I DNF’d this one. I just couldn’t continue because the characters were all awful (both not very well drawn and completely unlikeable, each in their own way), and the plot wasn’t interesting enough for me to try to get past that, plus it felt like it was going to a frustrating place. So, I’ve bailed. ( )

The Beautiful Ones ♦ Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Review

[b:The Beautiful Ones|55311334|The Beautiful Ones|Silvia Moreno-Garcia|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1611470492l/55311334._SY75_.jpg|54122902] is my first book of [a:Silvia Moreno-Garcia|4088550|Silvia Moreno-Garcia|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1597118464p2/4088550.jpg], 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.



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.

»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

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.

"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.

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.



This review was first published at The Art of Reading. ( )

I was drawn to this because I thought it was a fantasy read but I ended up feeling like this story could have been told just as well without the small fantasy element’s inclusion. I found myself loving this even though it’s not my usual read and not what I anticipated when I chose it!

A beautiful (non-spicy) romance story perfect for February! ♥️ ( )

There’s intrigue and romance aplenty in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s fantasy set in a world inspired by late 1800s France. It’s Austenesque in its focus on manners, with a dash of Wuthering Heights level drama, and a pinch of fantasy. It’s an addictive recipe sure to keep you reading.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

A Love Story in a Beautiful, Imaginary World

This a beautifully written book which takes place in the imaginary place...Loisal, which is so vivid you long to visit there. It is "historical fiction" in that although the location is imaginary, the customs and technology seem to be from Europe (France?) in the early 20th century.
The characters are all interesting and well developed, as is the plot. I couldn't put it down! ( )

It's not unreadable, but the characters are not likable and the magic seems like an element tacked on after the fact. The plot feels generic and, overall, it feels like a YA romance, which is not a genre I usually enjoy. I picked it up after reading and loving Gods of Jade and Shadow. I didn't recall at the time that I had DNF'd it three years ago. Now I know why. ( )

It's not unreadable, but the characters are not likable and the magic seems like an element tacked on after the fact. The plot feels generic and, overall, it feels like a YA romance, which is not a genre I usually enjoy. I picked it up after reading and loving Gods of Jade and Shadow. I didn't recall at the time that I had DNF'd it three years ago. Now I know why. ( )

Magical and Beautifully Written


Insomnia was a real thing for me yesterday. I managed to finish four books and this is one of. I think the fact that I sat here in the dark with nothing but my kindle and it was such a joy. What I love with this author is that I never know what to expect when I read a Silvia Moreno-Garcia book. Honestly, that is so refreshing. Sometimes I want predictability, but sometimes I want to have no idea what I'm getting myself into. I just want to sit back and enjoy taking my emotions on a bumpy ride. Book rollercoasters are the only ones that don’t make me sick.

I will start out by saying that this book does have a love triangle of sorts in it. I usually don't go for that trope, but this one was handled well. Nina was a delight. She's such an oddball and a perfectly whimsical heroine, which are my favorite kind. Hector, the hero, took a bit more time to warm up to, but I think that's part of his story. He really had to work to get the reader's approval and Nina’s I loved when I felt this big shift in him--breaking apart the old and new Hector. I don't want perfect characters. I want characters that mess up, learn from their mistakes, and grow into better humans. I think Nina and Hector were able to do that. Because it's Silvia writing this, I honestly had no idea how the story would end. I didn't know if I'd get a happily ever after ending or if I'd close the book with tears in my eyes. I will let you pick it up and try it for yourself that is the best way to experience this book.
The prose is lovely and the writing style is so easy that you can get lost in it beautifully. Not one word was wasted and sometimes there were so many profound quotes that I had to keep from underlining text on every other page. It's really good writing that sweeps you up and into this world. If you like family drama, unrequited love, second chances and a playful dose of magic in your stories, this might be for you. If it isn’t I would recommend that you try Mexican Gothic first that is the book that got me started on this magical ride into finding a new author I truly enjoy. Overall this is a four-star read for me I think it could have been a five for sure I just have become a very picky girl when it comes to my books. I already have Velvet was the Night. It’s high on my list for 2022. I am truly just enjoying this author.
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Romance isn't my normal genre, but I love SMG and want to read all her works. I really enjoyed the draw-out development of the relationship here, though I wish the magic had been more prevalent. It was barely a flavor here. The antagonist is so hateable and gets a delicious comeuppance at the end. ( )

THE BEAUTIFUL ONES by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. About a young girl named Nina who falls in love with performer/magician (but real magic) named Hector, but Hector's real reasons for courting her are not romantic or innocuous. Basically a second-world Regency Romance with magic!

