This book was amazing. The atmosphere was top tier and I was drew into the world. I could not put this book down. I read Renee’s other series and was so excited to start this one!

I was so excited to read The Beautiful and see what all the hype was about but unfortunately it didn't work for me. It wasn't holding my attention. I found my mind wandering while reading it. I liked the writing but I'm not a fan of the way the story was being told. I love multiple POVs but something about this one is wonky and off putting. I'm DNFing at 14%.

Was I interested in this book just because it was about vampires? Probably. I haven't seen many new releases that tackle this topic or genre anymore, so I was glad to see a book from a popular author that was about these creatures. However, that discovery and appearance comes little by little, since it builds up through the book and keeps the reader guessing. I imagine we will be seeing more of these creatures in the sequels, since book one was more rooted in mystery. In fact, I think the word "vampire" only appeared twice throughout the story.

The setting in this book is very well done and we're introduced to the vibrant, mysterious and colourful city of New Orleans, which was quite nice to read about, and worked well for the story. Celine is new to the city, in fact, we meet her as she's just arriving, and she is an interesting character. It's worth mentioning that this book is set in 1872, so her views and ideas come across as a bit forward and different for the time. However, she is not the only one with such thoughts and I found myself intrigued by her group of friends, but especially Pippa.

On the other side, we have Bastian, who was quite interesting because he was surrounded in mytery and intrigue, but reading him from Celine's point of view was sometimes a bit too much, since she wouldn't stop overhyping him and his looks and actions, and comparing him to the devil, but he didn't do that much for that to happen. Whenever we saw other characters talk about him or we followed him, that's when I liked him more, and that's because his story is quite complex and key to everything that happens in the book. However, I sometimes was wondering why his "Court" was so important. Bastian is an important player in society, and he has a group of followers called "Cour de Lions ", and while I understood their importance, they did not do much, and I have no idea about the origin of that name.

The pacing of the novel was a bit strange. It introduced everything quite slowly, which works well with keeping the mystical elements, but things didn't pick up until the 30% mark, just for them to slow down again and keep going up and down like that.

I do think the end was great and makes it so that you want to know what happens. It did work for me, at least, since we have started uncovering what is going on in this world and with these characters, but it is also opening everything up and already starting the storylines that book 2 will probably continue.

Loved this book, amazing series can wait to get into the second. Thanks for this opportunity. Definitely great storytelling and fantastical setting.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for access to the ebook!

I really liked this take on vampires! It’s not on your face but rather a subtle buildup to them. They come off as more seductive and mysterious than what you typically see in modern novels and I really enjoyed that. The romance was also really intriguing and I look forward to seeing where the romance, and the story at large, goes!

I really enjoyed this book so much! I flew through this book and I was so upset when it was over. The plot was fast paced but not much which is what I really enjoy. I am obsessed with the characters and can not wait to read more by this author. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends and family.

I found myself captivated by the enchanting world of 1870s New Orleans, where the vibrant city conceals secrets beneath its glitzy façade. Celine Rousseau's arrival brings a breath of defiance to the Ursuline convent, and as the Festival season unfolds, the temptations of Mardi Gras lure her into the enthralling underworld of La Cour des Lions. Ahdieh paints a vivid picture of a headstrong and ambitious Celine, a skilled dressmaker concealing a mysterious past. The juxtaposition of innocence and decadence heightens the suspense as Celine becomes entangled with Sébastien Saint Germain, the enigmatic leader of La Cour des Lions. The plot thickens when a series of murders disrupt the glittering festivities, forcing Celine to navigate her attraction to Sébastien while wrestling with her own secrets. Ahdieh's masterful storytelling, rich historical details, and a protagonist with a compelling blend of strength and vulnerability make "The Beautiful" an irresistibly immersive read.

Looking for a break from my more routine reads, I found THE BEAUTIFUL a little too fanciful for my taster. The story was familiar but the writing was just a little superfluous.

In New Orleans, Celine lives a life as a dressmaker until she’s forced to flee. She’s thrust into a new world, a dangerous world. A world where murders occur and she’s meant to
solve them.
This book was interesting at first. It was incredibly lyrical which was fun to read, but then things changed. The book got slower, and the lyrical writing- as beautiful as it is- got a bit annoying. As the book went on, the writing style made it harder for me to understand the storyline and what was going on.
Thank you to NetGalley and G.P Putnam’s for a copy of this book.

