I tried, but I couldn't even bring myself to finish this book and it makes me so sad. From the premise, The Beautiful sounded so promising and perfect to read around Halloween: who wouldn't want to read a book about vampires set in New Orleans in the 19th century? Yet, I have to say that I'm quite underwhelmed. I found this book to be very cliché, it was predictable, it had a faux-love triangle (I don't get it) and vampires aren't mentioned per se until very late in the book... When it was easy to figure out who they were early one. Moreover, I never managed to get a sense of the characters, true I didn't finish the book, but still. I felt like the author told more than she showed: for example, she kept saying that Celine was troublesome and reckless during so many pages without actually showing it, which was really weird. That being said, maybe I'm not Renee Adhieh's audience anymore, as I only loved her first duology, but wow I am quite disappointed and sad.

Vampires and murders set in 1800s New Orleans?! This book promised magic, intrigue and darkness and I was very excited to get started. But it's left me with some mixed feelings.

The story starts off strong; we follow teenagers Celine and Pippa on a journey to New Orleans. Both are fleeing their pasts in Europe for the hope of a new life in the land of opportunity, and the city doesn't disappoint. As the girls travel through the heart of the city at the peak of carnival season, they're swept up in the atmosphere and anticipation of what's to come, and so was I.

"She'd arrived in a city amid celebration. One with weeks of fetes to come. The crowd was filled with that same spirit of anticipation she saw in the girls who shared her fate."

The author takes her time setting the scene, painting a picture of an 1800s New Orleans, alive with parties, indulgence and debauchery, but there's something more sinister under the surface. Celine's story is interspersed with short chapters from an unknown villain, lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike. "I am the spider. I set silken traps. I watch as you step into my web. I wait to strike. But do not fear. I promise I will never forget you." I loved the way these chapters ramped up the tension as our protagonist Celine found herself becoming entangled in a dangerous web.

There was a lot to enjoy in this novel; lavish descriptions, a stellar setting, murderous plot and, of course, a sexy 'bad boy' love interest, Sebastien. This is the first time I've read this author, and she certainly can write; her descriptions felt almost tangible and I was completely immersed in the glamorous world. But it didn't quite all come together for me.

I just wanted more. It's like she has all the perfect pieces of the puzzle, but it just didn't quite fit. There's so many intriguing elements thrown in, but we didn't get a chance to learn how it all connects together. For example, near the beginning Celine and Pippa go to the mysterious La Cour des Lions, a glamorous secret society of people with mysterious powers. It all sounds great - but do we ever find out about how this group came about, or how they use these powers?! Not really. There's also various mentions of a mysterious 'Brotherhood' and 'The Fallen' but we never even get close to understanding what these might represent until very near the end of the story.

It all just feels a little superficial and like elements of the story aren't explored to their full potential. I know this is going to be part of a larger series, so maybe this was more a slow-burn scene-setting piece before a dramatic next instalment. The final section has a lot more drama and a frustratingly unsatisfying ending, but if those backstories and unanswered questions are answered as the series goes on, it could redeem itself for me. I'll wait and see.

The premise for this book instantly got my attention. Vampires. Murder mystery. In New Orleans. In the 1800s. Count me in. I'm quite hard to please when it comes to vampire novels. I think because I have been disappointed by so many. The historical New Orleans setting was certainly a great attraction, as it made a change from all the modern day vampire novels. In fact, it didn't feel necessarily like a vampire novel, which is a good thing, as it felt like its own rather than trying too hard to fit a mould.

There is a mysterious, sumptuous atmosphere in much of the book, which Reneé Ahdieh does an excellent job at capturing. Alluring is a good word to describe this book. I also can’t help but love a good murder mystery! However I did feel by the end still quite in the dark about all the mysterious people, and whether they are all vampires or something else. That air of mystery is very effective for most of the book, but it would have been more satisfying to get more answers and a clearer picture of this shadowy paranormal world by the end.

There are some brilliant details which really make the scenes pop. On some occasions there is too much and the description drags, especially a couple of times when describing food. Unless Celine is secretly a food connoisseur, I’m not sure how you can tell from looking at a meal what ingredients are in it. The descriptions of the food are luscious, but at times excessive and unrealistic when shown through the eyes of a main character who is not a food expert.

While the majority of The Beautiful is written in third person from Celine’s perspective, there are a few sections written in first person. It just felt a bit jarring switching between third and first. The first person was perhaps intended to seem more sinister, as well as obscuring the identity of the narrator, but I found the switch broke the flow. I liked the idea of seeing the story through the murderer’s eyes, and it was quite creepy, however it could have been handled a bit better.

Celine is a bold, interesting and flawed character. I was undoubtedly drawn towards her and into her story. She’s at times reckless and gets a thrill from danger, but is also afraid of her own nature. I liked the conflict she felt about wanting to conform to society but also carve her own path and have her own identity. Odette is another character who stood out. I liked her vivaciousness and spirit.

