Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Beautiful

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Beautiful, by Renée Ahdieh

16 reviews

phoxyphoenix's review against another edition

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2.5

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gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I loved reading this book. The characters are so much fun, and the plot lends itself to feel more like a historical mystery feel than a historical magical realism. The magical realism you get doesn't overwhelm, but it is used to help set the mood and tone of the story.

The cast of characters are from all walks of life ad backgrounds. All of them have their own stories to tell, which made the interactions a lot more compelling as you start to theories who they are, where they come from, and what they are hiding.
The story also lends itself to a bit of theorising what was happening and even second guessing myself about it being a magical realism. This book did a lot of setup for the series, but also worked its own plot. It feels like it was written like a prequel, especially the with the ending.

I am very excited to pick up the sequel and see where this story goes. I recommend this for anyone who wants to read a historical book with gothic vibes. It does an excellent job of setting that sort of tone and mood.

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siglerbooknook's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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mermay's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

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allyordyna's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Woah. Blew twilight out of the water, I must say.🤯

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katestermonster's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Let's start with dislikes first: There was an excessive use of the word 'murderess'. I was also frustrated that the main characters neglected to have important conversations and communicate because they were horny on main.
Things that I liked: I really appreciated the banter in this book. There were some clever lines. On top of that, I adored the use of different languages and accents. I was enthralled the gruesome crime scenes and the magic that is New Orleans. Last but not least, I stan Arjun and Odette.

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shorts_family's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I would consider this story to be pretty middle-of-the-road as far as vampire novels go. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish it, but it also wasn't so enrapturing I couldn't put it down. I think my main issue is with how slow the pacing is, I feel like there were several chapters that could've been removed altogether and it wouldn't have altered any significant part of the story. No spoilers, but there was one good twist/reveal and two twists/reveals that I felt had absolutely no buildup to them whatsoever, so they didn't feel satisfying at all, unfortunately. I loved the dynamic between Celine and Bastien, and there were moments of the book that were genuinely funny, but overall I wanted to be pulled into the book more.

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h_reads98's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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ok7a's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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stormywolf's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Audiobook Read by Lauren Ezzo
Unabridged Length: 13.2 Hours
Listened at 2x Speed

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

Overall, I have no complaints. A stellar narration, nailing tons of accents and emotions, was enough to put this production in my recommendations, to say nothing of its value as a pronunciation guide. With the emoting, especially in horror and action scenes, the volume and speed of reading does go up a bit, so that's something to keep in mind if you're not reading along, or at an increased playback speed. But if you're looking for an audio that offers a solid voice performance, this one should definitely be on your short list.

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