UptownOracle in Book Reviews

Uptown Oracle Reads… The Beautiful

Name: The Beautiful
Author: Renee Ahdieh

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

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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.

The Beautiful is filled with a creepy supernatural vibe and it has a slow burn to finding out what the creatures are really like. I loved that the story felt like it had real stakes (pun intended) as the characters felt in danger, and there was the possibility of real harm being done.

Celine’s journey is one of finding a place to be safe, and to be not judged by others and she makes her way to New Orleans. Instead of finding a new home to fit in with society, she falls in with a crowd of supernatural beings who are entwined in a battle of revenge where Celine is stuck in the crossfire. Le Cour des Lions is not a safe space, but one to be feared as much as their enemies.

The friendships are what made the characters for me, and particularly the female friendships. Pippa, Odette and Celine managed to form strong bonds quickly, and these bonds are shown in their actions (even when they’re against one another at times due to differing opinions!). I also loved that they were never given conflict over the men of the story, and they all stood as very different women for many different reasons whilst not being told one is better than the other. In friendship is where Celine found the sense of belonging she needed.

The world building is based on New Orleans, but there’s a sneaky supernatural edge which is connected to the history of the place and the characters. There’s a lot of secrecy surrounding the magic users of the story, and this is unveiled through both Celine’s new eyes and snippets straight from the vampires POVs which are every so often in the book. I enjoyed the expansion on the history of the Court as well as the importance placed on it, including how the vampire is attached to that story.

What I didn’t like about The Beautiful was the romance, which was disapointing as it is a main factor to the story. I just found that it was trying to have kind of animosity between them like enemies would, and turned into more of an insta-love scenario. Celine has been in New Orleans all of a day or two when she meets him, and there’s very little positive interactions before they’re supposed to love one another which is a pet peeve because it’s a poor representation of relationships.