Bastien is a typical, dark, brooding love interest. But for once I actually felt he and the protagonist were well suited. Often this kind of character is flung at the female protagonist but they don’t actually have a connection. In The Beautiful, Celine and Bastien were well matched. The relationship is essentially a forbidden romance; however the characters don’t spend the whole book moping around about how they can’t be with each other. That’s what usually puts me off forbidden relationships. There wasn’t any of that in this book thankfully. The characters certainly had a connection and I loved all their scenes together. And the end sequence is so charged, emotive and heart wrenching.

Really I shouldn’t have liked this book. But for some reason I did. I think there will be a lot of mixed reviews for this one. Despite it having some flaws, I felt immersed in Reneé Ahdieh’s world and completely gripped by the mysteriousness and sensuality of The Beautiful.

Received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

The Beautiful is a book that took one of the most well-known and loved genres and placed it right outside of the typical boundaries that most authors include the genre within. It could work or it couldn’t, depending upon the reader, especially because The Beautiful focuses less about the battle of the normal and the paranormal but more about the battle one has within themselves. The ‘paranormal’ within each of us; the part of us that tries everyday to break out of the dreary shackles the world has bound us with.

The book is written in the historic times and the dialect and style is reflective of that time period and it takes a reader with great interest in this time–including their dressing and style of description–to remain rapt with the writing. Anyone who struggles with that will struggle with the book, especially the pacing because it can seem really slow. For all my love for the writing, I found myself re-reading bits because I would have spaced out at times. Most of the time the things that the author mentions, as readers, we may have no understanding of, and so we just have to take her word for it or have to look it up to understand. The world-building is a little uneven because I do feel like there are still some things I haven’t exactly understood.

As a protagonist, Celine is both very interesting and a little difficult. She fights a battle against herself in ways that I could and at the same time, couldn’t connect to. Her situation is very understandable and her questions against her role as a woman of her society is a very cheer-for-her-as-you-read kind. However, her struggle against a certain…darkness (shall we say?) that pits questions against her and makes her doubt and re-think and wonder, may not always be very easy to read. She tends to lean back and forth often and arrives at conclusions and questions them and arrives at them again and you’re unsure if this part of her that is danger-loving is real or not, given her doubts. However, I did enjoy her wit and her fight against what society wished for her so she could achieve what she wished for herself. I also loved that she never bows down even in fear and that she wasn’t manipulated because of it and thought her way out of situations. I also absolutely adored that she wasn’t a heroine who was oblivious to the things happening around her and was quick and not the last to know on the mysteries around her.

Sèbastien was also a difficult character for me to understand. Simply because he had a bit of an out of sight out of mind kind of attitude. If he were around Celine he would be in the moment a hundred percent and their interactions were always angsty, witty and very enjoyable to read. But whenever he wasn’t around her, he wouldn’t accept her (very important) hails to meet and would ignore her when something very serious is going on. He doesn’t even try to see her after something rather trying takes place in her life. Perhaps there’s a backstory to why he wasn’t present but it isn’t explained either during his perspective nor otherwise and it feels very hot and cold and at very unreliable times which makes me very dubious of trusting him to help Celine when she really needs it. But I did rather find myself surprised about a certain aspect of his character, something very atypical of the hero in a paranormal book.

I definitely loved the unpredictability of the antagonist. Truly, while I was reading the book I put my doubts on pretty much everyone I knew trying to see who fit the possible role, which I think is lovely writing on the author’s part. It was what raised the rating, even though there are so very many questions and abandoned threads that need to be gathered and put together. I’m definitely interested in the next book with no doubts.

I’m the midst of three and a half and four stars so, I’m round it up to four! Happy reading lovelies! ❤



Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I for one am SO ready for the Vampire genre to rise from the dead. There's been a lot of buzz about this book so I was looking forward to sinking my teeth into it.

Ok, ok I'll stop.



Our heroine is Celine, a 17 year old with a dark secret who along with some other girls, is sent to live in a convent in New Orleans in the late 1800s. Was this a thing? Maybe it was....

Celine quickly finds herself mixed up with some stunningly attractive and mysterious people and....well you get the gist.

Along for the ride are the other two points of the love triangle, Bastien, an enigmatic mega-rich hunk and Michael a...policeman. For some reason I kept picturing him as Michael from Jane the Virgin. Sorry if you do now as well.

The setting was kinda wasted really. You don't get much cooler than 19th century New Orleans but really this novel could have taken place anywhere. The characters spoke in a modern way which didn't fit with the setting either.

My main issue with this book was with the rampant overuse of foreign language dialogue. This is such a pet peeve of mine. It serves no purpose other than to look pretentious af, ruins the immersion and if I wanted a language lesson when I was reading, i'd fire up Duolingo.

