The Beautiful Ones ♦ Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Review
The Beautiful Ones is my first book of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and I was left delighted afterwards. In all honesty, I don’t believe Silvia Moreno-Garcia is capable of producing a subpar book. I have read multiple other reviews of other books she already published. And lucky for me, I already have three more of her books here patiently waiting.
Content of review
Title: The Beautiful OnesAuthor: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
ISBN-13: 9781529416107
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books, published on 27. April 2021
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 297
Format: Hardcover
Language: Englisch
Purchased at: Amazon
Buy here: Amazon | Thalia | Hugendubel
Link to Bookhype
Link to Goodreads
My rating:
From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a sweeping romance rich with love and betrayal, with more than a dash of magic.
They are the Beautiful Ones, Loisail's most notable socialites, and this spring is Nina's chance to join their ranks, courtesy of her well-connected cousin and his calculating wife. But the Grand Season has just begun and already Nina's debut has gone disastrously awry. She has always struggled to control her telekinesis: the haphazard manifestations of her powers have long made her the subject of gossip - malicious neighbours even call her the Witch of Oldhouse.
But Nina's life is about to change, for there is a new arrival in town: Hector Auvray, the renowned entertainer, who has used his own telekinetic talent to perform for admiring audiences around the world. Nina is dazzled by Hector, for he sees her not as a witch, but ripe with magical potential. Under his tutelage, Nina's talent blossoms - as does her love for the great man.
But great romances are for fairy-tales, and Hector is hiding a secret bitter truth from Nina - and himself - that threatens their courtship.
The Beautiful Ones is a charming tale of love and betrayal and the struggle between conformity and passion, set in a world where scandal is a razor-sharp weapon.
More Books by the Author: Mexican Gothic
The Beautiful Ones ♦ Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Opinion
The story of The Beautiful Ones revolves around two telekinetic characters named Hector Auvrey and Nina Beaulieu. Although Nina has spent her entire life in the country, her cousin, Gaétan Beaulieu and his wife, Valérie Beaulieu, bring her to the city, so she can mingle with the socialites also known as The Beautiful Ones. Hector, who also happens to be the wife’s betrayed boyfriend, uses Nina’s quest to learn more about her abilities as a chance to rekindle his relationship with Valérie.
I’m not sure how to express how much I adored this book. In a fascinating unique style, it combines different genre — and it made me fall in love with this mix of historical fantasy romance. Silvia Moreno-Garcia also does a fantastic job of bringing this universe to life. The setting is very intriguing, and I nearly felt as though I was right there with the characters. Which are flawless, as well as her world building.
There was also the romance between Nina and Hector, and I could feel all those emotions. The age difference did bother me a little, because it was hard to tell Hector’s age. The author never revealed that about him. Therefore, I just hoped both were just a decade apart. Besides that, I adored them to pieces. With all the drama and the second chances, and Hector ultimately learning to live in the here and now and to leave the past behind, it just hit all the perfect notes for me. Even now, pondering that I want to reread should say a lot about this book.
“»The world remained and there was something remarkably comforting about this thought, since heartbreak often invoked images of cataclysms that would devour every speck of ground beneath one’s feet.«
― Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Beautiful Ones, p. 134
»“You are beautiful, Valérie. I don’t think you’ll ever cease to be beautiful, and you’ll continue to drive men crazy with your beauty. But there is no goodness in you, just poison, and a desire to wound“, he said without malice, as if he were explaining a difficult arithmetic operation.«
― Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Beautiful Ones, p. 219
Valérie’s lack of depth as a villain is probably the only thing I have to criticize. Not that I cared much for this character, but there were occasions when a tiny feeling of pity rose up inside of me for her. But every next move or word of her extinguished this little flame over and over again. Honestly, it’s a very odd situation I hardly find myself in while reading a book. But Valérie’s character gave me mixed emotions of feeling sadly sympathetic with her, but also hating her to the core. There was simply no kindness from her in the midst of everything, which is what I was hoping for. Nevertheless, her character didn’t ruin the book for me. But on the contrary, it gave the whole plot and pace the right spice, which made me cheer for Nina and Hector even more and to see Valérie go down and swallow her own poison.
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Conclusion
The Beautiful Ones is basically a passionate, fast-paced romance with the magic of telekinesis peppered throughout. It just works, and I’m not sure how. Just don’t ask. But believe me, when I say: Silvia Moreno-Garcia is that gifted as a writer.
About Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia ist die Autorin von Velvet Was the Night, Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow und vielen weiteren Büchern. Sie hat den Locus und den British Fantasy Award für ihre Arbeit als Romanautorin und den World Fantasy Award als Herausgeberin gewonnen.
This review was also published at:
| ➥ Goodreads | ➥ Amazon |
| ➥ LovelyBooks | ➥ Büchertreff (German translation of review) |
| ➥ Bookhype |
Hi RoXXie! I’m able to comment using a different internet browser. But I wanted to say I’m glad you enjoyed this book. And that I’ve seen this author pop up so many times, so obviously it seems like I should read one of her books!
Hey Celeste,
I am glad you found a way and also figured the issue out. I am also glad, that it wasn’t a technical issue on my side. I hate diving deep into my backend. 😀
Maybe you wanna try The Beautiful Ones. My next book of her will probably be Mexican Gothic or Velvet Was the Night. 🙂
Cheerio
RoXXie