My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A beautifully written story with heart, deception, and a bit of magic.

THE BEAUTIFUL ONES is one part historical fiction, one part romance, and one part fantasy. I have to admit, I didn't really know what I would get with this book. There were so many elements that didn't seem as if they would work together. Yet...they did.

By having a story centered around a cast of characters that were such a mixed bag of personalities and inclinations, the author was able to intricately develop the narrative. There is a web of lies, love, and history between all those that grace the pages of this book. It took all the fun and juicy parts of a soap opera and elevated to something that became so much more.

Moreno-Garcia truly produced a rare gem with this book. It is most definitely worth a read.

i really, really enjoyed this book. i thought the plot was interesting, the characters were unique and complex and their relationships intriguing.

The writing is impressive but I couldn’t connect to the characters a lot. Also, the fantasy elements are very light in the book, overshadowed by the romance which was too much of a slow burn. But overall, it’s an entertaining read.

For no good reason at all it has taken me far too long to get around to reading this. Thoughly enjoyable and very well written. Thank you!

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a tale of love lost and love found. A tale of the power of emotion and the strength of conviction. For those, like myself, who have recently read her stirring novel of vampires in Mexico (Certain Dark Things), this novel will serve as a testament to the author's prowess of storytelling and prose.

"...It's no matter,' he replied, closing the book with his hands rather than with his mind; he reserved displays of his talent for the stage. He did not add anything else. He was hardly in the mood for polite conversation. The De Villiers prided themselves on attracting the cream of the crop to their functions - the Beautiful Ones, rather than the New People. The barons of barely minted empires of telegraph wires and fresh steel could socialize elsewhere. Hector had been offered an invitation, proof of Etienne's charm and connections, but he knew he was, at best, a novelty for these aristocrats; at worst, an intruder..."

Antonina Beaulieu is a young woman who has left the countryside to enjoy her first Grand Season in the city of Loisail. It is here, under the watchful eye and guidance of her cousin's wife, Valerie, that she hopes to find a respectable husband. But Valerie has a past of her own and soon the two will collide.

"...Valerie went to the door, her hand resting upon the handle when she heard Antonina speak.
'You said he loved you and always had.' Antonina said in a low voice. 'And do you love him?'
'That doesn't matter,'
'It matters to me.'
Valerie sighed and turned her head. In ruins, still the girl tried to clasp a shred of tender feeling to her heart. It was not to be had.
'Dear, dear Antonina. Don't be silly. The point is he's never loved you. And he never will..."

Antonina meets the performer Hector Auvray and shares an immediate connection. They both possess kinetic powers, but while Hector uses his to perform and make his fortune, Antonina's abilities have only brought her ridicule and shame. She hopes to learn from Hector how to control her powers. But what she had not counted on was falling in love. Only the affection Hector shows Antonina is riddled with secrets and the memory of a love long ago lost.

The Beautiful Ones is a novel as haunting as it is tragic. Here the characters use love as a weapon in which they can cause one another pain. But in the end, it becomes a delicate treasure they are willing to sacrifice everything for.

Antonina is engaging and though her innocence brings her to near ruin, it is one of her endearing qualities. She will never fit in with proper society and her inner battle to be more than a freak is heart wrenching to watch.

Hector is at first repulsive as a love sick puppy willing to hurt anyone to get to the woman he loves and then afterwards, as a man who realizes the fool he has been. Then heroic as the man who attempts to save Antonina from a miserable life. Only to be saved by her as well.

But the show stealer her is without a doubt; Valerie. The once true love of Hector who uses his love for her to control everyone around her. Her actions and cruelty keep you from feeling any sense of pity for her being forced into an arranged marriage that made both her and her family rich. She is the evil and horrible woman that you would want to see get her comeuppance but not too soon because she is just too much fun to watch.

A fun and good read that I would put on par with anything on the market today.

It's been a year of beautifully written books that just don't work for me, and The Beautiful Ones is another on the list. Now I was pretty excited about reading a fantasy romance. It's not a genre combo I get often (sure, the fantasies I read have romances but not enough to make them romance novels) and I wanted to see all the magic and love and tension that comes from such things.

Unfortunately this was more of the slow burn, "let's make the reader wait a LONG time for something to happen," kind of books. A bummer, really, because the world is beautiful. I mean, I would love to read a fantasy, no romance needed, in this world. Moreno-Garcia draws on the historical elements of a Season with bits of magic here and there. I think I expected more fantasy than there was, not realizing that this is a romance novel, truly. Not a bad thing, but it meant my expectations altered my reading experience.