The plot also isn't very exciting. It's not bad, it's just a bit generic. I was a good third of the way through the book before things started getting interesting. If I wasn't reviewing it I'd probably have quit at 20%.

One last moan...the Scottish girl, Anabel's dialogue was excruciating and as a bona fide Highlander I'd just like to say someone from Edinburgh is categorically not a Highlander. Petty I know but these kinds of things really rustle my jimmies.

I really enjoyed this book. It's been a long time since I've devoured a good vampire yarn and this one was excellent. Fabulous cover too!

This book is so beautifully written, it really is. Reading the synopsis, I was beyond excited for the New Orleans Vampire romance with a mixture of penny dreadful vibes. It basically has everything I love all wrapped up into one book.

Celines character reminds me of Vanessa Ives of penny dreadful. Strong, fearless, unforgiving and stubborn. Living in a world where women are regarded second class citizens to men. And she questions it. Why should she live a life where she has to succumb to social expectations of society? There is so much mystery surrounding the story and characters within that you constantly guess what will happen next.

I really can't recommend this book highly enough. Can I have the next one already? Pretty please?

5⭐

Thank you to NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication.
When we first meet Celine she is on her way to America having fled France. We learn she killed a man who tried to rape her, and she is desperate for a fresh start. Her journey is quite uneventful, but she befriends a couple of girls that go with her to live in a convent.
Upon their arrival in New Orleans Celine cannot help but feel she has come home. She loves the vibrancy of her new home, but there is a definite sense of threat - made worse by the murder of a young girl soon after their arrival.
There’s no doubt that Celine is not your stereotypical young lady. She’s happy to defy conventions, but this does lead her into rather difficult circumstances.
The majority of the story focuses on the mysterious Sebastian who has a group of very close friends that don’t seem quite human. Celine is in turn entranced and infuriated by Bastian - so it’s inevitable there’s a spin-out hint of a romance.
There’s some interesting ideas here, but there’s a lot that seems to work against the story. We’re never given enough information about the two groups to explain the dynamics between them. We know they’re vampires, yet there’s little detail about quite how this group works. Someone close commits a pretty awful act of betrayal, yet we don’t really get to know why. There’s also a hint of someone thought dead actually being part of this, but we know so little about them it would have been easy to ignore the significance.
This is not a book that I found hard to read or unexciting, but there were a lot of unanswered questions which I found infuriating.

No one is sadder than me that I didn't like <i>The Beautiful</i>. I adored Renée Ahdieh's The Wrath and the Dawn Duology and had high hopes for her brining back vampires into YA! However, the<strong> book didn't end up impressing me</strong> and it took me long to finish because it was easy to put down and harder to motivate myself to pick it up again. I'm all conflicted about it because I'm happy that <strong>Ahdieh got to write a vampire story with an Asian lead character</strong> and I wish that she can be the catalyst to bring back more vampire stories. Still, I didn't enjoy the book no matter how much I wanted to. I've prepared to lists with what I liked and what fell flat for me!

<i><strong>Things I actually liked</strong></i>

<strong>The friendship between Celine, Pippa, and Odette!</strong> ➽ I love when a book has strong female friendships, especially when the main character is a bit different in her beliefs and attitude, yet still has solid connections to women that aren't like her. I definitely think that Pippa and Odette were the scene-stealers and probably the characters that intrigued me most.

<strong>I liked that the author struck a balance between Celine having a more modern mindset</strong></big> ➽ while still being influenced by the notions of the society she lived in. The book discussed the everyday sexism and showed how it affected the different women in the story.

<strong>The setting of New Orleans</strong> ➽ You could tell that the focus of the story was establishing the right atmosphere and create a vivid setting for the reader to immerse in. I'm not French, but I have basic knowledge of the language, so the french phrases that appeared at certain points in the story were nice and added to make the setting realistic

<strong>Vampires, once they showed up</strong> ➽ I'm still excited that vampires are slowly coming back because I actually liked them a lot when they were popular and would love to see more paranormal YA books again!

<strong>In theory, the relationship between Celine and Sébastien could've been interesting</strong> ➽ The relationship employs one of my favorite tropes (enemies to lovers) and there is some decent banter that I enjoyed in parts, making their interactions one of the more exciting parts of the story.

