In a world of etiquette and polite masks, no one is who they seem to be. Antonina Beaulieu is in the glittering city of Loisail for her first Grand Season, where she will attend balls and mingle among high society. Under the tutelage of the beautiful but cold Valerie Beaulieu she hopes to find a suitable husband. However, the haphazard manifestations of Nina’s telekinetic powers make her the subject of malicious gossip. Yet dazzling telekinetic performer and outsider Hector Auvray sees Nina’s powers as a gift, and he teaches her how to hone and control them. As they spend more and more time together, Nina falls in love and believes she’s found the great romance that she’s always dreamt of. But Hector’s courtship of Nina is deceptive.
The book was decent. The plot was pretty good. I really liked Nina and everything she goes through. I recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for giving me this book to review.

The Beautiful Ones is an enjoyable romance novel which has a hint of fantasy. This disappointed me as with very minor changes it would have been a historical book, and I am much more interested in fantasy books than historical romance books. The story was slow-paced but that meant that we got to know the characters better.

Nina is a naïve character but that did not stop her from being straight talking. I was not a fan of Hector at all as he was such a user who was too trapped in past, and while he did change in the second half of the book by then I didn’t care. In some ways Valerie was my favourite character as I could understand her motives and I like baddies who know what they want and will do anything to accomplish them.

I was disappointed that the story was not as much fantasy as I hoped but the book was still an enjoyable read. I would recommend The Beautiful Ones to fans of romance novels with a hint of fantasy.

This was sent to me a free e-book gift, but I will not be reviewing it in a professional capacity. I opened the link without realizing I was committing to adding to my account. I likely won't end up reading this within the next few years, so I will not be reviewing it.

A lovely elegant alternative history regency romance with a dash of magic. A little on the slow side but enjoyably so.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

This is a story of society, of being proper, genteel, of being respectable, and of having a family name that matters. There is magic, but it more helps provide shading and flavor to the novel. It shows how Hector and Nina are different from their families and society and how alike they are to each other.

I know this is an aspect of these novels of manners, but Hector's reticence in sharing any bit of his inner thoughts or emotions is really damned frustrating. He's so proper and reserved. Early in the novel this is because he's not truly romantically pursuing Nina, but there's an inevitability to that relationship and despite the hurdles, we just want them to actually get to properly falling in love and settling their problems.

The Beautiful Ones is a lovely novel. There is a gentleness that is wrapped around true steel and nastiness. Wealth and position are more important than love, but the pursuit of those pretty things will drive people to true darkness. Silvia Moreno-Garcia gets all of that, and wraps it in the proper trappings of a novel of manners.

(Full Review at: http://www.nerds-feather.com/2018/10/microreview-book-beautiful-ones-by.html)

The book seemed overly dramatic majority of the time. I felt like I was watching a soap opera. The story was enjoyable but I wish it would've sped up at times.

I want to start out saying, I choose not to rate this title. Not because it was awful, but because it didn't fit my personal reading style. That's NOT to say someone else wouldn't love it.

I feel like there is a lot that you could love about this title and I wouldn't be surprised. However, I'm not a fan of drawn out novels that force you to wait ages for something...anything to happen. This was a very slow paced, character driven novel.

The characters, 3 of them, all have things to admire but they have even more weaknesses. There was a lack of balance. I wish at least one of them had strengths that made the weakness seem small compared. It was lacking.

Not much action happening, which causes for a lag in motivated reading. I could easily set this down, which I did several times, and forget to go back to it.

SO much potential and I'll be giving this author another try for sure.

*Thank you to Netgalley for providing an advance review copy*

I will read anything Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes after her debut novel, Signal to Noise, became one of my favourite novels of all time. The big lover of historical fiction that I am, you can imagine my excitement when I realised Moreno-Garcia's latest novel would be returning to a time of calling cards and ballgowns.

I'll admit that it took me a while to get into this one, and I think that's because this isn't quite the book I was expecting it to be. With the mention of our heroine's telekinetic powers and her being taught to hone them by a man who also has this skill, I thought more of the novel was going to be taken up by lessons and that Nina was going to end up assisting Hector with his performances. Instead this Fantasy of Manners has more to do with the manners than the fantasy, like a Georgette Heyer or Jane Austen novel with a splash of telekinesis thrown in, which isn't a bad thing at all, it just wasn't what I expected when I read the blurb.

I was also a little unsure of the setting. I couldn't work out if this was France with a dash of magic thrown in, or if this was an alternate France in an alternate world a little different from ours. It didn't throw me too much, and in all honesty this isn't the kind of book that needed a lore dump, but I would have liked to know a little more about the world and more about how society functioned outside of these wealthy families.