Now, that said, I had a bit of a problem with the characters and that romance element. The story follows 3 protagonists and I didn't really connect with any of them. Not poorly written or anything, but just not working for me. The slow pace left me wanting something more to really get behind these characters and I simply never got that.

I honestly don't have much more to say about The Beautiful Ones. It had the potential to hook me but the constant waiting for the plot to move forward, the general drawn-out writing style, and overall flow made it hard to push through to the end. I nearly DNFed it several times because I was bored. If you're a fan of the wait, the slow build to something great, then I think this book is perfect for you. For me, it just wasn't working.

This novel is reminiscent of a sinister Jane Austen work, set several decades later in La Belle Époque, or The Beautiful Era. This brief period of France’s history, from 1871 to 1914, is said to be the last hurrah of the societal elite.

After this time, technology and industry began to advance at speed. The lower classes began to question the status quo of upper class rule. The playing field began to level out, and the influence of the elites began to dwindle. Trapped in their traditions, they ignored the changes in society, instead choosing to bury themselves in elaborate restrictions to differentiate themselves from lower classes.

The Beautiful Ones is set during this last hurrah and the rigors of the society are keenly drawn. Antonina is an ingénue, and not familiar with the rules of the Loisail’s Grand Season. She quickly discovers proper ladies do not have powers, or go to great lengths to hide them. When she meets Hector and sees his firm control of his powers, she asks to be tutored, soon falling in love with the magician.

But even Hector’s newly found wealth doesn’t exempt him from scorn. He is “new money” and looked down upon by Nina’s family and society at large. And he has secrets of his own, that will destroy Nina’s innocence and hope for a future with him.

Nina is a sympathetic character and thankfully, doesn’t fall into the simpering victim category. Society itself is a character, with all the strength of a well-crafted villain. Character progression (or regression in on particular case) pulls the reader along, deeper into the mystique of this world, showing that even with manners, dirty deeds can be accomplished with ease. Deception is hidden behind smiles and promises, as it seems everyone has a say in what Nina’s life should be.

Except Nina.

Moreno-Garcia brings deceit, and first love with a touch of magic power to create a historical romance with power and redemption.

I'm a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's work--only partly because no two books are the same. I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel on the whole, but I knew that I would find solid writing. This delivered.

I don't consider myself a romance reader, so my knowledge of genre standards, etc. is a bit lacking (so, if you are, I might make you mad by mixing up some things about the genre in general in this review). That said, here's what I can say about THE BEAUTIFUL ONES...

The first 100 pages felt very slow. I really wanted something more to happen--my previous experience with the author's work definitely colored that expectation, but I did my best to focus just on this work and what was going on. When the first major event (by my feeling) unravels just around the 100th page, I felt a LOT of emotions I didn't expect. That's when I realized all the work that was actually laid out in that 100 pages, so expertly. Where I thought I didn't care about the main character, I discovered I had very much--and very subtly--connected to her through the events building to that moment.

I would describe this book as a Regency Romance and mean it in both the sense of the romance novels that rose up in the 1960s that took place during the Regency era with all those cultural touchstones of high society courtship, etc. AND with Jane Austen's work in the sense of it being a 'novel of manners' and a slower pacing.

For a touch of the 'weird', there is a little bit of telekines in this world. I particularly enjoyed the way it was woven into the story as just another fact of the world, just like the ebb and flow of social seasons and social standing. I could very much have enjoyed more exploration of what that's like in this setting, but understood how there wasn't room for it in this particular story.

If you like Austen & Bronte and are looking for a slower paced romance that doesn't start replacing story with sex scenes once the love interests get together... I heartily recommend THE BEAUTIFUL ONES.

Almost Austenesque in writing. I enjoyed the contradiction between "regency-esque" society and magical manipulation. Really glad that there was a happy ending of sorts.

Antonia is staying with her cousin and his wife in Loisail upon her first season in society, when she meets Hector, the telekinetic performer. She soon falls head over heels in love with him without realising that Hector is still pining for a lost love.


I really enjoyed the historical French setting with fantasy elements. It is by no means historical fantasy, however, and would be more accurately characterised as a historical romance with some magical realism. I must admit that I would have liked a bit more attention paid to Hector and Antonia's shared telekinisis abilities. As it stands, its main role in the story was to bring the pair closer together as Hector trains her on developing her talent; as a woman, her magical abilities are seen as unseemly and so Antonia spent her early years shunned and gossiped about by many of her country neighbours. I was absolutely charmed by Moreno-Garcia's world-building: she brings a deft hand to bringing Loisail to life.

