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The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh ARC Review

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New York Times bestselling author Renée Ahdieh returns with a sumptuous, sultry and romantic new series set in 19th century New Orleans where vampires hide in plain sight.

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon 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. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.

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This book had such amazing potential, and it faded away throughout the book.

One thing about this book idea was the whole historical vampires part, but there was nothing that really showed you that this was supposed to have taken place in the past. Also, there were hardly any vampires, which disappointed me greatly! I'm not usually one for vampires, but I thought it would work well in this book.

The romance was ehh. There isn't too much to talk about because it fell short for me. I did like our main character and her love interest, but it seemed too forced and their interactions with one another felt awkward.

This book overall reminded me a lot of Serpent & Dove, which I read this past June, but Serpent & Dove had the push that this book was lacking.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

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Thanks for reading!! Let me know if you've read this book and what your thoughts were about it!

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