Saint Louis’ Cathedral. She finds out that it was Nigel that took her and asks him what he is. He claims he is a vampire and shows her his teeth. He licks her wounds on her neck. Bastien enters, after frantically searching for Celine, with a revolver drawn. Bastien distracts Nigel enough that Celine is able to stab Nigel in the neck with her dagger. But this is not enough for him to go down; Nigel escapes but leaves Bastien wounded. Celine begs Nicodemus to save him, but there’s only one way for that to happen: to turn him into a vampire. He doesn’t like the idea of this but Celine begs him nonetheless, she will do anything for him. In return for turning Bastien into a vampire, she has to relinquish her memories of him and anybody associated with him. She agrees.

She wakes up next to Michael and finds that she is confused and is missing a big chunk of her memories. The epilogue gives us a clue of who the big bad of the next book will be and that is Bastien’s sister who should have died in a fire but somebody saved her, a werewolf. Now she seeks revenge on her family, as they should have saved her and not him.

Overall this book was great. I loved delving back into vampire lore once again as it brings back memories of the twilight days of YA. This new take coming from Renee Ahdieh is one of brilliance and I can’t wait to read the next book.

3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Great book. I loved reading it. Very interesting and covers alot of information

4 Stars

This was a solid, fun YA read! One of my favourite elements was the friendship between Celine and Pippa, as well as Celine and Odette. In fact in general I liked the characters, and look forward to learning more about some of the secondary characters in future instalments of the series, as well as the intrigue about them and their relationships with each other and other groups. The romance was also decent - not one I was awwing over by any means but it wasn't annoying and the characters do have chemistry, even if in typical YA romance things were a little rushed, with an unnecessary love triangle added on as a bonus.

I love New Orleans as a setting, especially for spooky tales, and I liked what I got here, but would definitely take more of it! I think that is generally how I feel about this book - as aforementioned, it's a solid, fun read that is going in the right direction (pointless love triangle aside), but I just want to nudge it further that way. Make it bigger, more vibrant and explosive, darker, twistier, scarier. It's the first in a series so we'll see where it goes! There's a lot of potential here.

This book was seriously terrible. I loved Renee Ahdieh in TWATD duology, wasn't as impressed for A flame in the mist but still, her writing fascinates me so much! Not this time, again. The story is dull, the protagonist is lame and there are so many stereotypes i've already read and seen a thousand time. Where is the sparks?

This was my first book by Reene Adheih. I really enjoyed the writing style and felt that was easy to read and i flew through the book. I like how even though it was vampire book it felt different then other vampire books that i had read. I really enjoyed the characters in this book and how each one was different then the other from being mysterious to being a loyal companion. I like the timeline that it was set in and showed the fight and struggles that some females thought when they were expected to wear dresses all the time but some wanted to wear trousers like men. I liked the murder mystery aspect and how the reader could play detective while reading.

I gave this book 4 stars and im looking forward to reading the sequel.

'The Beautiful' is an enticing beginning to a vampire duology, with such a fascinating structure of perspectives, I spent so much of the book theorising about who was behind the first person, as well as the murder plot! It really well captured the sensual historical vibe of books like 'The Flame and The Flower' combined with 'Dracula' The pace was quite slow, with a lot happening in the last ten per cent, so there's plenty of juice for the sequel.

Odette was my favourite character of the book, and I really liked the relationship between her and Pippa. Love some sapphic representation in historical fiction. if you're missing vampires since 'Twilight', definitely give this a go.

It’s 1872, New Orleans and Celine has arrived in the city looking to escape her old life as a dressmaker in Paris and start anew. However a chance encounter with a beautiful woman leads Celine down a dangerous path and into the glamourous underworld of the Court of Lions. Here, not everything is at it seems and magic and death simmer just below the surface. When bodies start turning up, murdered in increasingly gruesome ways, that appear to be linked to the Courts leader Sebastien, Celine soon finds herself involved in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

My favourite aspect of the book is definitely the setting. New Orleans lends itself so well to a paranormal mystery, and the descriptions of carnivals and food give off a vibrant and fantastical air which imbues the setting of the story. My favourite scene in the whole book is actually centred around a Midsummer Night’s Ball, where everyone is dressed up as beasts and fairies and cavorting around without a care in the world. The backdrop of the city only adds to the ambience and made me wish I was there alongside the characters dressed as Hermia or Hippolyta, wrapped up in opulence and glamour.