Greatly appreciated the slow burn aspects of it, and the realism of a relationship where one person breaks another person's heart and the other person either has to re-earn that trust, or...destroy it forever. ( )

La Belle Epoque

I adore this book and I'm so glad I picked it up. It is a majorly character-led book, which I am not used to in the least, and is driven through dialogue. The magic in this book is extremely minimal, which the author does alert to on the book's GoodRead page, but is a lovely little detail that connects two characters to each other.

The language is floral and beautiful without being pretentious, try-hard, or totally unbelievable. Moreno-Garcia created such vivid characters against an equally vivid backdrop, and a villain character that had me gasping at throughout. While the main character Nina does tend to suffer from NotLikeOtherGirlsitis, she's not insufferable, and ended up charming me as much as she did the people around her.

It's hard to say how I would recommend this book. I would in a heartbeat, but I know that the pacing and content of this book would not be everyone's cup of tea. However, this spoke to me in a way that ignited my love of certain romance that I haven't found in a long while. I love this book and this author's works. ( )

"You are going to break one of us, and it will not be me," she said, and he almost caught her wrist, but she pulled away - she always pulled away - and left him alone.

"Do you think you can put your heart in a box of iron and throw away the key? Do you think that is the best way to live? Keep your damn heart in a box and let nothing touch it!" she exclaimed.
Ready to depart, now that she had said her piece, she whirled away from him. Her chest burned with ardent sorrow, but at least she was glad she was not weeping.
"No, I do not think it is possible, because you are in there already!" he yelled back.

Oh my! I chose this book for my Valentine's Day read and I was not disappointed. I first heard about it from a booktuber. I have watched over two dozen review videos by this person and she is usually very negative (but constructive) about the books that she reads. In fact, she is so well known for her contriteness that, being accused of never liking any novels, she had to make a list of ones that she did like. And this one, this one made the list. In fact, she fairly glowed when she spoke of it. She didn't say the premise of the book at all but I didn't need her to because of the amazing change in her disposition. She could not stop smiling and squeeing and said that it gave her the feeling of her all-time favorite movie, 1995's Pride and Prejudice. Well, I am quite the fan of that film as well. Quite. So on that statement alone, not even knowing the plot or promise of the book, I ordered a copy. And if you are a fan of P&P, you should do the same.
It's like P&P, Sanditon, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Little Women, North and South, Poldark and even some of the similar modern books like the Pink Carnation series. It is everything right from all those books, simply fantastic. I loved every minute I spent with it and I want to read it all over again - right now. ( )

Silvia Moreno-Garcia captured the attention of the online book community at large with Mexican Gothic in 2020, but her brilliance didn’t start there. While not her debut, The Beautiful Ones is a book of particular note, managing to both entice and disgust in easy flourishes. This book has one of the best crafted villains I’ve ever read, and an ending I didn’t expect.

The Beautiful Ones is more magical realism than fantasy. It is a bit of romance and a bit of the unusual, but the cold steel heart of it is an examination of social structure and elitism and it is harsh. Harsh in the best way possible. Subjects such as old money vs. new money, decorum, family responsibility, and honor are all on bright display here. I love being able to fall into step with the characters, but also the ability to detach and watch the storylines play out to their own nefarious ends. I savored The Beautiful Ones in a way I did not expect.

All the characters are intriguing, although the contrast between Nina and Valerie was my favorite. Valerie was a surprise – not mentioned in the book’s description but a constant presence in its pages. What a good foil they are to one another! I think, in its depths, this is more Valerie’s book than Nina’s. I generally find the description misleading, as it is much less about Nina’s ability and more about the twisted relationships between various parties.

Without specifics, the scene at Clocktower Hill and leading up to it was my absolute favorite. I was so, so certain there would be a different outcome. No idea what I’m talking about? You’ll have to read the book to see.

