Review: The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh

The Beautiful by 

Renée Ahdieh

• Pub. Date: October 8, 2019
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
• Pages: 448
• Series: The Beautiful #1
• Rating:5/5
• Goodreads/Amazon

New York Times bestselling author Renée Ahdieh returns with a sumptuous, sultry and romantic new series set in 19th century New Orleans where vampires hide in plain sight.

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.

Review: I haven't picked up a book having to do with Vampires in a long time and I didn't realize how much I needed them back in my life until I got my hands on The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh.  Ahdieh took us into the world of a dark and wickedly ravishing New Orleans with writing so lush and vivid I couldn't stop turning the pages and found myself reading the novel late into the night sacrificing my sleep and I love my sleep time so any book that can get me to do that deserves five stars. And I just have to say THAT ENDING!!! Talk about a cliffhanger...wow.

Let's start with the characters, I loved Celine, Sébastien Saint Germain, and Odette the most out of the many noteworthy characters in the novel. Celine, she is courageous, spirited, and fearless. I also really loved how she didn't give a damn about fitting in with proper society. Moving on to Bastien, he has this whole dark mysterious ruthless vibe going on for him when you first meet him but I loved seeing his story unravel and I feel that there is still so much more we need to learn about him as much as I loved Celine he was far more interesting to me. As far as Odette I really did love her, for the most part, there was a moment when I questioned her motives also I know she isn't the MC but I do hope that she is more fleshed out in the next book because she really is one of those characters you wish had her own book. 

Now that I think about it one thing I would love to see overall in the next book is that I wish the supporting characters were more fleshed out.

I did enjoy being transported back into 1872 New Orleans, the attention to detail by Ahdieh was perfection. The writing was beautiful and lyrical and I didn't expect anything less from Renée Ahdieh.

I have to say I'm a huge fantasy reader and this felt more like YA Romance with Fantasy thrown in the mix, a quick read and I can't wait for the next book to be out. Overall if you love romance, vampires, and an author who can weave an amazing story The Beautiful is a must-read.