<strong>Sébastien's PET SNAKE</strong> ➽ I love animals appearing in fiction, especially snakes (is that my inner Slytherin?) as it made for some funny moments 🐍

<strong>I appreciated that the main character is of Asian descent</strong></big> and that the author discussed what that meant for her in a historical setting ➽ There were also several minor characters of color as well as LGBTQ characters, discussions of racism and


<i><strong>Things I didn't like</strong></i>

<strong>There was too much description</strong> ➽ To a certain extent I like vivid descriptions of the setting because it helps envision the mood and atmosphere of the situation. However, I feel like the author went overboard this time with adding too many details that didn't feel relevant to me. In general, I'm not a fan of descriptions that drag on, so I quickly felt my eyes glaze over a bit and it was an effort to slog through paragraphs of detailed descriptions. I sadly <strong>felt like the author put more emphasis on describing a complex setting than evolving character or plot</strong>, a mistake in my perspective because plot and characters are always more important for me!

<strong>The start was slow and the setup lacked character and plot development</strong> ➽ In the first 100 pages not much happened and the setup wasn't used to establish why I should care about the characters either. The only thing that was consistent was the setting, but again that's not enough. The lack of plot made me wonder why the author didn't portray more exciting scenes than just the everyday life of the convent and settling in for about 5+ weeks. We didn't get to the most interesting part of the story (meeting Sébastien and delving deeper into his world) until much too late in my opinion. By then I was already getting frustrated.

<strong>The worldbuilding was incredibly weak</strong> ➽ The vampires didn't show up till page 250+ and there was barely any worldbuilding prior that made sense to me. The story felt like a historical romance to me (don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with that, but the entire tagline of the book was VAMPIRES and<strong> if you promise a comeback of vampires and fantasy elements you need to deliver</strong>. The focus was much more on the romance and historical aspects, making the difference between advertising and story huge. I feel like many readers could be disappointed this way (myself included), as it seemed to me like the author didn't know the heart of her story.

<strong>In general, the story was slow-paced and not much happened</strong> ➽ Even after 50% of the book was over, there wasn't a fast-paced plot to be seen. The pacing was too slow and whenever an interesting more action-packed plot point happened, it quickly faded out into a slower pace again. Towards the last few pages that got better, but the majority of the story was dominated by a slow plot and almost nothing intriguing me to keep reading.

<strong>I didn't get what the main character saw in the second love interest</strong> ➽ I won't tell you who it is, but I felt like it was thrown in mainly to ensure some relationship angst between Sébastien and Celine. The second love interest acted patronizing towards Celine, thinking he 'knew what was best for her' (see: not trusting her to make her own decisions and not respecting her independence), yet she still couldn't let go of him. I guess he was set up as a foil for Sébastien, but his subtly controlling character wasn't something I could root for.

<strong>The characters had lots of unrealized potentials and I didn't connect to them</strong> ➽ Like I said in the beginning, I loved Pippa and Odette the most because their characters were intriguing and showed development. However, <strong>I found it hard to connect to Celine</strong>, because there was so much telling involved to allude to her background story and 'secret'. I'm not sure what to think of her character arc, as it utilized a sensitive issues (that might be triggering for some people) and constantly told us negative internalized thoughts about what I would call self-defense. I think the author wanted to show how Celine blamed herself because of the circumstances of the society she lived in and slowly realizing dark and light can exist in the same person. However, I still think her thought process and beliefs can be problematic to read depending on how you view them.<em><strong> I'm torn about that.</strong></em> Apart from that Celine had potential as a more snarky and bold lady, however, her stubborn pursuit of danger and lack of self-preservation when she meets Sébastien made me cringe. <strong>Sébastien himself was interesting and mysterious but I wish we had met him sooner</strong> because, in the end, I felt like he wasn't fleshed out enough to become a compelling character. The slow beginning and lack of character focus made the characters fall flat to me.

<strong>I also need to mention that about 50ish % through the story Bastien ended up having random POV's</strong> ➽ Why?? Until now we had Celine's POV and that of the antagonist, so I was all settled. Sébastien's POV's were confusing and so random that it aggravated me. I don't like sudden changes in the narrative without reason and if you have a story it should have a purpose and not make me write random three times in a paragraph.

Thank you to Netgalley, Reneè Ahdieh and Hoder & Stoughton for my arc of The Beautiful in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: New Orleans in 1872 is a city ruled by the dead. But for Celine Rosseau who is looking for an escape from Paris and the secrets she's desperate to leave behinds its the perfect refuge. Taken in to a convent to live until a 'suitable match' can be found for her. But she soon becomes embroiled in the city's dangerous underworld and the Court of Lions. As Celine dances with her attraction to the mysterious Sebastien Saint Germain girls begin getting murdered and soon it's clear there is a serial killer on the loose. As Celine gets closer to the truth she realises the killer may have her in his sights next and that he might even be the guy she's been falling for.

Ok so if this wasn't THE most annoying main character I have read in a long time. I didn't really go into this book with huge expectations. I liked Flame in the Mist but not Smoke in the Sun so my experience of Reneè's writing is very mixed. But this was something different, a vampire novel when vampire novels have been a bit out of fashion for a while now. But I'm not a massive vampire novel fan, again I'm kind of on the fence, I like True Blood and I liked the show of Vampire Diaries and The Originals. So no expectations in terms of being vampire novel crazy either.