The Beautiful Ones is an easy recommendation, particularly for those who enjoy period romances without too much steam and with a great deal of manipulation. I would read it again, and I have placed it on my long list of books I want to purchase in hardcopy. ( )

What I find most fascinating of all is the dramatic difference between The Beautiful Ones and the first one I read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Gods of Jade and Shadow is based in mythology; this one is a story very much of this earth. That being said, both books are about young, independent female protagonists - completely different from each other yet both on a journey of discovering and honoring their own strengths.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2021/12/the-beautiful-ones.html

Reviewed for NetGalley. ( )

I absolutely loved Mexican Gothic and was excited to read another title by the same author, but now feel sadly let down by this earlier novel. The magical element - telekinesis - wasn't enough to lift what is basically an American soap opera above stereotypes and tropes. The characters are mostly one dimensional and unsympathetic, the setting is vague - the Belle Époque in a fictional country with French names but all the greed and brashness of American 'high society' - and the story far too slow and superficial. I kept falling asleep while reading, which is not a good sign!

Antonina Beaulieu, nicknamed the Witch of Oldhouse for her 'talent' of moving objects with her mind, is sent to stay with her cousin in the city to find a suitable match during the 'Grand Season'. Unfortunately, instead of falling for one of the charming but vapid suitors thrown at her because of their family name or wealth, Nina meets her match in Hector Auvray, a theatre performer who shares her talent - but who is also a former lover of her beautiful but bitter cousin, Valerie. And that's the plot in its entirety, bar a few magic tricks and a duel. Valerie is ridiculous, a Disney villainess hell bent on destroying her husband's family because she didn't have the strength of character to marry a poor man who loved her when she had the chance. Much is made of her blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty, yet Valerie lacks the depth of character to make her a satisfying antagonist. Even when the story is told from her perspective, the reader is left thinking, 'Get over yourself'. Nina isn't much better, described in terms of her dark hair and natural innocence, but at least she stands up for herself. Valerie is vindictive, Hector is weak and everyone is obsessed with family reputation and obeying society's rules, but more in the nouveau riche style of F Scott Fitzgerald than the established gentility of Jane Austen. And there isn't even a satisfying conclusion!

If there are any readers who think a death match between Anna Karenina and Gigi set amidst the hollow glamour of The Great Gatsby would make an exciting literary mash-up, then get stuck in, but for me and everyone else, I stick would stick with Mexican Gothic! ( )

Love is a choice you make every single day, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia wrote such a beautiful novel based on this concept. This was such a fantastic romance and I really can’t say much more than that without getting into spoiler territory! ( )

As far as I remember, the advance copy of this book was one of the earliest copies I ever received on Netgalley, during my initial days of blogging in 2017. But I was also overwhelmed by the many arcs I had gotten due to my enthusiastic and impulsive requesting, and I quickly lost interest in this one. I never expected to encounter this book again, with a new cover and rerelease and more importantly, the now popular name of the author behind the book. I was also lucky enough to receive this one as a gift recently, so I was finally interested to see what it was all about.

As someone who is very rare in my picks of historical fiction, it was nice to delve into a new fantasy world, albeit with very similar societal structures and expectations to that of the various romances I have encountered with dukes and viscounts. That’s why this world felt very familiar and easy to get into, just with a tad bit of magic (or is it science?) added into it. I have always felt the author excels in writing lush and vibrant descriptions, and I think that was very evident in this type of story and definitely made it more richer. It was so easy to get lost when the author wove enchanting tales about the billowing dresses, the opulence of the city, the rustic country and more importantly, the raw and gritty emotions that drive people to do hurtful things. The pacing was also just right, always enticing me through some new crumb, whenever I felt my interest lagging.

And what fascinating characters the author has managed to create. I really loved Nina for her sweetness and innocence, but also for trying her best to be herself in a world that wanted to mould into a box she couldn’t fit in. Her enthusiasm for her beetles and butterflies, the easy way she could give her affections without expecting much, her desire to be able to want more than just a proper marriage - it all dug deep into my heart and I know she’ll remain quite a memorable character for me. On the other hand, Hector wasn’t easy to like to start with but I enjoyed getting to know him better and slowly fall for him as well. It was so easy for him to be perceived as a bad guy after the first half of the book, but the author deftly captures the turmoil within him and takes us on a journey with him, where he pieces back together his broken heart and embarks on a new but scarier phase of his life - to try and love again. Nina and Hector’s relationship starts off with lies but it truly develops into something full of love and understanding and particularly, respect, which I absolutely adored.