Several reviewers have compared this novel to Jane Austen due to its slow burn romance with etiquette, parties and a single man in possession of a good fortune (who must be in want of a wife)... I would disagree with this comparison purely as I think there is an entirely different feel to the world and the writing style. While Moreno-Garcia has crafted a great character study with romantic overtones, I would posit that it is closer to Edith Wharton, (a more serious) Georgette Heyer and the like. In this way, I feel like many of the reviews and talk surrounding this book are not really reflective of The Beautiful Ones. I came to the end of this book feeling that it was a bit of a misnomer, from what I had read to the very title itself.

What I would want prospective readers to know most is that it is a compelling character study with three main characters that you will grow attached to and frustrated with in equal measure. Hector's heartache is relatable as he struggles with letting go and this is in excellent contrast to Valerie's bitterness and jealousy about her lost future and her regretful present. Indeed, while Valerie is certainly not the most likeable character of the lot, I really did grow to love her and she became my favourite character to follow. It is a slow-paced, sedate novel and this understated narrative is perfectly matched by the often melodramatic episodes within. I highly recommend.

A very beautifully written book, heavy on the character analysis and descriptions, and at times light on action. The author is very skilled at her craft

This was an intriguing story. I'm not one to pick up a book that is Fantasy. I prefer straight romances and literary. Yet, I do enjoy Magical Realism from the great Latino writers and this would fall under that to some degree. One of the difficulties I had in finishing this book was the very slow start. There was a lot of narrative, but not enough of a gripping plot that would keep me turning pages--until the love triangle was developed about a third of the way in. Once the love, betrayal, and love came into play, I was hooked. But there was still parts in between that dragged on. Also, I'm not a lover of historical romances, but since this was set in France, I was hooked. I love France. Never been, but any story with French people, names, and places, I'm in. This was also well written. The author has a way of setting the scene. The conclusion was satisfactory--everyone getting what they wanted and those not deserving getting their just desserts.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this novel.

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is such an interesting book. It is difficult to put a genre label on it. It reads like historical fiction, yet there is also an element of magic. Whatever you want to label it, it works.

This the story of Nina Beaulieu. She is staying with her cold-hearted cousin Valerie Beaulieu in the city of Loisail. She is there for her first Grand Season. It is during the Grand Season where she will come out in society, attend balls and learn the fine art of mingling and being a society lady. The only problem is that Nina is not a society lady. She has a special telekinetic power. Unfortunately this is not something that ladies do. It is frowned upon in society and she is encouraged to hide it. Also, rather than being a social butterfly, she collects butterflies. She loves the science of bugs and insects.

Her cousin, Valerie has the impossible task of turning Nina into a grand lady of society. To make matters worse, Valerie, who is not a pleasant person at all, doesn’t like Nina. She goes out of her way to make Nina fail.

Then Nina meets Hector. A gentleman who shares her telekinetic powers. He teaches her how to control her powers and she falls in love with him. But things do not go as hoped.

I really enjoyed this novel, it was just what I was in the mood for at the time. A bit of a fantasy with a love story thrown in and beautiful writing.

I received an ARC of this book.

I'd consider this one 3.5 stars that I'll round up to 4 because I loved the main characters and the writing so much.

The description of this book gives absolutely nothing away...probably because there really is nothing to give away. Honestly, I don't mean that in a bad way. The Beautiful Ones is an extremely character-driven book with a sprinkling of magical fantasy woven throughout, and really, it doesn't drive the plot at all. Looking at the cover and reading the summary, I thought maybe it would be a bit like "The Originals," because it talks so much about family magic and relationships (minus the vampirism, obviously), and I expected that there would be a lot more talk about Hector performing and maybe Nina would even be drawn into it a little but I was wrong on all counts. The book is all about the drama, drama, drama of finding a suitable husband for young Antonina Beaulieu.

Without giving away much, I will say that I felt the book moved a little slow, but the excellent writing made up for it. The author made me feel exactly as I was supposed to toward each character. I absolutely hated crazy, psycho cousin Valerie. I enjoyed and cheered for the young and whimsical Nina. And then there was handsome, conflicted Hector. Plus all of the secondary characters. So if you're looking for a story of magic, well-defined characters, societal courting, and of course, romance!

