My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an eARC via NetGalley of Renée Ahdieh’s ‘The Beautiful’ in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited by the synopsis of this book as I love historical fiction, vampires and the rich culture of New Orleans. Like the author I had been totally caught up in the world of Anne Rice’s ‘Vampire Chronicles’. Yet it just didn’t work for me.

The main protagonist is 17-year old Celine Rousseau, who has fled her previous life as an apprentice dressmaker in Paris and traveled to New Orleans. Initially she stays at an Ursuline convent though soon falls in with a mysterious group known as the Court of Lions led by Sèbastien St. Germain, nephew to the mysterious Le Comte de St. Germain. Then the body of one of the other young women that traveled with Celine turns up - mutilated! It’s the first of a number of gruesome deaths. In addition, Celine is tormented by a secret from her past.

Despite my enthusiasm for the concept I had quite serious reservations with this novel, even keeping in mind that it is intended for a YA readership. I am the first to admit that I tend to be critical when historical novels are anachronistic to this degree.

Yes, I completely understand the appeal of setting it in 1872 New Orleans yet there was very little sense of the period apart from fashion and decor. It really seemed as though modern day characters had been plopped into the setting like time travellers who weren’t particularly worried about whether they fit in. Where was the etiquette, the decorum?

‘The Beautiful’ also tended towards the melodramatic with lashings of purple prose. Celine is constantly referred to as the most beautiful woman ever and we hear over and over about Sèbastien’s looks.

I did seek to put aside my concerns but I just found the characters so unconvincing. Celine was almost a parody of the plucky heroine and incredibly self-absorbed. Her behaviour at a Midsummer’s Night Dream themed party was so snobbish as she petulantly remarked: “Have any of these fools actually read the play?” Lighten up woman!

Then there is Police Detective Michael Grimaldi, who is supposed to be the best detective in the Metropolitan Police, yet is described as being only several years older than Celine. Sure that’s believable... He then of course falls under Celine’s spell. Yet he is pretty much regulated to the friends-zone as Celine and Sèbastien have fallen in insta-love. Is it a requirement that all YA vampire fiction has a love triangle?

However, I didn’t abandon it and carried on reading. Despite my frustrations with the lack of world building and weak characterisation I did get quite caught up in the story towards the conclusion.

I expect that I will be in the minority and it could just be that it is a novel meant to appeal to a young readership.

I am interested in how things play out and hoping that the concept of the Sylvan Vale/Wyld is explored rather than just teased. So I likely will read the sequel but approach with much lower expectations.

So it is receiving 2.5 stars from me, rounded up to 3 for the conclusion.

Wow. This was better than expected....

The whole vampire craze had subsided, but I'm glad its been resurrected because this was a really entertaining read!

It started off a little slow, but picked up along the way. I liked the characters and always love Renée Ahdieh's writing! Cannot wait to read more from her!


Highly recommend!

The Beautiful was one of my most anticipated book releases of the year. I absolutely love vampires and I was ready for their return to YA. Unfortunately, this book was a complete letdown and I'm so disappointed.

The premise of the book intrigued me immediately but the actual plot turned out to be pretty boring. While I enjoy a slow-paced plot, this book was way too slow-paced because nothing really happened. I wouldn't have had a problem with the slow pace if the book had focused on the character building and giving them some depth. But these characters were complete cliches and had absolutely no depth at all. Until the very end, I did not really understand the characters, and I felt like I barely knew anything at all about them. Because of how flat and one-dimensional these characters were, I was also unable to connect to any of them. The best and most interesting character was Odette.

For a vampire book, there was surprisingly little vampire action. They were present in this book but it was never really confirmed until the very end which annoyed me. I wish it had been addressed a lot earlier because then this topic could've been fleshed out a lot more. This way, three-quarter of the book felt like a set up for the sequel which made the book extremely boring. Every time I picked the book up it bored me so much that I got sleepy. The pace only picked up during the last 50 pages and those were probably the best thing about this whole book. These pages are also the only reason why I would consider picking up the sequel but it's very unlikely to happen.
I personally also don't know why this book has to be set in 1872. This added nothing to the story. With how modern the characters were the story could've easily been set in 2019. The atmosphere of 1872 New Orleans was also never noticeable.