I do also think that the story itself does try to address some important topics about race. Early on we learn a little of Celine’s past, and what this means for her in society. Her longing to belong and rise above what is expected of her makes her very determined. She’s also rather power hungry – which I found quite refreshing. She’s not ashamed of this side of her personality, instead repeatedly taking advantage of her beauty and wiles to further her position in society. That said, I also found her incredibly selfish and cruel towards her supposed friends (especially Pippa) at times. For someone who years for friends and acceptance she could learn a lot from her own behaviour. I did struggle at times to understand and connect with her character because of this. I also didn’t particularly care for her relationship with Sebastien. After meeting once, they seem to form this instant deep and meaningful relationship which I struggled to find believable or realistic. It’s an all-consuming love affair without the build-up. The supposed love triangle also feels completely pointless, as really there’s no competition in Celine’s eyes. That said, I did find some of the more romantic scenes rather steamy – although there isn’t nearly enough of them for my liking to justify the romantic attachment between the pairing. And as a result, I just didn’t care.

The plot itself I found to be rather confusing and all over the place, with the introduction of more supernatural elements part way through the plot that are never really explained fully or expand on. It’s all very surface level and almost feels like the fantastical elements have been added to flesh out the romance. I found myself really drawn to the Court of Lions and their interpersonal relationships, and felt that they were a real waste of an opportunity to further the more magical and paranormal aspects of the plot (which were the far more interesting aspects). They reminded me a lot of the gang of vampires we meet in Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice – which is one of my favourite scenes in the movie. Odette is my favourite by far. She’s the more developed character of the group, with her love of fashion, gossip and women – I regularly found myself wondering why this book wasn’t about her and how she came to join this group. That would have been a far more interesting story.

I also found that I didn’t really like the writing style for this. It almost feels like it’s trying too hard to be clever, but mixed in with some comments about Celine I find a little ‘off’ - the author seems obsessed with her breasts and describing them in various outfits, which I found completely unnecessary. It’s also written in an overly complicated way. Several times I had to reread sentences just so I could understand what on earth was going on, which pulled me out of the story on many occasions. I struggled a lot with this, especially early on.

I liked the idea of this, and the setting is truly lovely, but it falls way short in character development and overall plot. I wanted more Court of Lions, and more Odette in particular, but this chose to follow a romance I was never fully invested in to begin with, which deeply affected my enjoyment. So much wasted potential.

The Beautiful is marketed all wrong. This book has been described as the return of the vampires to YA, but unfortunately they don’t actually appear until right at the end of the novel. It would have been a really exciting surprise if it hadn’t been the only thing I’d known about The Beautiful going in, so I found myself getting really frustrated that there weren’t vampires earlier.

That being said, this is still a great story. A murder mystery/coming-of-age tale following a girl who flees from France to New Orleans after murdering the man who attempts to rape her? That’s a pretty compelling tale on its own, even without the vampires. Can’t wait for the sequel.

Did someone say, utter perfection? Because that's what this book is.

After years of vampire fatigue, I am so glad to see vampires finally making a return to the YA landscape and we could not have asked for a better vampire novel to make that resurgence.

Seductive, deadly and riddled with intrigue, The Beautiful will definitely leave you wanting.

Cleaning up my book backlog from a rather bad reading slump means that this technically an e-arc, so thank you Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the ebook version!

I love vampires, stupid twilight dragged me in, and now I’ll consume most media where these monsters feature. Admittedly, now, I prefer my vampires darker rather than sparkly vegetarians, but I was really excited to pick up The Beautiful. This is also my first Renée Ahdieh book, although Flame in the Mist had been on my tbr for a while, and I’d heard so many good things about her writing that I was really excited to pick it up.

Let’s start with what I liked; Ahdieh’s ability to build a world and suck you into the atmosphere of a place is incredible. She painted such a vivid picture of 19th Century New Orleans, it’s building and the fashions, it felt as though I was sat in the carriage with Celine. The world around Celine is so atmospheric and vivid, and I wish I could jet off to New Orleans to experience it all for myself!

The book also felt really well researched, I’m no expert on 19th century New Orleans, but the world felt so detailed. When Celine was discussing fashion and dressmaking, it really felt like Ahdieh had carefully pulled together every little detail and it really drew me in.

I also really enjoyed the characters. Instalove usually isn’t my favourite trope but I feel like it was written well, and I really liked Celine and Sébastien’s banter. I also loved Odette she was so full of confidence, and initially it was her character that intrigued me the most. Admittedly it took me a little while to warm up to Celine, she felt like she two different women, but this definitely go better as the story moved forward!