Valerie is a character who I suppose some readers might feel sympathetic towards because of the circumstances of her upbringing and the insurmountable expectations on her shoulders placed by her family, and maybe there was some goodness in her when she was younger - but in the present, I only found her to be spiteful and obsessive and vindictive, who just couldn’t tolerate anyone else’s happiness because she wasn’t happy herself. I’m not usually prone to hating characters, but my mom has been subjecting me to a daily Hindi tv show where there is a very similarly vindictive woman whom I hate and I suppose I may have projected all that loathing onto Valerie’s character as well. But I don’t think I’m wrong in this case.

There were also a good number of side characters, but only a few make a significant impression. I was indifferent towards Etienne in the beginning but it was nice to see him value his friendships, across social classes. I still don’t know how I feel about Luc, probably more pity than anything but I definitely can’t say I like him. Nina’s family as a whole seemed to be a good support to her and it was nice to see that.

Overall, this was quite an entertaining fantasy of manners, with gorgeous descriptions, very in-depth characters, a boatload of angst, and a delicious slow burn romance that made the experience worth it. The author does a singularly good job of evoking all kinds of emotions in the reader, and I really appreciated that. This probably has to be my favorite book by Garcia, but I have one more arc to go and I really hope Certain Dark Things will give me all the vampire content I want.
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This was a beautifully written story. While the description raised my expectations for more of a story of their telekinesis abilities, it serves more as a plot device. (And I confess, as a HUGE fan of magical realism, I kept waiting for this element to play a larger role in the story).

However, this is less a story around their abilities and more a character study. As such, its pace is languid, the descriptions lush and the personalities of the characters so well drawn that I found myself having visceral reactions to them. Nina was innocent and almost annoyingly naive, Valerie hard and bitter, with a nasty edge, and Hector? Well, I was fascinated by him, disdained him a bit, and then had a change of heart. What can I say?

Toss aside your expectations for the paranormal emphasis, and this is a fantastic book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of the book. ( )

This is like a French Age of Innocence (Wharton) plus some vague underdeveloped telekenesis. ( )

RTC. ( )

Oh this book. The author tweeted about it being "Dangerous Liaisons but with Force Users"; I'd probably call it Edith Wharton with telekinesis (but French). The point stands. Bound-tight societal emotion, with bonus magical powers.

I loved it. It has a slow start, gradually unfolding itself with intriguing characters tearing themselves ragged on each other (and we know I'm a sucker for that) and an excellence in construction that I could appreciate intellectually. But by around a third to a half of the way through, it had somehow and inexplicably become essential. I burned through the second half of the book in about 24 hours because I had to know, and not just what, but how. Every word was vital. Every word was perfect.

It's gentle. It's intense. It's an amazing journey for all characters involved. It's a delight. If you're into fantasy of manners--or characters who are immaculate catastrophes--then get thee into this because wheeeee! ( )

This book has been on my TBR pile for quite some time, but I never seemed to find the right time to get around to it: after greatly enjoying Certain Dark Things, I was more than curious to see how the author dealt with a totally different genre, but at the same time I was also a little wary about the romance angle in this story, since it's not one of my favorite themes. So it was with great surprise that I found myself enjoying The Beautiful Ones even beyond my expectations.

The novel's core focuses on Nina Beaulieu, a young woman from the country who came to live in the big, fashionable city of Loisail for the Season - the opportunity for all unmarried women to catch a suitable husband. A guest in the home of her cousin Gaetan, she's chaperoned by Gaetan's wife Valerie, one of the city's trend-setters and a woman with little patience toward her charge: Nina has little interest for the conventions of Loisail's polite society, causing no end of embarrassment to her chaperone, and what's worse she possesses some raw telekinetic talents that often manifest themselves in untimely circumstances, thus dramatically diminishing her chances to make a good match.

Valerie's irritation comes from deeper roots than that, however: she married wealthy Gaetan at the urging of her impoverished family, giving up her dreams of a future with penniless telekinetic performer Hector Auvray. While she enjoys the status the marriage conferred her, she buried those old dreams under a thick cover of strict adherence to society's rules, and Nina's lack of interest in them grates on her nerves just as much as the open affection Gaetan displays for his young cousin and the rest of her family. The situation becomes even more complicated with the arrival of Hector Auvray in Loisail: he's now a successful artist, and he's come back to try and win Valerie away from her marriage, because his feelings have not changed in the decade he's been away.