One thing I also don't think was necessary is the potential love triangle. We have Celine, then the cliche bad boy Sébastien and the good guy Michael. There is obvious tension between Celine and Sébastien but Michael was also constantly present and it felt like a set up for a potential love triangle.

While I was bored for the most part of the book there were still two things I enjoyed about this book. The villain's POV was a lot of fun. I think next to the last 50 pages it was what I liked the most about this book because this way there was a little bit of suspense present in this otherwise boring book.
The last thing I enjoyed was the diversity. There are a lot of characters BPoC characters and if I remember correctly there is also a lesbian character.

To conclude, I had high hopes for this book, even if I never read a book by the author before. I had hoped Renée Ahdieh would put a twist on the classic/cliche YA Vampire story but unfortunately, she didn't. It may not be relying as much on romance, but the book is still full of cliches and flat characters. This book is definitely a disappointment for me and I don't think I will read the sequel.

I really was so excited for this, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. I found it very boring, slow-paced and the romance hit too close to insta-love for my tastes. I had hoped the villain would be a saving grace, but alas. I was also very confused at the lack of vampires considering it’s been marketed as a vampire book. On a positive note, Ahdieh’s writing style is as beautiful as ever, but unfortunately not enough to save the rest of the disappointing elements.

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh was the first book by this author that I've read and it certainly won't be the last. Set in New Orleans this is a vampire story, unlike any others. There's a serial killer on the loose and he is after 17-year-old Celine. What's more, Celine finds herself caught up in a feud between the vampires.

The description had me hooked and I couldn't wait to start this. I love vampire stories and this one didn't disappoint. It's not cliche and the characters are well written and fully formed. The plot has been well thought out and the ending is superb. The writing itself is beautiful and filled with vivid imagery that will have you falling into the pages of this story. I can't wait for the next book.

A luscious historical fantasy, The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh takes the reader back to New Orleans in 1872, where we follow the adventures of several young new arrivals to the city, most notably Celine Rousseau, a young Parisian who has crossed the Atlantic to hide from a terrible event in her past. While temporarily living in a convent she makes friends with several other girls in a similar situation, but increasingly finds herself drawn to the darker side of the city's elite , most notably the enigmatic, charismatic and dangerous Sebastien Saint Germain and his associates, known to the locals as La Coeur des Lions. When the body of one of the young girls from the convent is found with her throat torn out in the lair of La Coeur, Celine suspects that Sebastien may be involved but still she finds herself irresistibly drawn to him despite the objections of the Sisters at the convent and his autocratic and aristocratic Uncle who sees Sebastien's developing feelings for Celine as a weakness that could be exploited all to easily by his enemies. As the body count mounts it seems like Celine has found herself in the middle of an ancient feud involving some of the most dangerous creatures of the Underworld.
Part paranormal romance, part murder mystery, this was a really well crafted book that managed to balance both genres in a very pleasing manner. I loved how determined and feisty Celine was, and how she was not willing to put up with the limitations imposed on her simply because of her gender, but was always willing to fight for those she cared about and for what she believed was right, even when the odds seemed insurmountable . The members of La Coeur des Lions were an interesting bunch, and I look forward to spending more time with them as the series continues, and we learn more about the ongoing feud. In her end notes the author mentions her love of the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles, and that love is definitely evident here, the book feels like something of an homage , but in a very enjoyable way., The author does a wonderful job of setting the scene in New Orleans, and I liked the pacing of the book, The less said about the ending the better, all I will say is that I need to know more and soon.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

*I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review*

I've been highly anticipating this book for the past few months and I am so glad to say that it did not disappoint. It has been a while since I have read a Vampire book and I had forgot how much I loved them though I do wish we had got to see more from the Vampires in this but hopefully they will play a bigger part in the sequel.