Anyway, i went off on a tangent there but I just wanted to clarify that my disappointment wasn't spawned from the expectation of this being a 'typical' vampire novel (whatever that may be). I think it's probably easiest to bullet point my issues:
The main character Celine is super irritating. If you imagine Audrey Rose from the Stalking Jack the Ripper series and that attitude she has that she's some super feminist and also attractive. That's something I find mildly irritating, with Celine you need to magnify that by 10,000. Celine is a character who is more beautiful than anyone else. She is also 'fierce' but way too aware of that for it to be natural, she's always got to be pushing the boundaries. Which I'm all for a historical setting novel with a female character who isn't happy with the life she's been dealt just because she happens to not be Male, but she literally never shuts up about it. It's just taken to the extreme.



Off the back of that, this does not read like a historical setting. Reneè may as well not have bothered setting in a historical time because other than the issues with feminism it has no relevance at all.

Same goes for race. It's like Reneè took everything that we always say needs to be represented in a book and forced it all so that instead of looking like it's naturally supposed to be there it just looks like what it is, a desperate attempt to be inclusive of everyone. So yeah every single person we come across is either oppressed due to their gender, race (or mixed race as is the case with most) or sexuality.

It felt like it just copied so many other books and shows. Odette was 100% Rebekah Mikaelson, the Saint Germain name, the Court of Lions, so much of it was ripped off!


It was literally just so boring, nothing was happening, the writing was flat. The characters were unlikeable and annoying, and two dimensional

I was so excited to hear about this one and when I got the arc I was beyond hyped. Unfortunately it kind of fell flat for me. The writing style wasn’t my favourite & the story kind of dragged. It wasn’t the scary, unique vampire story I was expecting. It makes me sad to even give this such a low rating, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Renee Ahdieh’s duology, The Wrath and the Dawn, is one of my favorites of all times, so naturally I was eagerly anticipating getting back into the author’s magical writing and imagination. Unfortunately, if The Beautiful was entertaining as a whole, it didn’t quite held my attention the way I wished it to.

The Beautiful had a lot of potential: bringing back vampires, in New Orleans and with Renee Ahdieh’s stunning prose. Yet, I felt like all of the promises of the synopsis weren’t quite met, for me. Let’s start on the positives though: the writing is as beautiful as ever, the decors lush and beautifully written and, as I read, I felt transported by this New Orleans the author created. The cast of characters the author create is quite interesting, too and is carried by a complex main character struggling with getting over her past, with a deep desire to understand the supernatural events occuring.

My problem with The Beautiful was first with the pacing, that felt a little off and slow: the real, thrilling action takes quite a while to kickstart and, somehow, made the first half of the book feel… long. Once it did, I was carried away with the story and curious to see what would happen, but I wish it didn’t take that long to start. My second issue was with the characters: if I found them interesting, from Celine’s deep desire for power to the detective, to Bastien’s obvious charming, tall and brooding character, I just didn’t cross that line from “interesting” to “caring so deeply about them”.

Overall, The Beautiful is not a bad book: once it really gets started, it’s quite an entertaining read, it’s just a shame that it took so long to get started…. and isn’t properly finished, because there’s a sequel. I’d still recommend it if you like Renee Ahdieh’s lush writing and are a fan of vampires stories.

-Featuring vampires, forbidden romance and New Orleans

All the hype you've heard about The Beautiful, all the mentions of steamy enemies-to-lovers romance, the whispers in the dark about murder and balls…it's all true. Renée Ahdieh's next novel is sumptuous, gripping and heated - and the wait is finally over. Vampires are officially cool again.
I adore Renée Ahdieh. I read The Wrath and the Dawn almost a year ago and it absolutely blew me away with its rich prose and breathtaking world. I met Renée in July and she is literally the sweetest person in the world, so when an arc of The Beautiful arrived at my doorstep…I squealed.
One of my favourite things about Renée's writing is that she can make any setting come alive. With New Orleans as a background, you can be sure The Beautiful was rich in culture and world-building. I felt like I was with Celine amid the gilded houses and the dark streets where all kinds of creatures lurk, at luxurious parties and supping with the Court.
Celine was such an awesome heroine. She wasn't afraid to stand up for herself and her friends. She was determined and brave and beautiful. I loved seeing her character grow and change as she navigated her life after fleeing Paris. The side characters were just as great. Odette was glamourous and interesting, a star in her own right. It's my life goal to befriend her. Pippa was generous and kind, such a genuine and innocent character, I really appreciated that she didn't have to stab people and shout - not that I mind that - to show what a great person she was.
One downside of this book for me was that…I didn't really like Bastien. Don't @ me, I beg, but he was just such a typical YA hero that I felt pretty much nothing for him. I wanted to be swept away and fall in love like I know so many readers will, but I just, didn't and that really disappointed me.
The Beautiful was full of twists and turns, both unexpected and expected. I never knew quite where the plot was leading, where the killer would strike next, what Celine would do. It was pacey and enticing and I couldn't put this book down.
I loved the feeling that crawled up my spine as I read this book, that I was being watched by a pair of beautiful but deadly eyes that hid in the dark corners of the streets. I loved the mysterious snippets of narrative we got from the eyes of the villain, they really helped make this book unique and interesting.
Honestly, was this book cliché? Yes, absolutely. But I enjoyed it in all of its trope-y beauty, so I've got nothing to complain about.
Overall, The Beautiful was a sumptuous and magical book that swept me off my feet. It was elegant and lyrical, surprising and exciting. I would expect nothing less from Renée Ahdieh. I'd absolutely recommend this book to everyone who loves YA fantasy. What a revelation.