The three of them become entangled in a complicated, dangerous and heart-wrenching game that shows their true personalities - and more often than not it's far from an inspiring spectacle: Hector starts courting Nina as a way to get close to Valerie; Nina finds herself in the throes of her first love and throws what little caution she possesses to the four winds; and Valerie comes to the fore as the proverbial wicked witch we all love to hate. Described this way, the story might look like a classical love triangle, fraught with all the shades of emotional turmoil you might imagine - and it is that, too - something that usually would have me running screaming for the hills, but under the skillful handling of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, this becomes a compelling story, a study of characters under the most stressful situations, and in this it finds its true strength and the reason it's such a fascinating read.

Nina appears as an innocent - and up to a point she is - but there is much more under that surface layer, and that's why it's easy to root for her, even when she behaves like a moon-struck idiot and I want to shake her so hard that her bones rattle: unlike other girls of her age, the Beautiful Ones moving through Loisail's whirlwind of social occasions, she is curious about the world, she cultivates many interests that keep her mind alive beyond the superficial needs of parties and balls. Nina stands out not so much because her manners might not be as refined as Valerie wishes, nor because of her telekinetic powers, but because she never truly embraces the shallow tenets of the city's society: Loisail (and Valerie) despise her because for all her naiveté she feels more authentic than the rest of them.

They might have been more accepting if, perhaps, she'd shown herself meek and solicitous […] They saw a determined spark [,,,] that they classified as insolence, a lack of artifice that struck them as boorish, a capacity to remain unimpressed […]

That inner strength, that capacity to lift herself by the bootstraps, is what keeps her from shattering when her world comes crashing down around her, destroying her youthful fantasies, and that's the moment she grows into a stronger, self-determined woman:

They had likely expected her to die of heartbreak, to wither and grow gray, but Nina thought she would not give them the satisfaction. Not to the silly folk who made jokes about her, nor to Valerie […]

Valerie, though being the undisputed villain of the story - and she makes no effort to disavow the readers of this notion - is ultimately a creature to be pitied, up to a certain point: used as a bargaining chip by her family, she submits to their needs negating her own wishes, and becomes so enmeshed with the rules she was forced to obey that she is unable to see beyond them, her hate for Nina stemming from the awareness that the younger woman does not care for those same rules and is ready to scorn them for love - as she was unable, or unwilling, to do. Whatever pity I might have harbored for Valerie, though, quickly evaporates in the face of her decision to bring others to the same depths of despair she wallows in, out of pure spite - if she is unable to have something, no one should as well…

As for Hector, he's as far from a noble figure as one might conceive: obsessed with Valerie to the point he can't see neither of them is the same person as they were ten years before, he concocts a plan to get close to her, not realizing until it's too late that he's fallen victim to his own machinations - even once he finally opens his eyes and tries to make amends, he comes across as something of a weakling, and indeed I see him as the less substantial personality of them all.

Re-reading my notes about this novel, I realized that I've been ensnared by a story that contains too many of the elements I actively avoid in my reading material, and I wondered why: there was too little fantasy here and too much romance - how could I be so enthralled by The Beautiful Ones? The only answer I can find is that Silvia Moreno-Garcia is such a skilled writer that she can mesmerize me with her tales even agains my usual dislikes. And that's the mark of an author to keep on my radar, no matter what…


Originally posted at SPACE and SORCERY BLOG ( )

The Beautiful Ones by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia

2017, Innsmouth Free Press/Thomas Dunne Books

I have to preface this review by worrying that I’m not the right person to write it! I rarely read romances, and my knowledge of the Belle Époque period that The Beautiful Ones draws on for its setting and, I think, its style, is fairly limited – although I have read a passable cross section of other 18th and 19th century fiction including a fair number of gothic novels. Despite not feeling up to the task, I find a lot to recommend and to talk about in The Beautiful Ones, so I’m going to dial up my courage and engage with this book on its own merits.

The Beautiful Ones follows Nina Beaulieu, a woman who has travelled from her countryside home to the big city for her first ever Grand Season. Nina is, as befits this trope, somewhat overwhelmed by city life and bemused by the things the people surrounding her find important, and has unfortunately been left in the primary care of her married cousin, Valérie, who is equal parts vindictive and impatient towards her relative – having been left embittered by her own experiences of romance and marriage a decade earlier. To make matters worse, Nina has telekinetic powers, a rare gift in her world and a practice considered decidedly unsuitable for well-bred young women.