Ultimately this was more of a character-driven novel than anything else, and while I always choose character over plot I would have liked a wider plot outside of these characters that I could sink my teeth into. Having said that, the characters and the character development were fantastic. Perhaps it says something about me that my favourite character in this book was the villainous Valérie, who was so deliciously messed up. I'm not the biggest fan of villain stories because I don't like it when authors try to excuse villainy with a tragic past, but what I loved about Valérie is that while Moreno-Garcia tells us why she is the way she is, she never uses it to excuse her actions which, by the end of the book, are downright evil.

It's also a testament to Moreno-Garcia's skill as an author that I initially disliked Hector and the way he used Nina, only to later root for him once we'd learned more about him. He's a character that grew on me, much like Nina grew on him.

If you're in the mood for a Fantasy of Manners/Romance novel, then this is the novel you should pick up. It's a story written with such affection and while it isn't my favourite of Moreno-Garcia's, I still think it's worth checking out.

I find myself unable to finish this book as its slow pace and annoyingly dense main male protagonist (Hector) frustrate me, as does the vicious bad behaviour of Valerie. The extremely small part that Hector and Nina's telekinesis plays was also disappointing as I had hoped it would be a feature of the story rather than a plot ploy.
Once I would have struggled to make myself finish a book, but after taking a year off work to nurse a sick child I have discovered that I no longer have the patience to do so.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book was nice. ven with it's slow pace, it was very character driven, and made me want to kept wanting to turn each page!

The Beautiful ones is essentially a historical romance set in the early 20th century in Europe with a little bit of the fantastical thrown in to keep things interesting. The fantastical element is that both of the main characters have telekinetic abilities. That ability is used by men to produce shows for the public but displays by women are frowned on. I really liked the characters and felt that the author did a good job bringing them to life. I also enjoyed the detailed settings portrayed throughout the novel. On the other side though the book was a little to slow paced for me. I liked the love story but things advanced to slowly and I found myself losing interest. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical romances with a bit of fantasy mixed in.

The description of this book doesn't really give it credit. It reminds me a little of Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal. But more traditionally regency. The telekinesis is a backdrop rather than front and center. Allowing the complicated relationships to take the fore.
It had just enough tension to keep it interesting, but not so much that I wanted to throw it against the wall.

‘It was perhaps impossible to love in the same manner again, and he thanked the heavens for this mercy.’

The first 60% of this I really struggled through but once I got into the second half it gets much much better. Which is why I found this book so hard to rate. If I was only rating the first half I’d give this book 2 stars⭐️⭐️ however if I was rating the second half I would have given it 4 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. So I’ve gone in the middle and given it ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I loved Nina and Hector’s characters and I absolutely despised Valerie. She seemed to want everything even though she wasn’t willing to follow her heart rather than her purse and greed for money and name, when she was younger and in her own grand season.

I loved the chemistry between Nina and Hector. I can’t imagine living in a time where arranged marriages and duels were a normal everyday thing. Once the book got to the second half I really really enjoyed it. I also loved Etienne and in a way Luc. Even if he let Valerie goad and manipulate him into doing something he wouldn’t normally do.

I was expecting a stronger fantasy element than what this book had. It was fine as a historical romance, and the light fantasy elements were nicely done. I was strongly reminded of Jane Austen's work. If Austen had attempted to write a fantasy novel, I'm fairly sure that something like this would be the result.

This is not to say that I did not enjoy the book. I did. I'm a fan of character-driven, slow-burn tales when I have the time to really savor them. That is what this book demands of the reader. Unfortunately, I wasn't often able to give this book the kind of attention that it required, and it took a while to finish.

Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas Dunne Books and Silvia Moreno-Garcia for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you are in the mood for a love story that takes its time to unfold, characters who dance before your eyes, the evil, the innocent and the lost souls, magicians and those with magical powers and ahhh the power of love, then read this book!

Imagine France, during the Belle Epoque. Grand balls, beautiful gowns, debutantes and their suitors set the stage for this love story. Antonina (Nina for short) is not your typical debutante dreaming of fancy dresses, jewels, gossiping with her girlfriends or waiting to fall in love with a handsome beau. She doesn’t care about learning how to needlepoint and rejects the rules of society that dictate how a young girl how she should behave. She loves to explore the outdoors, want to learn about science and oh yes, there is this small matter of her magical powers that she has not yet learned to control. In her small town, Nina’s reputation for being odd has already spread, damaging her chances for a good marriage. So, Nina is sent to Loisail to live with her cousin Gaetan and his wife Valerie, where she might have better luck.