This book follows Celine who has travelled across the Atlantic from Paris with serval other young ladies under the patronage of a convent and is fleeing from her past. Once she arrives in Paris she is pulled into the glamorous world of la Cour des Lions, the Court of Lions and is particularly drawn to the young heir Sébastien Saint Germain. However not all is what is seems with the Court and this becomes all the more complicated when Celine becomes the target of a mysterious killer.

Celine is a very strong character who refuses to let others shape her future and I really loved that about her. I also love the strong female friendships that she builds with Pippa another girl at the Convent and Odette a member of the court. Sébastien is your typical mysterious YA hero but like Celine there is something about him that draws you in and you can't help but root for him and Celine. I also enjoyed that we got several chapters from his point of view. And lastly we also get the point of view of the killer which I really enjoyed and feel added another layer to the book.

New Orleans is the perfect setting for a vampire novel and Renée Ahdieh has done a wonderful job of creating a spooky and mysterious atmosphere. Her writing really draws you in brings the setting to live around you making it feel as if you really are there alongside Celine.

This book is also extremely diverse both racially and sexually.

There were only a couple of things plot wise that I wasn't so keen on however, I won't go into them here as they would be spoilers but I am interested in seeing how these are dealt with in the next book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to seeing how the story progresses. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

'Rage is a moment, regret is forever'

From the moment I heard about this book I have been popping the party poppers all over the place. Vampires are back, I couldn't be happier, there has been a severe lack of vampires these past few years, completely run over by zombies but those hiding in the shadows are finally stepping out.

I rate books based on how much I enjoyed them, whether they are well researched or well written is not my bag, I read for enjoyment and I'm heartbroken to say I didnt enjoy this one. I couldn't connect with anyone, not a single sentence engaged me and it was so slow going my attention span wasnt holding.

I am giving this book one star because it ended as believe me there were times I thought it never would.

I am sorry Renée, I really am.

Don't be put off fellow readers, as with every book review it's always a case of 'it's not you its me'.

When I first heard about this book I found myself getting excited at the prospect of having a new YA series with vampires at its core. Then the early reviews started to come in and I found myself getting nervous at the mixed reviews. I love Renée Ahdieh and absolutely adored her Wrath and The Dawn duology so I knew I had to give this book a go and ignore what everyone else was saying.

I’m glad I did.

I really enjoyed The Beautiful and found myself completely captivated by this historical YA novel. This is a thrilling and atmospheric read where Ahdieh’s way with words finds you transported to the larger than life city of New Orleans. This book features an extremely diverse cast which I thoroughly enjoyed and loved!

I found myself really liking Celine and how brave she is, even if at times she’s incredibly reckless. She’s made a lot of sacrifices in her life and I couldn’t help but love her endearing she was. I loved her friendship with Pippa, who is the most loyalist of friends, and I soon found myself loving the slow burn romance between her and Bastien.

For me it was hard to really grasp Bastien and his characteristic as this book is mainly told in Celine’s perspective so everything you learn about him is what she has perceived. I would have liked to have read from Bastien’s point of view just to get a clearer insight of who he is.

This book did however fall flat for me in a couple of places. The first being that I felt like this book has been heavily marketed as being the re-birth of vampires in YA books. However, I felt that that book severely lacked vampire presence and can only hope that Adhieh touches on more in the next book!

Another minor issue I had with this book was the lack of translation for some of the dialogue. As I was reading this as an e-arc I don’t know if the physical book will have anything at the end but I found that there were sentences in French which weren’t translated and honestly found myself a bit confused as other sentences had previously been. Again, a minor issue and something that I would need to review once I have a physical copy of the book.

