Reviews

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh

evecentury's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

ariadnesthread's review against another edition

4.0

This book is SO GOOD!!
The perfect pre-Halloween/post-Crimson Peak read for me. Darkness Incarnate. If you read it/have read it, you will know. Bring on all of the Minotaur and red string of fate references for the rest of my life, please and thanks! I can’t wait for The Damned. ♥️

maverhoeff's review against another edition

4.0

This was one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. The dialogue and description were amazing. There isn’t another word I can use besides beautiful. Celine and Bastien have my heart and I’m excited to see what happens with these characters in the future, especially with that plot twist at the end.

*EDIT*
After trying to start the next book, it did not have the same allure, writing style, or anything that drew me into the story compared to the first book, so I will not be finishing this series, which is disappointing.

isiloaranel's review against another edition

2.0

I couldn't get into it. I wasn't impressed with any of the characters. I might revisit this later.

nemmons's review against another edition

4.0

Once I heard about this book and saw that it took place in New Orleans I picked it up. The world building is both whimsical and dark. The way I’ve always liked stories to be. I loved the characters and the relationships they had with each other. This is a book I would definitely re read and I don’t tend to do that with books. I can’t wait to read the second one!

bookishmomo's review against another edition

4.0

I don't even know where to start except for to say I wish I had picked up this author's books years ago because now I need to read them all. This book had me from the first page. I was staying up until 3am reading simply because I didn't want to put it down.

The world crafted in these books sets such a beautiful, dark, and magical painting of New Orleans. I was swept away by it and in awe. I love the way she crafted this world. I went in only expecting a simple vampire story and got way more than that. I really enjoyed the characters who have now become some of my favorites. Especially Celine, Bastine, and Odette.

I will say the only reason this isn't 5 starts instead of 4 is because some of the connections between the characters didn't flow as naturally as I was wishing for. It almost felt as if I as the reader was missing parts of their interactions that lead to specific connections.

Spoiler

For example I didn't particularly understand how we got from point A to B with Micheal suddenly having a thing for Celine given their first interactions. Those first interactions didn't really endear me to him either.

. Though I did like most of the characters a lot as individuals and was feeling all the feels ship wise by the end for Bastine and Celine there was definitely something minor missing for me.

All of that aside I really did enjoy this book and was really thrown on who the murderer ended up being. I feel like I should have seen it coming but I didn't. So worth the read and I can't wait to read the next one.

dogearedprints's review against another edition

3.0

I so wanted this book to really wow me, and I thought it would at first. But after about 100 pages of slow paced action, I got bored. The ending picked up and I enjoyed it when we really got some information and plot, but until then it was a bit of a struggle. I was also constantly confused about the "Brotherhood" and such because it was never really explained until the very end of the book. Would have been nice to not be in the dark - especially since there were sections from the POV of characters who knew the answers. I'm curious to read the next book and see where it goes though - the ending made me want to read the next book.

lilstarchar's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I really loved reading this book. No complaints whatsoever. I've read it twice now and it's a great vampire, gothic read.

jaclyn_madden's review against another edition

3.0

I should have paid more attention in French class

dysfunctionalzoe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

was really good up until the last like 80 pages