The Beautiful is a historical fiction novel set in New Orleans in 1972. Celine is a young woman with few prospects, who has spent the last of her funds on a ticket from France to New Orleans, under the auspices of a convent that supports young, single, immigrant women in exchange for helping with the work of the convent - teaching children, sewing items for sale, and so on. While selling embroidered handkerchiefs made by various residents of the convent, Celine encounters a woman from La Cour des Lions, who hires her to create a dress for an upcoming party - and thus begins Celine's entanglement with a specific element of New Orleans' underbelly.

At its base, The Beautiful is a mystery revolving around several murders, first of several young women, and then of people surrounding Celine. Add in a budding - or at least potential - romance between Celine and both Bastien and Michael, and there's plenty going on. In fact, there may be rather too much going on, a little too quickly; a bit more plot development could have raised a good story to a great one. Still, it was a quick and enjoyable read. Recommended for readers high school to adult.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an excellent and riveting read, rife with lush atmosphere and intrigue. Celine makes many foolish decisions, but they're justified. I didn't find myself yelling at her for doing stupid shit because I understood why she was doing it. I think a lot of authors struggle with this. It's difficult to write a morally grey character who makes bad decisions that further the plot and not end up with your reader disliking them for it.

The back and forth with Sebastian was just enough to keep me wondering. The mysteries piqued my curiosity and kept me turning pages.

The cliffhanger was the kind that just makes me want to read the next one because I'm so curious what comes next, not bitter because I feel juked.

Do I recommend it? Yes. Do I want to read the next one? Also yes.

3.5 stars

Well that was a pleasant surprise! I needed a distraction and was strangely in the mood for brooding vampires, and I ended up enjoying this much more than I thought I would. I really loved the world building, I think it has so much potential (though why it's set in the past when the preaent would work just as well...).
It had it's faults, which I think can be safely attributed to the genre: the beautiful, dark, brooding stranger vs the beautiful, smiling stranger (whomever will our plucky heroine chose?); the fiend, the devil, the big bad terrible bad boy who never really does anything bad but is described ad nauseam as so baaaaaad by everyone around him; the wild something within the heroine that is forever threatening to break through...
But once I got past that and focused more on the world and our heroines admirable strength (which I really admired), I enjoyed it more than it occasionally annoyed me. Enough to read the next book. I'm curious to see where this all goes.

Oh, be still my inner teenage heart...While this is YA as an 41 year old grown up (eek), I was enthralled by The Beautiful. The word Ahdleh creates is absolutely epic in nature...the twists are great and the ending, while tragic, also hopeful. My vampire story loving heart is geeking out over this series. Well done.
Thanks to #NetGalley & PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, for the copy!

A young French girl with a haunted past finds herself in New Orleans — a city of celebration but also one that hides much darkness. Girls begin turning up dead, sometimes brutally disfigured, and Celine begins to be captivated by a society she stumbles into that somehow is connected...

It's a somewhat spooky and very YA vampire story. I had a hard time with the writing style, somehow both too flowery and too simple. Definitely not my cup of tea, but if you like YA dramatic romance and blood, maybe it's for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for lending an e-book.

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group for sending me an e-book copy of The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh. This is the first in a series of YA vampire novels sent in 1870s New Orleans.

Honestly, this series feels like Anne Rice Lite, in all the best ways. I discovered Anne Rice in high school, and I've read tons of YA and adult vampire novels, looking for that same feeling, and with The Beautiful, I think I've finally found it. The writing is lush and evocative, and the atmosphere is dark and heady.

The story begins when seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau arrives in New Orleans, having fled France after killing the man who tried to rape her. She and a few other girls find refuge at the Ursuline convent. Shortly after she arrives, she meets Sébastien Saint Germain, the leader of La Cour des Lions, which rules the city's underbelly. Bodies of young girls, mutilated and drained of blood, start turning up around the city, and Celine seems to be at the very center of it all. Sébastien, going against everything he's been taught, is determined to protect her--at any cost.

It's so refreshing to see vampires that are actually dangerous, that don't sparkle, that are as dark as the night that conceals them, which I know sounds odd, but it's like a return to the OG vampiric tales. Renee Ahdieh hits all the right notes with this one. Easily five stars. Way better than Stoker's Dracula. That one's a snooze-fest. (lol.)

I can't wait to binge the rest of the series. I'm so glad I discovered it as the fourth and final book is being released.