Hector is a magician whose talents are unparalleled. His shows are sold out to packed houses, with audiences marvelling at his abilities. Hector and Nina meet and Nina convinces Hector to teach her how to control her telekinesis. Of course Nina falls for Hector but Hector is keeping a secret. The only reason he returned to Loisail was to see Valerie. Valerie was Hector’s first love and she broke his heart. Although Valerie’s beauty is unparalleled, the years haven’t been kind to her. She is a hard bitter woman whom no one or nothing can please. Valerie will do everything in her power to destroy the romance between Hector and NIna, refusing to let him go and love another. Can Hector move on from Valerie? Will Nina still love him after she learns the truth?

This is not a book that you race through, quickly turning page after page to see what happens next. This a novel to be savoured. The way Garcia writes you don’t want to rush, you want to experience it all including the setting and the complex characters. Valerie is deliciously evil and Nina is not a sickly-sweet, helpless character in contrast, but richly drawn in her own right. You feel for Hector because his love for Valerie is pure and he gave of himself fully but he was left broken for so many years.

I enjoyed this novel immensely and found myself wanting to go back in time to drop in and visit with these characters and spend more time in this world that Garcia created.

First things first. I am thankful for the review copy that I got, and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.
The story: It was more focused on the characters, then deepening the story. Although, I did not hate this fact. The characters were intriguing and well-written, I could totally love them in the end. The book sometimes felt a little bit dragging, but it was not so bad. Definitely not a fast-paced story, so do not expect one. It is set in a historical world. If you love these kind of books, you will also love this one. It is worth to buy it.

I don't generally like romance novels. I find the adherence to tropes tiresome, rather than absorbing. I prefer romantic subplots, emotional nuances filling out and adding context to some other matter.

...but I liked this one, in the end. Like Hector and Nina, it took a while to win me over - I spent much of the first half frustrated by my dislike of Hector and Valerie to enjoy it - but I have consumed the second half in an afternoon, twisting and yelling and ultimately wiping a little tear from my eye.

It's melodramatic, it's theatrical, but it's rather satisfying. Nina is the jewel here, easy to like from the start and impossible not to love by the end. I have a deeper regard for Silvia Moreno-Garcia's writing and her versatility with each thing I read. She hasn't convinced me to embrace romance as a genre, but I'll follow her into whatever worlds she chooses to explore.

Oh goodness this book….

Okay, right off the bat I wasn’t crazy about his one. The blurb promised me telekinesis and I expected this big paranormal world with hidden superpowers or something. Instead, I got a Victorian romance.

Once I got over the disappointment that the telekinesis was really just used as a plot devise, (both the hero and heroine have this power), I really got involved with the story and the characters.

Let me warn you, right off the bat, that the main characters are not instantly likable.

Hector begins courting Nina just to be close to Valerie. He and Valerie, a decade before, had shared a whirlwind romance complete with a secret engagement. An engagement that she ended when she married another man—Nina’s cousin. Though he did things for the wrong reasons, it was easy to like and forgive Hector.

Nina is a so naïve at times it’s hard to root for her, but she grows so much as a character in this book.

And Valerie… well, to put it nicely, she is a selfish brat for 99.9% of this book. She has her reasons, but those reasons never justified all the wicked things she did in this reader’s opinion. She was an excellent villain.

This book is told in third person POV from all 3 of the aforementioned characters. Getting into each of their heads was really crucial to the execution of this story. Without each of their internal thoughts there’s no way a reader could feel anything except hatred, or at least annoyance, with them.

The story is also told in two parts and lasts the course of an entire year. When I reached the end of part 1 I was heartbroken. I was flipping pages like mad trying to get through part 2 to see the happy ending I wanted.

And in the end, the telekinesis played an important role in the story. It wasn’t just there to add something new and different. It actually was important to the plot.

So, should you read it? If you enjoy historical romances of epic proportions and are looking for something new and different…. and if you’re the kind of person who loves to see characters redeem themselves and get what’s coming to them, read this book. (There’s also a good old fashioned duel. No joke. It’s great!)

Many thanks go to Silvia Moreno-Garcia, St. Martin Press, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review. The Beautiful Ones have the money, the class, the position in society. Valerie is one; Nina should be if she weren't such a country bumpkin; Hector not so much but he may have enough money made from his telekinesis act to fit in. But Hector loves Valerie and Nina loves Hector. SOAP OPERA! This was one long soap opera. I felt like I was watching tv. I so wanted Valerie to get her comeuppance through the whole thing. She's just hateful. And I kept yelling at Hector to get his head on straight. I suppose it's a good sign when a book sparks such strong reactions. The psychokinesis tricks were just an added bonus to give two of the characters a connection or an easy, quick way to relate. It could have been anything, but at least this way it was original. I was pleased, so, so pleased with outcome. I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way. Great storytelling!

Creepy and haunting, a very engrossing read. Would recommend for mid-teens and up.