I saw the cover of The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and was immediately drawn to it. Then I read the summary and knew I wanted to read this as it mixes historical with fantasy and this has become one of my favorite genres. The story centers on three characters, Nina, Hector, and Valerie.

Nina is in Loisail for her first grand season and is under the guidance of her cousin’s wife, Valerie. Unfortunately for Nina, Valerie isn’t very welcoming and add to that the fact that Nina has hard time controlling her telekinetic powers, Nina isn’t exactly happy. When she meets Hector, a telekinetic performer, two things happen. First, Nina gains control over her powers and she isn’t as much of a danger. And second, she falls in love with Hector.

I really wanted to hit Hector a number of times throughout this story. See, he is being quite deceptive with Nina as he has ulterior motives to being around her. Hector comes from nothing really but when he met Valerie years ago, he wanted to be something more and be able to provide for her. Hector ended up leaving Valerie behind so that he could earn his fortune and come back for her, but Valerie ended up marrying a man she didn’t love to save her family. Now that Hector is back and somewhat famous, he wants her back in his life, but Valerie is not the same person he left behind, and her bitterness pushes him toward Nina with his only goal being to make Valerie jealous and want him back.

Valerie is just angry and bitter, and she takes it out on Nina. She does whatever she can to make life hell for Nina and when Hector puts Nina right in the middle of their past, she takes the brunt of Valerie’s anger.

This is very much a character driven story and while a bit slow at times, I found I needed to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next for them all. There were times I was frustrated and angry and each one of them and poor Nina had no clue what she was getting into. Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to checking out more of her books.

At first I was concerned that this book was going to just wreck my heart and I was not looking forward to that. It made a solid go of faking me out though, and I was so pleased with all of it. The language seemed to fit the setting exceptionally well, and normally I'd have said it was slow paced but it sped up at just the right moments. Definitely recommending it to magical history fans. Historical magic fans?

The Beautiful Ones begins as a story of deception, and slowly turns into something truly beautiful. The characters were definitely one of the highlights of The Beautiful Ones, second only to the love story. It also has a pretty cover!

I was absolutely astounded by the writing, though I had been expecting something different from the blurb. I was assuming I would be reading a paranormal romance, but instead I was greeted with something that felt like a historical romance set in a different yet familiar world. This story is also very character-driven, which was a pleasant change from my usual readings.

I found myself quickly wanting to know more about the characters. I adored Nina’s naieve and spunky personality, Hector’s blind yet stoic love, and Valérie’s calculating jealousy. Each character contributed well to the story. At one point, the story even went from a love triangle to a love square, which was quite interesting to read.

One of the biggest emotions I encountered was for Hector. He seemed to have one of the largest developments for the characters. There were parts of the story when I couldn’t decide whether or not I hated him, but in a way that kept me wanting to read more. The characters in this story definitely had depth that made them feel like real people.

The telekinetic bit was important, but not as important as the overarching story. True, it brings Antonina and Hector together, but I felt they could have came together without it. It added an interesting element, but it didn’t take center stage for the story.

Final Thoughts:
I thought this was a wonderful book. I was dazzled by the characters and the world. As I was reading, I continually had questions, which were all answered. I would recommend this story to those who enjoy historical romances that are character driven and want a bit of a fantasy aspect.

After enjoying Moreno-Garcia's previous novel <i>Certain Dark Things</i> I was expecting another gritty tale filled with the supernatural. However, <i>The Beautiful Ones</i> couldn't be more different. It has just enough object levitation and theatricality to make you forget what you are really reading is a historical romance! Romance is not normally my bag, but I didn't object to it here. Set in a Belle Epoch-ish time period, the story is slow, but Moreno-Garcia's deft touch with characterization makes the payoff worth the time.

I would recommend this novel to folks who like historical-y romance or to people who wish that Austen's characters had magical powers.

The Beautiful Ones is a very enjoyable historical romance. It's not really heavy on the fantasy part, which I was completely fine with. I'm very impressed with the writing. The author took great care in describing things in a way that makes them vivid in your imagination. I will say I thought the book was going to go totally different than it did. I thought certain characters were going to end up together and when they didn't, I was a little disappointed. The origin setting of the romance was so beautiful that I was really routing for Valérie, until her character turned nastier than expected. I was a bit thrown off that Hector seemed to so quickly flip a switch emotionally. I felt for Nina's character so much; she was entirely awkward and strange yet lovable all the while. I thought the match at the end seemed ill-fitting, but I really enjoyed the story all the same.