Oh wow this book! I was up until 2am reading this beauty because I could not put it down. This was my first book by Renèe Ahdieh and it will not be my last. Her writing was wonderful, the pace was great, and I am in love with pretty much everything about this book including that cover 😍

Celine is a young woman running from her past, reckless, desperate for adventure, and completely loveable. I adored her! Her budding friendship with Pippa was very sweet and the two bounced off each other well.

Our first encounter with La Cour des Lions had my dark heart soaring in preparation for what was to come. Bastien was sharp as a knife and it was no wonder young women would gladly cut themselves to get closer, including Celine. The tension between the two of them was an agonising delight!

I liked the inclusion of the Detective. A different character to Bastien, less likeable, but I think my view on that may change in the next book.

The only irritation for me was the way the characters were sometimes referred to as boys and girls and sometimes men and women. I think there needs to be a defined distinction here because they didn’t act like boys and girls. They were young men and women so using those nouns grated on me a bit.

I will also say it was not a typical vampire novel like I was expecting, in fact the vampire element was very mild. However, this did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying the story. And that ending! How will I wait until next summer for book two?


With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I got this ARC because I found the blurb intriguing even if New Orleans+vampires usually means Anne Rice to me.
This means I was also a bit wary because it could have been something similar to Vampire Chronicles.
I was wrong because the author was able to write a novel set in New Orleans with vampires and making something original, well written and gripping.
It's a dark book, dark and atmospheric, gripping and entertaining.
I loved her descriptions of New Orleans as much as I loved the fleshed out cast of characters and the world building.
It's an amazing and very pleasant read, highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The story, indeed, is filled with cliche tropes and I’m not talking about Vampires. I don’t care if Vampires are in thousand paranormal books. I’m fine with them but the thing about The Beautiful is the plot’s filled with tropes. Let’s see, a young lady fleeing to another country from a horrible past, a mysterious Court with mysterious people in it, one of the said mysterious people would be so BEAUTIFUL that our young lady would be pulled and soon, she’s in their world and in danger. You probably know what the rest is.

The mystery and suspense surrounding the killer — this is a murder mystery — were not enough to amp up the story and the reveal wasn’t also that surprising. But I can’t say the mystery and suspense is badly done, IT IS NOT. If you’ve read The Wrath and the Dawn by this author, you’d know, Ahdieh is a great storyteller. It’s just that, in this book, I felt like I already read this before. But I can say, I was more concerned in the mystery of Celine’s past. That’s what kept me reading.

On a brighter side, the tropes that this book has are the ones that most of the readers love so I believe this will work to some, if not most, readers. And all the clicheness became understandable upon reading the author’s Acknowledgement at the end of the book. This idea have been alive ever since she was a teenager and a fan of Anne Rice.

The atmosphere though is quite good. I know, I know I said the mystery and suspense were not enough to amp up the story but I also said it’s not badly done and the atmosphere I’m referring here is New Orleans itself. I can’t explain it but there’s something about New Orleans that just by hearing or reading it, I felt like it’s dark and there’s something (or someone) sinister lurking in the shadows, waiting to grab me around the corner. I haven’t been there in real life but you know what I mean. One more thing to note about the atmosphere and setting is this is Historical – 1872. But I didn’t feel that that much. I was actually picturing a modern New Orleans. Not a 2019-New Orleans but more modern than 1872.

The Romance. I think by now it’s obvious it’s also something most of us have already read before so I have nothing much to say about it. Forbidden Romance, of course. The main characters, Celine and Bastien, are interesting though. They’re characters were cliche but like I said, cliche that most of us love. Celine is different from other women being bold and spirited. She wanted to fit in the society though but like Bastien said, she’s a lion so that’s hard. And Bastien is the most beautiful man, rougish and devilish. So I think I do like these characters. The side characters were good enough but no one I can say unforgettable. I had high hopes with the “found family trope” but it wasn’t so grand.