The story itself was a slow starter for me though. It took a long time to get where it was going, and the different “mysterious voices” made it harder to keep track of things. Once it picked up the pace and we really got into the meat of the mystery, I started to really enjoy the novel but that first half was challenge. Also as a lover of vampire novels I have to point out that there’s not a lot of vampire action in this novel. None of the cast of characters exibit distinctly vampiric traits right up until the end, and I’m sure the sequel will be full of ’em, but it’s a shame that it took so long to get there.

My biggest issue with the book links into the paragraph above. It’s the fact that this book is so clearly a lead into the series, and was purely written to build a foundation. I can understand why but I feel like it left me with an underwhelming start to the series, and the plot left me feeling rather unfulfilled at the end. There’s so much that remains unexplained and unfortunately this infuriated rather than intrigued me; I read a whole novel and learned nothing about the overarching plot, so in my opinion Ahdieh held back way too much.

I think the second in the series will probably be jam-packed with the things that I felt were missing from this one, so I have real hope for the next in the series! But this first installment has given me very mixed feelings, and even after writing all this I’m still not sure how I feel about The Beautiful.

Recommend: A tentative yes. I think this has the makings of a really good series, but it’s a shame the first book has given me so little.

Sadly this book couldn't impress me. I was really excited to read about vampires again, but overall, this isn't even really a story about vampires. The vampires exist, but they are mostly just an afterthought or an interlude. Not really there, just enough to call it "a vampire novel".
The characters all feel flat and the romance started the first time they lay their eyes on each other cause they are, as the author never fails to tell us, both insanely beautiful. Celine, the main character, gets told she is the most beautiful girl in the world by basically ever person she meets. It's obvious that she and Bastien are gonna be paired up, but then there is Michael, who is Bastiens biggest rival and I can just feel that love triangle waiting in the second book.
Overall a disappointment. I don't think I would have finished this book, if I hadn't gone over to speed reading.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

I really, really, really wanted to love this. I was so excited to see vampires starting to make a comeback in YA fiction. I was thrilled when my review request was approved, then it was hinted at it would be in one of my YA subscription boxes – so I got a pretty signed hardback with sprayed edges. I did wait until the hype had died down a bit before delving in.

There were parts of it I really enjoyed, parts of it that were eye-rollingly stupid and parts that were just boring. The end was wholly unsatisfying (though thankfully I have pre ordered the sequel and had my review requested granted). Though there was enough of a what the??? To want to know more.

The 1800s New Orleans setting is vividly described. The main character, Celine is running from a terrible incident in her past in Paris and sets sail for the US with a convent, whose aim seems to be helping young women find suitable husbands. There were times I loved Celine’s character – she was strong willed, sassy and smart. Despite her worries about her past catching up with her she seemed very confident and together. She also came across as highly opinionated.

One thing I did like was the female friendships – Celine bonds with one of the other convent girls, Pippa, who becomes a real friend. As a former dressmaker – Celine’s stitching work for the convent catches the eyes of the beautiful and mysterious Odette who hires her to make a gown for a masquerade. Odette appears flippant and over the top, but she embraces Celine and seems keen for Celine to join her rather than head back to the convent.

Odette is part of a group of dangerously beautiful and alluring people, none of which seem quite normal. There’s something distinctly different about them, curious and bordering on frightening. Naturally Celine is intrigued by them. I found the male love interest, Sebastian, to be rather bland and uninteresting. A very typical stereotype – rich, well spoken, devious, and charming with a sense of darkness and foreboding. Nothing I haven’t seen in vampire novels before. He and Celine rub each other the wrong way yet unsurprisingly are annoyingly attracted to each other.

Doesn’t help when the bodies start turning up with strange symbols, and the police officer heading the investigation clearly has some sort of history with Sebastian and Odette and their group. Doesn’t help either that Celine seems to keep getting in his way. And she’s got things to say as well. Some of the mystery aspect was quite interesting and the plot did get more and more interesting as the novel progressed.

One thing that drove me up the wall though was the chapters from the killer’s point of view. To me they sounded just ridiculous. I think they were trying to sound like a sophisticated creature who has been around for centuries plotting his revenge against some perceived wrongness. It sounded woe is me over the top and stupid. Though to be fair, I didn’t actually guess who the culprit was.

This was a mixed bag of a novel, with good things and bad things. However, enough of a grip in the story telling that I need more from this world.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for approving my request to view the title.

I've not read anything by Renee before so I mainly picked this one because the theme intrigued me as someone who is a fan of all things supernatural. Or maybe I have outgrown it, as I really struggled to get into this one. The pacing was really slow and I couldn't connect with the plot or the characters at all. I felt quite bored that I found myself drifting often. I'm sure that the author wanted to appeal strongly to fans of books such as The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, but unfortunately for me, it just felt uninspired and pales in comparison.