Not too bad as a series starter. Celine is a not-so-innocent teen running from her violent past, remaking herself as a proper gal looking for a proper suitor. She meets Sebastien, an advantaged young man that lives a reckless life. She gets her chance to make something more of herself than just a wife when her clothing designs are recognized and she is asked to design a dress for an event. This draws her in to the circle in which Sebastien lives. She is awed by the grandeur and opulence of his lifestyle, and is tempted by his daring attitude. She is also in the sights of a killer; people close to her are being killed and she is finding clues. She chooses to follow the clues to find the killer, despite the danger to her. She also chooses to spend time with Sebastien even though his family is against this - and she now realizes that his family is immortal, though she does not label them. There is forbidden romance, danger at every turn, a mystery with clues like a treasure hunt! There is great chemistry, heroism, honor and a surprise ending - and this is just the beginning! I don't know what is in store for Celine, but there is a new future for Sebastien!

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The cover is gorgeous and the premise is interesting but I just had a hard time getting into it. I am interested enough to give the second book a chance.

Celine Rousseau is headstrong, defiant and ambitious when she arrives from Europe at the age of 16, accompanied by six other orphaned girls, all to be raised in a convent by the Ursuline Sisters learning useful household skills, as well as etiquette, and proper social graces for launching them successfully as marriageable young ladies in Renee Ahdieh’s, “The Beautiful,” a young adult/children’s romantic historical thriller set in 1870s New Orleans.

The girls arrive in New Orleans at the beginning of Festival—a season of colorful parades, balls, and festivities leading up to the finale of Mardi Gras—that are all tempting, lurid and glitzy enticements for the naive newcomers—especially Celine.

While living in Paris, Celine was apprenticed to the workshop of an haute couture fashion designer. There she gained a sharp sense of style along with a delft and delicate hand at stitching. Upon arrival to New Orleans, Mother Superior tasked her to make handkerchiefs and sell them in Jackson Square to earn donations for the nunnery.

One fortuitous day, a mysterious woman stopped by the Convent’s booth and purchased all of Celine’s pocket squares, and then requested that Celine create her a ball gown. This was quite out of the ordinary. How was Celine going to convince the Sisters to let her do this project? Also the woman needed to be met in the evening at a specified location.

Celine wants to throw caution to the wind; however, she must be extremely careful not to make anyone uncomfortable or suspicious of her because she’s hiding a huge secret that can ruin her reputation and the possibility of her future happiness.

Remember, this is targeted at tweens, so the writing is of “The Beautiful,” may not engage sophisticated audiences. For fans of Anne Rice’s vampire series, this is a fun little romp on the master’s home turf.

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Renee Adhieh, and Publisher G.P. Putnam and Sons Books for Young Readers for this advanced reader’s copy (ARC) for review.

The Beautiful is the first in a gripping romantic YA vampire series by Renée Ahdieh.
This book does not slow down! It is action packed and has you excitingly anticipating the next moment.
The characters captivate me, the writing style is gloriously thick and creates such a cool atmosphere, and the plot twists are simply phenomenal.
I love her writing and will be checking out the other titles in this series.

I would like to thank NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

Mystery hides in the dark corners of New Orleans at the best of times, and in the late 1800s, even more sinister secrets can be found there. Celine Rousseau has recently made the journey from Europe to the United States with the fervent desire to escape the event that both defines her and torments her. Unfortunately, danger lurks in the shadows of New Orleans, as well, though it is a different kind than she expects. And when the infuriating and sensual Sébastien takes notice of Celine, both of them are torn between the darkness within them and the light they desire.

This late nineteenth century fantasy romance blends the allure of New Orleans with the age-old appeal of vampires. Floral descriptions give the book a fanciful appearance, especially as these details enhance characters who might otherwise be less than appealing. References to Shakespeare are prevalent throughout the novel, and myriad languages also find their way into the narrative through the voices of multiple narrators. All this contributes to an overall feeling of high class citizenry when the characters themselves are anything but.

Sadly, the audiobook version is lackluster and does not include appropriate pronunciations in all the accents used within the book. Reading the printed page, however, is much more enjoyable. Readers who appreciate period vampire novels will find this one to be appealing both in plot and in presentation, and they will eagerly await the subsequent installments once this story ends. This is an immersive tale for young adults and older readers who appreciate rich descriptions accompanied by the danger inherent to vampires and other creatures of the night.