Overall this was a highly enjoyable read and I cannot wait for the next book in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Not going to lie, I've been wanting more YA vampire books. I feel like Twilight killed vampire lit, which is such a shame because vampires are my favourite supernatural creatures. So, when I heard about The Beautiful I was beyond excited.

The Beautiful was everything I wanted in a vampire book - the setting was perfect, the characters layered and interesting, and the romance was slow burn and full of chemistry!

The plot was full of twists and turns and very atmospheric. The mc was headstrong and easy to root for, and her love interest was very intriguing.

All in all, an amazing read!

What can I say, Renee has blown it out the park again. I absolutely loved it, I’m a huge fan of the Wrath and the Dawn so I went into this nervously as I was so scared it wouldn’t be as good. Why thehell did I worry, it took a little while to warm up but a quarter of the way in I knew without doubt this was classic Renée at her best. It’s enthralling, it’s feels so long it feels since YA has had vampires and hopefully this will make them popular again. I love that Renée writes such empowered females that are flawed, human and so very realistic and inspiring. None of those unbelievable superwomen here, just realistically strong, I have a past amazing characters. No spoilers, but after that end there has to be more, right ? Please !

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I know there has been A LOT of hype about this book, would I call it a vampire book?
Probably not, no.
I did enjoy the story, and the writing was good, however I would be concerned people may walk away from this feeling they got something a little different than what they anticipated.
That aside, I’d still say it’s a great book

It feels very fitting that the first ARC I ever review is the book that ticks so many of my boxes. Vampires, New Orleans and morally grey characters? Its like the book was written for me. Thank you very much to NetGalley for approving me for the ARC and allowing me to read this book for review purposes.

It's 1872 and Celine Rousseau is fleeing to New Orleans. Abandoning her life in Paris as an accomplished dress maker she takes refuge in an Ursuline convent as she restarts her life among her fellow society sisters. What first seems to be a city of decadence and luxury quickly shows itself to be run by something entirely darker. Who are the Court of Lions? And what connection do they have to the murders that have began to plague the city?

I thoroughly enjoyed the world woven by the author. The sheer glamour of New Orleans is captivating and I love how real the city feels as the novel goes on. The descriptions of the clothes, the food and the parades are so immersive and I could even feel the humidity described in the city. The location was important and I really felt it was written very well.

Overall we have a wonderful cast of characters. Celine is fanastic protagonist with a stubborn streak and an even sharper tongue. Her interactions with the male characters are the best since she refuses to be treated as anything but an equal to them. She is educated, she is stubborn and she doesn't care about what you think of her. The female friendships gave me a lot of hope for future YA books in the genre and especially for representation. There are many characters of colour in this book and some very worthwhile discussions are brought up.

Now we have to talk about the vampires. The creatures of the night. The undead. One of the issues I did have with the book over all was how there is no confirmation or presence of what I consider vampires until at least half way through the book. I feel like the vampire aspect of the book is pushed very heavily in marketing and is not a big part of the story. This will definitely change I think in future books but for this one be aware.

The other issue I had with the book is the pacing of the plot. Where I went into this expecting a dark, gothic stort with vampires, a murder mystery all taking place in a convent I got more of a feel that this was a murder mystery with a romance. And some vampires later on. The first half of the book is definitely a lot slower than the second which is far better but I do think this book is a good foundation for what is going to be a more expanded world overall.

Overall this is a highly enjoyable that starts off slow but definitely deilvers in the end. The writing is intoxicating with some wonderful characters but definitely is lite on vampires if like me, thats what you came for. It's still a book I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys books like The Diviners.

"I've heard many people say tragedy shapes us, Bastein continued. But I am not the worst thing that's ever happened to me, nor am I the worst thing I've ever done. Nothing in life is that simple."