I'm pretty sure anyone new to books about vampires might enjoy this, but for someone who grew up reading exciting vampire fiction which felt new and different, this was definitely for me a huge let down.

It seems like the author is intending to unfold this over the course of a series but I, unfortunately, will give the next book a miss.

The Beautiful is a lavish, gothic tale in which we follow Celine, a girl who has fled Paris, carrying a dark secret and ended up in New Orleans. Celine has ended up in a convent wit six other girls as they try to find suitable matches in the city. 

But with the otherworldly nature of the French quarter beckoning, sensible normal choices just aren't going to cut it. And with the mysterious Bastien and his group floating around what more mystery do you need? So a few bodies drained of blood are dotted around the city. 

A normal, murder mystery, with a dark creature stalking the city and who has taken a serious liking to Celine. Luckily, not only does Celine has the gorgeous Bastien to look after, she also has the young handsome Police Detective Micheal. Who to be honest feels like he is a bit of a plot ploy for a love triangle and cause a bit of agro in the next book. But we will see. 

This was an enjoyable read, that got better as the story went on. Especially as towards the end I seemed to have more of an understanding of what was happening. And in many ways I think that the next book will be bigger and better.

I love this cover! It's absolutely gorgeous and the vibe fits the story perfectly. I really like the color scheme and the typography is beautiful. The cup that spills rose petals also has a bit of a dress shape to it and I like that you can see different things in that one image. 

The Beautiful starts off with Celine Rousseau arriving in 1872 New Orleans. She had to flee Paris and is taken into a convent with a couple of other girls. Soon someone gets murdered and she finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. 

What I loved about The Wrath and the Dawn was the writing style and the epic romance. So of course those two elements were what I was hoping for in this story. And I'm happy to say they were both present. The writing style fits the story perfectly and draw the picture of historical New Orleans perfectly. I also quite liked the romance. 

The story is pretty slow paced, something I don't mind but a lot of people seem to do mind it. Because the story is slower paced, we get quite some time with the writing, the location and most importantly the characters. Luckily the actual plot was also quite interesting and I couldn't wait to find out how everything was connected. 

In between the chapters we get a short 'chapter' in the POV of the killer. I really like books that are formatted like this. You get a look inside the head of the villain but you don't quite know who it is yet. And I didn't guess the murderer at all! It was a nice twist and I'm very excited for the sequel The Damned.

I think a lot of people will be disappointed by the vampire part of the story. This is also part of the slow paced way of writing, we don't get to see much of actual vampires during most of the story. In the end this pays off quite nicely and I'm expecting more vampire stuff in the next book. 

There are a couple of interesting characters in The Beautiful but I don't want to say too much about them. I think they are mostly characters you need to meet for yourself! Celine is our main character and she was interesting the figure out. She has a secret at the start, and while I figured it out pretty early on, I did really 'like' what happened. While Celine wasn't my favorite character, I did like her as a MC. If I have to pick a favorite character, it might be Pippa, Celine's friend. She was supportive and soft and I just loved her.

2.5 stars

When seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau escapes to New Orleans leaving her life as a seamstress in Paris behind, she finds herself alongside several other girls at a convent.
Convent life doesn't suit Celine, but the city of New Orleans does, and she soon becomes involved with the mysterious La Cour des Lions, and their leader, Sébastien 'Bastien' Saint Germain. Bastien is dangerous and the last thing Celine needs in her life given her own dark secret, but Celine can't help being attracted to him.
Then one of the convent girls is found dead at the lair of La Cour des Lions. More bodies turn up and the killer seems to be stalking Celine.
Has the killer set their sights on Celine?
Will Celine's past come back to haunt her?

When I heard the author talk about The Beautiful at a panel last year it made me really excited to read it, but having seen a lot of mixed reviews, I wasn't sure I would end up enjoying The Beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't.
Celine was an okay protagonist, but I don't feel like I really connected with her. I liked that she was determined and knew what she wanted.
Pippa and Odette were my favourite characters and the friendships were my favourite part of the book.
The setting of 1872 New Orleans was interesting and the historical connotations that applied to the story.
The plot held my attention to begin with, but after a while I found myself becoming bored and struggling to connect with the storyline. The pacing was a bit off for me at times and I felt like not much happened.
The romance took a while to grow on me, but in the end I did feel the connection between the characters.
I feel that The Beautiful had a lot of potential, but it didn't reach that potential for me.
I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more as the concept really intrigued me.

Overall, this was an okay read.