Author- Renee Adhieh
Series - The Beautiful Duology
Published - 2019
Page Count- 448
Publishing House- G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Rating- 3.5/5
About the Author
"I live in North Carolina (Go Heels!) with my husband Victor and our dog Mushu. In my spare time, I like to cook, mess with makeup, and wreak havoc on the lives of my characters."
Taken from Renee's website
Plot
In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.
When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.
At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.
When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.
At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.
Taken from Goodreads
Opinions
After reading Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare, I was in the mood for another historical urban fantasy novel. I had seen that The Beautiful was supposed to be the novel that was going to bring back the Vampire trend to YA. It was set in 1872 New Orleans, it had a badass female protagonist and it had supernatural elements. I was certain I was going to love it. I had never read a book by Renee before, but I knew she was a good author, having written some well known YA books such as The Wrath and The Dawn, which I bought when I was getting into YA and still haven't read. I decided to read it as it sounded right up my alley.
I will say that I did really enjoy the first half of this book. I loved Celine as a character. I'm all for a feisty female character, and Celine certainly fit the bill. I loved the inserts from the "vampires" perspective. I felt absorbed into this world. But, then the second half ended up being really anti-climatic. I had quite a few problems with it, mainly that the vampire element ended up being very minimal. I was here for vampires and they hardly featured.
Something else I had a problem was why it was set in 1872. To me, it seemed as though it had no reason to be a historical fiction, other than it was an interesting backdrop. I was really interested in reading about New Orleans in the 1800s and it just fell a bit flat for me. Compared to similar novels (TID and Chain of Gold), both use their historical settings really well and it adds layers to the story. However, The Beautiful, barely acknowledged the historical setting. I loved that Celine was a strong, female character, however she felt too modern at times. It just ended up being really disappointing that the setting ended up providing such little to the story overall.
Another thing that I ended up not liking as much was the romance between Celine and Bastien. It felt as though it came out of nowhere and I just didn't see them being a couple. To me, it came across very early 2010s YA romance. I really didn't care for them being a couple. Normally, I am all for a good YA couple, but I had no interest in them at all.
Overall, I loved the first half of this novel but ended up being severely let down by the second half. I am aware that the sequel is coming out this June, and am somewhat interested in continuing, but if it is anything like the first book, I know that I will walk away wishing I hadn't read it.
What did you think of The Beautiful?
Carenza :) x