And oh the dialogues are sometimes cliche too. There are dialogues such as “I thought you’ll never ask” or “You should’ve run away when you had a chance” and so many more. But I read an ARC from Netgalley so these quotes might have been changed.

Finally, and this is the most beautiful part, is the ENDING. I love the promise of the ending that really made me want to read the next book. And I will. This isn’t the first book that ahs and ending like that but oh my God, I love it. I love it so much. So overall, this isn’t a bad book, don’t let the ratings on Goodreads put you off from reading a new Vampire story. Don’t even let my meager rating discourage you. I only gave it 3 stars because it is trope-y and trope-y books are not so grand for me.

I’ve never read any Renee Ahdieh books before but got very intrigued by The Beautiful as vampires were a huge part of my reading experience when I was younger.

In this book we follow Céline, a Parisian girl who travels to New Orleans to escape her past. But quickly enough, she gets tangled up in a murder investigation and befriends a crowd of strange people - one of which is our mysterious brooding Sébastien.

(I think we all agree I should stop trying to write synopsis because it is official - I suck at it.)

Alright, so, the Beautiful is a typical YA vampire book in the sense that everything can be predicted pretty easily. The story is okay although very slow and not much happens for a 400 pages book. The ending does make it all a bit better but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth because of how very expected it was.

Moreover, I do want to mention that the whole book goes on and on about the Brotherhood and the Fallen and whatever else without ever explaining what all of it is - you do end up figuring it out on your own but it annoyed me to no end that it was never explained properly and that we were left putting all the pieces together.

When it comes to the characters, I can say that they are okay-ish although very bland. Our MC keeps thinking of herself as the worst because of what she did in Paris (view spoiler) but is very fierce and stubborn which I liked. Our main guy, Bastien, is our very typical bad boy that falls in love in 3 days and would die for our MC. I did really enjoy the tension between Céline and Bastien but individually there’s not a lot to say about them.
I liked Odette the best though.

The setting of The Beautiful is pretty nice as New Orleans will forever be a city shrouded in mystery and magic. However, I found the historical aspect of the book quite useless. I didn’t see any particular reasons as to why the book has to take place in 19th century America rather than today - even more so when you see issues such as racism and LGBTQ+ mentioned and dealt with in a manner that is very specific to today rather than the 19th century.

To conclude I can say that The Beautiful is an okay book that could give us a sequel that could get really interesting although I don’t have very high expectations for it - especially with that love triangle coming our way lol.

Critically acclaimed, bestselling American-Korean fantasy writer Renée Ahdieh returns with an accomplished new novel. The Beautiful, the beginning of a new series set in 1872 New Orleans. Victorian-era Orleans is a beguiling, enchanted place and is definitely the star of the show here but the hotchpotch of different characters also make this so alluring. It centres around forbidden romance between protagonist Celine Rousseau and immortal vampire Sebastien. There are times when it feels more than a little forced, however, but luckily these are few and far between, and on the whole it's a believable and passionate narrative. It's hardly the most original of concepts. That said, it is a quick-witted, fun and has a little of something to please everyone.

It's multifaceted with many layers that reveal themselves seductively on and on. Those who enjoyed Ahdieh's previous fantasies will most likely not be disappointed as we flirt with danger on the mean streets. The vibrancy of New Orleans is described in lush detail that you could almost taste the tastes and smell the scents. Ahdieh also explores the complicated racial and gender norms of the time in an authentic and straightforward manner for readers of all ages. This epic tale mixes murder-mystery, adventure and paranormal in a way that works. I look forward to the second instalment in this light and entertaining, new and very promising series. The perfect page-turner for spooktober. Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC.

The Beautiful was hyped up to be THE vampire book of 2019, the return of the vampire era. What it ended up being for me was a disappointment.

The Beautiful is set in New Orleans at the end of the 1800s and that is just a beautiful setting in itself. New Orleans has one of the best vibes for magical and supernatural beings and it doesn’t require too much work from the author. Which kind of showed. I mean, we got a lot of society things and in the background mardi gras. But I didn’t feel New Orleans be its own entity like I have in other books that focused on this city. A lot of the prose focused on the main character’s inner monologue instead of on its surroundings.

It showed in the build up and the story. It was slow and I felt I could never get away from Celine’s inner monologue of how dark she was on the inside and how different she was of these pious ladies around her. Because yes of course she was different from the other girls. I’ll be honest and say that I started skimming those sections because I grew bored with her. I don’t mind a unlikeable main character but at least others don’t like them than either. In this case everyone was about ready to drop to their knees and proclaim how beautiful she was and how witty, smart and great. Of course every handsome non gentleman to her eyes, swooned at her every glance. Enter me puking.