Enter Hector Auvray, a dashing performer renowned for his own telekinesis, who gets talking to Nina at a ball and soon falls into her orbit. Nina is initially keen to spend time with Hector in order to get him to teach her to control her powers – which, untrained, flare up when she gets emotional – but when he apparently begins to court her, her feelings quickly change into something more. We learn early on, however, that Hector is the very man who had his heart broken by Valerie a decade earlier, and that his scheme to get close to Nina may be no more than a ploy to get close to his old flame...

Given the conventions of romance novels, particularly the need for a “happily ever after”, I spent almost the first half of the book being deeply sceptical of the narrative, and particularly of Hector, a much older and more experienced man who is shamelessly using the affections of a young, inexperienced woman for completely pointless ends. I was therefore pleasantly surprised by how the second act was handled, with both Nina and Hector offered opportunities to grow and to re-establish a relationship in a way which felt much more “right”, despite the external obstacles placed in their way. Nina’s telekinesis, and her process of learning to use it, is utilised to great effect, particularly in the second act. This is the second of Moreno-Garcia’s books I’ve read with a magic system greatly affects the characters without impacting the setting (although Signal to Noise is urban fantasy, whereas the Beautiful Ones is set in secondary world – just an overwhelmingly mundane one) and once again I think its handled very well, with the disapproval of society towards Nina providing a perfect encapsulation of how disinterested these “Beautiful Ones” are in her true self, and how narrow and unsatisfying that definition of “beauty” is.

The Beautiful Ones keeps its main cast small: apart from Nina, Valérie and Hector, we also have Valerie’s husband Gaetan – who is nowhere near as boring and awful as Valérie makes out – and the siblings Luc and Étienne Lémy, who serve as complicating factor and friend of Hector respectively. I did feel the lack of a larger supporting cast made things quite claustrophobic at times, which heightened some of the melodrama but also undermined the feeling of being in a grand city full of societal intrigue. In particular, it’s a shame that Nina makes no female friends her own age, even in the second half of the book where she is less reliant on Valérie and the plot does not require her to be directly constrained. I also felt occasionally that the writing style muffled the more lurid plot elements – there’s a magical performance and a duel in this book, after all – and could have played with a less detached style, particularly at those more melodramatic points.

Despite those issues, the Beautiful Ones was gripping and didn’t feel slow to me at all, given the amount of both internal and external nonsense the characters have to wade through in order to get their HEA. I still don’t think romance is going to form more than an occasional (and usually accidental) part of my reading diet, but I was overall very impressed by this book, and it’s cemented Sylvia Moreno-Garcia on my ever-growing “author to watch” list. While I can’t analyse the Beautiful Ones against many other works of its genre, or the historical period it pastiches, it stands perfectly well on its own merits and I would recommend it as such.

(Originally posted to: https://adrijoyreads.wordpress.com/2018/02/25/the-beautiful-ones-by-sylvia-moren... ( )

Love, deception, and etiquette are a the center of this story in which a young women travels to the city of Loisail for her first Grand Season. The aim of her trip is to mingle with the Beautiful Ones who make up the wealthy high society in the city in the hopes that she’ll find a suitable husband. But she her manner and her telekinetic abilities make her a _target for gossip. When she meets telekinetic performer Hector Auvray, she thinks she’s found the kind of love read about in books — but learns that no one is what the seem in Loisail.

This is a charming fantasy of manners, full of polite but cruel society and wonderful explorations of the people who live in it. I have so far bought and read three of Moreno-Garcia's books and I have loved all three of them. The Beautiful Ones was no exception, and I can't wait to see what she does next. ( )

When you think of a sci-fi or fantasy book you tend to think of quick paced action and obvious differences or powers in the world you're reading about. What Silvia Moreno Garcia gives you instead is a beautifully constructed realm that blends and bends reality so closely with telekinetic powers that you'd hardly notice if they were there or not. You come into her story feeling as though you've missed a previous book, but that serves you later on. The Beautiful Ones has a lot of subtext, a lot of the story is unsaid, but you pick up on things as you read. The romance aspect of this novel is entertaining though. At one point it feels like a quadrangle instead of your typical triangle, or perhaps a circle? The imagery is beautifully described, and the characters feel real and well developed; at times even causing the reader to feel sympathy for the devil. And while each even happens in a long succession from the one before it, each serves the purpose of the story. I'd love to see another book or two in this world, the slow boil method really works here. ( )