I really enjoyed reading The Beautiful for the most part. Set in New Orleans, this is a story of Celine, who after escaping from her dark past in Paris has fled to America in hopes of a new beginning. However, Celine soon finds herself entangled in the glitz of the New Orlean's society and with the mysterious leader of the city's underground world, Sebastian St. Germain. When bodies drained of blood starts appearing around the city and Celine herself is threatened by the monster lurking in the shadows, she takes it upon herself to find the culprit behind these gruesome murder.

The Beautiful is a very atmospheric and thrilling read. This is my first time reading a Renée Ahdieh book and I loved her writing style, the descriptive and engaging prose gave the city of New Orleans an extremely decadent and authentic vibe and brought it to life in all its glory and debauchery. Honestly, the plot isn't something new or unique but the murder and mystery that shrouds it feels so sinister and intriguing that I was hooked from the beginning to the end in search for answers.

Additionally, I loved all the characters, Celine is definetly my favourite, she is resilient, brave, intelligent and caring but also carries with her just a little bit of darkness. I especially liked her relationship with Pippa and Odette. Bastien, on the other hand, is the tortured hero with a dark past, we don't get much insight into his thoughts but I am intrigued by him nonetheless. I don't really care about Michael's character because let's be fair and we all know it, that he is just a distraction. Also, he kinda irritated me at times with his over protectiveness.

However, despite the awesome prose, somewhere I felt that I needed more from the plot especially with respect to the history of this Paranormal world. There have been vague mentions of terms like "Brotherhood" and "Fallen" but much of it was not explained. Plus, the whole Vampire thing and the court of lion stuff was wrapped in so much mystery until the end that it became bothersome for me and by the time I finished reading the book, I was left me with more questions about the world and its various other charcters.

Like I have mentioned above, I think that the plot could have really done well with more chapters from Sebastien's perspective instead of the inner monologue of the Villian, who keeps on repeating the same things in all of his/her chapters and honestly, it just gets boring after the first few times. You want revenge, ya ok, I get it. I think that because Bastein's POV wasn't very prominent it also impacted the romance development between Celine and Bastein. I don't know, the romance just felt a little bland. There is one promising scene but it was too little for me. May be it's just me but I needed more interaction and tension between the two of them.

Overall, The Beautiful was an interesting read for me, it wasn't mindblowing but it wasn't bad either. I definetly want to read the second book especially what with that explosive ending. I need more of Sebastien and more of Vampires though!

"For quite sometime now, I've thought sin isn't black and white as they'd like us to believe, She replied in a penseive tone. I sippose there are times in which sin lies in the eyes of the beholder."

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this early.
This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and all though it fell a little flat I still really enjoyed this book and the only reason it fell flat for me personally is that it had so much potential to be darker then it actually was.
I loved the main character Celine, how she was strong and how she never backed down from anything even in difficult situations. I can understand why this book has mixed reviews but I looked past them and as for that this book for me was a great read and has so much potential for a second book. I feel if there is going to be a second book it will be amazing.
I give this book 4 stars

I was looking for more vampires and this book did not deliver on that note. I liked the fact that the story takes place in New Orleans and i still really enjoy Renée Ahdieh's writing.

Firstly I have to say that this book was really good it isn’t the best book in the world but I enjoyed reading this book. I know that it has been given a few mixed reviews and from reading them I definitely can see where they are coming from... because when I started reading this book I was like woah this is not what I expected it to be like as it was definitely put differently to me through people speaking of the book and synopsis. It wasn’t the perfect book has it definitely has lots of flaws but overall I really enjoyed this book and The main character is a very cool character. A lot different to what I expected but overall I enjoyed it. Throughout the book we get some very awesome scenes between the two main characters and love how badass Celine is and how she doesn’t back down from anything and will show anyone who tests her that they are messing with the wrong woman 🙌🏻🙌🏻.
I’ve got to say I’m very excited for the sequel and feel that it’s definitely going to be better than the first one already especially with how the ending was made and I just need to know what happens next with these characters especially Celine.

