Hi Cara,
Today review is a book that brings the reader to 19th century New Orleans. The Beautiful is the first in Renée Ahdieh new series.
Seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau has left her life as a dressmaker in Paris to start a new life in New Orleans in 1872.
She is one of six girls taken into the Ursuline convent to help raise money before finding a suitable husband.
Celine quickly becomes enamoured with New Orleans, especially New Orleans at night when no one needs to hide. Soon Celine 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.
But when bodies are found and rumours surround La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction and suspicions about Sébastien’s guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.
When the murder set his sights one Celine, Celine takes matters into her own hands and solve the cases and uncovers the truth surrounding La Cour des Lions before she becomes the murder next victim.
The Beautiful brings you into the magic and danger of New Orleans in the 19th Century. The story wraps fantasy, romance with the mystery of secrets and murder.
Celine Rousseau are leading lady is a character that I really took too. She doesn’t fit what is expected of a 19th-century lady. It doesn’t matter how hard she tries, it doesn’t fit her. Her wish for a life built on more than being the property of a man. My favourite moments from Celine are when she is breaking the social norms.
The tense between Celine and Sebastien give some amazing heart-pounding moments. The moments that make romance lovers pick up the book.
The plot of The Beautiful is intriguing and goes in a direction that I would never have guessed. The writing is descriptive and delicate. The details of the balls and parties made me want to be there. I can not wait to see the fan art for these scenes.
There are many parts in the story that I can see being quote as they are beautiful, sentimental, funny and emotional.
The collection of characters are diverse and interesting. I love that Odette wears trousers. That Arjun is incredible smart even though his skin colour will limit his education. Also, Sebastien and Celine are both mixed-raced in a world where is seen as taboo to mix with someone of a different race.
I am looking forward to visiting Celine again and seeing the trouble she Sebastien and Micheal get up to next.
My rating for The Beautiful is 4 out of 5.
The Beautiful is published 8th October 2019.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for supplying me with an ebook copy of The beautiful for a fair and honest review:
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Thanks for reading,