Safe to say is that the romance couldn’t capture me either. I mean there was clear chemistry on the page but I just don’t understand how they went from disliking each other to wanting to shove their tongue down each other’s troth in the space of a few pages. At least it took a while for it to actually happen, but I just couldn’t believe the attachment they had to each other.

There is also one more bit that bothered me and that is the vampires. It isn’t revealed until the end that they are vampires even though we all know before going into this book it is about vampires so that was a bit of a dead thing at the end there. But also these vampires can kind of come out during the day. That is how they met the first one. So how do these vampires work? No explanation was there for that. Nobody wondered about it.

I did however quite like the friendship between Pippa and Celine, more from Pippa’s side but that might not surprise you. Pippa is a loyal friend. Celine does not deserve her.

I knew me and this book were not going to get along when the love interest was introduced. Sorry, when the first love interest was introduced. Because it’s a typical “incredibly handsome young man (who we are contractually obliged to mention is incredibly handsome every time he’s brought up) treats the female mc like shit and yet she falls for him”. But don’t worry! He has a tragic backstory to excuse it all!

I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Beautiful is about Celine, who flees Paris having murdered her attempted rapist and gets on a boat to New Orleans, to join a convent. Once in New Orleans, she meets Odette, who asks her to make her a dress (because Celine is a seamstress). On the way to a meeting with Odette to take measurements, Celine interrupts a man’s savage beating in an alleyway, only to find out that the perpetrator (Sebastien) is a friend of a sort of Odette’s. Sebastien being the aforementioned “incredibly handsome young man”. Meanwhile, there are a spate of killings in New Orleans, ones which seem to target Celine.

Let me start with what I liked about this book (mostly because it won’t take a whole lot of time). As ever, Ahdieh’s worldbuilding and writing is wonderfully evocative and creates a beautiful dark world. Ordinarily, I would love it. And Celine! I adored her as a main character (except when we’re talking her and Bastien or her and Michael. Talk to me about her and Odette though…). This book also has that easy kind of diversity that never feels like it’s shoehorned in. So basically, the worldbuilding and the majority of the characters is what I liked about this book.

But, obviously, that’s not enough to keep a book going.

Like I said at the start, my major gripe about this book was Sebastien. Maybe I’ve got past the point where I can accept the trope he exemplifies, it irritates me too much. I don’t think he’s a particularly awful example of it, in the grand scheme of things, but that doesn’t make him any less an irritating example. If you think about it, love interests who are absolute wankers to the main character but then show some vulnerability or some tragic backstory to suggest they are redeemable or whatever, and that the main character can love them, are just a natural extension of women being expected to “fix” men or somehow make them better people. And I’m so so tired of reading that. I can’t cope with it any more, so any book that invokes this trope, unless it pulls it apart (think Empire of Sand, where the love interest has a tragic backstory but is still gentle and loving, or The Silvered Serpents, where awful behaviour isn’t excused like that), is automatically rated down from me.

So maybe the remainder of my dislikes about this book wouldn’t have annoyed me so much if I hadn’t already had to put up with this. I’ll cop to that. It’s a reasonable assumption.

Firstly, I had questions about this plot. It’s called a murder mystery, but there’s no actual investigating, besides by Michael, completely off the page. It’s more like, Celine realises she’s the one the murderer is interested in and sets herself up as bait, and woops! There’s the mystery solved! It’s actually more like a romance but with a side storyline of a murder mystery. Which would be fine, if it was marketed like that. But I just feel cheated of my murder mystery (favourite genre and all). Plus there are plotholes because of that. Namely, why does the murderer pick on Celine. Granted I may have missed something because I was skimming the murderer’s POV chapters (pet peeve of mine is being able to see into the murderer’s thoughts while the mystery is going on because all too often it spoils who the murderer is for you). But it seems a pretty large question to leave unanswered.

My final complaints are mostly about the romance. Okay, so we get a lesbian side character, but all that really leads me to conclude is that Odette/Celine is the god-tier ship in this whole mess. Not Michael/Celine, not Bastien/Celine. Those are both boring. Give me lesbians or nothing. Instead there’s a really awkward scene where Odette says she’s a lesbian and Celine does that straight girl thing of assuming that means Odette is coming onto her. God I wish she had been, given the options for the other romances. Might have avoided a love triangle in it and all.

By the time, all the big reveals at the end came around, I was just too bored to be excited by them. I very very briefly felt like I might want to read the second book, but that was snuffed out when I read the blurb of book two (“their love could tear them apart” give me strength). And when you find out the actual reason Michael and Bastien hate each other (besides “because of course they do”)? Well. Enjoy.

So, in the end, I felt less like I had read an homage to Anne Rice, and more like I’d just reread Twilight but transplanted into 1872 New Orleans.