One thing that I didn’t really like was I was expecting it to be so much darker and darker, it definitely had its moment of dark but didn’t have much as wanted, with a few scenes I was Like oooo okay this is atmospheric but then it would change back after 10 pages or so to back to how it was before.

As I’ve said before this book was really good and was an enjoyable read, I flew through it so quick and was mostly impressed just had wished it was even darker and more vampire moments as I thought it would be all throughout.

3.5/4 out of 5 stars

I’ve seen this book shared a lot, so was thrilled to have the opportunity to read this via Netgalley.

Celine is a young French lady of mixed heritage which has been kept a secret for her societal status. She was an apprentice to a atelier in Paris before an unfortunate incident which meant she had to flee France for America.

She arrives to New Orleans on a boat and is taken in by a convent. Here she must learn how to be a proper young lady in order to find a proper young man.

Alas, as these stories go. It doesn’t go quite to plan. A young woman is brutally murdered not long after their arrival and tensions are high.

Haunted by her own actions in Paris, she feels naturally drawn to the dark side of things. Selling some handkerchiefs she made, she encounters a lady called Odette who insists that Celine makes her a gown for the ball. Alongside her friend from the convent Pippa, they meet Odette at a restaurant. It is here that she realises that things aren’t quite what they appear and the inhabitants of the restaurant have secrets of their own.

She becomes embroiled in the city's glamorous underworld, enchanted by La Cour des Lions and catching the eye of the leader, Sébastien Saint Germain. It is while she’s at the restaurant that a young woman from their convent is found brutally murdered.

Celine takes it upon herself to find the murderer. She suspects Bastian for the murders but finds that she is attracted to him and can’t turn her thoughts away from him.

A third murder brings terror to the residents of New Orleans and Celine soon finds out that she is being targeted by the mysterious murderer. Celine decides to try and trap the murderer, only to find herself embroiled in a centuries long fued between the creatures of the night.

OH THIS STORY!

Between Bastian and the little nuggets of French throughout the book, I am in love. It’s sultry, romantic, thrilling and I didn’t want it to end.

I can’t wait to take a bite out of the next book!

Thank you Renée!

2.5 stars

Renee Ahdieh's books can be a bit hit and miss for me, a constant fight between how engaging the plot is and how frustrating I find the prose. Usually, the plot wins and I find myself pulled along. Unfortunately, this plot didn't capture my attention and I battled my way through this book.

My main problem was the lack of tension - romantic or plot. Why? Because the characters would drop everything to banter wittily, except I couldn't feel any chemistry between them for it to be witty. The formal - and not so formal - digging at one another got on my nerves.

Because my attention was straying, I found the end so very hard to follow. Stuff... happens and the reveal of the villain (and the arch villain) felt very unsatisfying. I didn't care about the cast (an honestly, other than Pippa, Bastien and Odette, they felt very underdeveloped), so discovering which one was a villain was just *shrugs* eh. As for the arch villain, it came too out of the blue for me to be shocked. I was actually confused at first, thinking it was someone else (which would have been interesting but non-nonsensical).

And then independent Celine makes a life-changing decision over a boy. The whole time, she (and the others) talk about her being stubborn. But I hadn't felt the romance between them, not enough to care, so it felt a little pointless.

The prose had that same, somewhat stilted feeling I really struggled with in FLAME IN THE MIST. What was worse was that it felt like I had my hand held, being told exactly what the paragraph before had implied.

At the beginning, Celine is holding back her big shocking piece of information, but in a very unsubtle way. Every few pages, she referred to this secret without saying anything. It was so constant that I wanted to shake her until she either said it (to spare me having to hear about it any more) or would shut up about it.

There are also other POVs. The main one, occasionally dropping in, is the villain. It's so formal, so stilted and archaic. I simply wanted to skip those chapters. They're meant to impress a sense of dread (and maybe sympathy for the villain?). I was irritated by the "don't judge me; I'm not as evil as you think" tone.

Bastien has maybe three chapters, the first at 45%, and very erratically throughout. His first chapter added nothing other than make me dislike him. His uncle gets one of the final chapters, which felt rather odd.

The world, however, is very vivid, but unfortunately wasn't enough to keep my attention.

After being stuck in a reading slump throughout August, this book was just the thing I needed. From the moment I picked it up I was hooked, falling in love with the setting and New Orleans just as Celine was. Keep on reading for my review, but I would suggest getting comfy ’cause it’s kind of loooong…

Told in third person, The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh is split into three perspectives. Whilst we are primarily told the story through Celine’s eyes, we see briefly from Bastien’s an also an unknown ‘monster’s’, with English, French and brief Spanish dotted throughout.

The Beautiful featured an extremely diverse cast, with characters of varying sexualities and ethnicities. Celine is half French and half Asian (though it isn’t specified exactly), Bastien is of French and Spanish descent and we also see individuals from England, Spain, India, Scotland and more. Odette, another member of the Court of Lions and a good friend of Bastien’s is a lesbian who as well as enjoying finery and beautiful gowns likes to wear suits, bucking the trends and reminding me greatly of Gentleman Jack!

Celine was a great and compelling protagonist. She was endearing and admirable which were a great combination to read about. Despite being attracted to Bastien, and New Orleans, she isn’t quick to just swoon and comply. Her individuality and strength in the face of many adversities meant that I never got bored of reading about her. I could practically hear her shouting “F*CK THE PATRIARCHY!”

Bastien was just *chefs kiss*. Despite coming across like a bit of an ‘alpha male’, I did get the impression that he is quite the feminist. He considers the fact that men could have sexual relationships with no consequences bu women were shunned and looked down upon. I did feel that Bastien was supposed to be lethal but we didn’t really see much of that. The descriptions felt very reminiscent of Kaz Brekker minus the danger and threat, but I’m thinking that this may come into play in the next book!

The slow burn romance in The Beautiful was just. so. good. It was a kind of enemies to friends to lovers (but not quite!) situation and it kept me hooked throughout – there was just the perfect amount of angst which you know I love. At the beginning, during one of their first encounters, Bastien says coolly “I don’t give a f*ck” and like, that phrase has never sounded better??? There were lots of my favourite tropes included too, like Bastien protecting Celine’s body with his own to hide him from view (not a spoiler) and I just live for that shit.

I really loved the relationship between Pippa and Celine too. Despite Pippa being more of a traditionalist, she knows what’s right and wrong and battles with her ideologies for her friends. They truly just want the best for another another and it was so good to read about real female friendships.

I think it’s clear to see that I had a lot of thoughts about the characters. While The Beautiful is definitely not slow paced or without action, I did consider this fairly character driven.

Renee’s writing and story building throughout the story really was second to none. I felt as though I was walking around New Orleans with Celine, experiencing the magical sights and feelings. The love Renee has for this place is clear to see and the descriptions and vibe they created were definitely one of the reasons that I was so engrossed in this story.

With the diversity of the characters comes many important discussions and thoughts included, such as Arjun pointing out the privilege that Celine has because of her ethnicity and the highlighting of sexism in 1800s New Orleans.

There was an undercurrent of mystery and unease throughout the story, as we weren’t really sure what was causing all of the deaths and murders – I definitely felt as though many of the characters were unreliable and any one of them could have been responsible for some way. The Court of Lions, with their extraordinary powers, definitely contributed to this feeling of wonder, though I would definitely like to visit their place one time as it sounds magical!

I felt as though a lot happened in the last three quarters of the story or so, but I do think we needed the slightly slower pace in the beginning to really get to know the characters and their stories, particularly as this is the first book in a series. With the introduction of some new characters (and creatures)!, a hint at a potential love triangle and a shock ending, I truly cannot wait to pick up the sequel. Not just your typical vampire story, The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh was a seductive and hypnotic read that had my heart and mind captured from beginning to end. 4/5 stars.