The Beautiful Ones | ARC Review

Thank you to Jo Fletcher Books and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

 Book: The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Rerelease Date: April 27th 2021
Tags: Adult | Historical Fiction | Paranormal | Romance | Emotional | Belle Epoque | Loisail
Other books by this author I reviewed
Gods of Jade and Shadow | Mexican Gothic

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—neighbors call her the Witch of Oldhouse—and the haphazard manifestations of her powers make her the subject of malicious gossip.

When entertainer Hector Auvray arrives to town, Nina is dazzled. A telekinetic like her, he has traveled the world performing his talents for admiring audiences. He sees Nina not as a witch, but ripe with potential to master her power under his tutelage. With Hector’s help, Nina’s talent blossoms, as does her love for him.

But great romances are for fairytales, and Hector is hiding a truth from Nina—and himself—that threatens to end their courtship before it truly begins.

I’ve previously read two other books by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and all differ so much from the other. The Beautiful Ones is an interesting character driven romance with a flair for the theatrical.

On the surface The Beautiful Ones is a love triangle between three people. Hector returns to Losail where he meets young Nina. He is entertained by her but when he learns she is family to his first and only love from 10 years ago, he feels a desperate need to inject himself into their lives. You can only imagine how that is going to turn out.

But on a deeper end this is more a character study of three different characters in this triangle. What moves them, how they interupt things, what makes them do what they do. Who are they in their core and how does that match with the bond they have with the other. And the shifts those reflections bring. Nina is such a likeable young girl who just dreams of a love. You can’t help but like her. Hector is jaded and at the start I wanted to smack him. But as we get to know him and his story I warmed up to him considerably. And Valerie who I intitially understood but became such a vengeful spirit.

And yes this is a bit of theatrical and melodramatic story but it fits very well with the period of Belle Opoque. The time of the grand season, grand balls and the grand gestures. If the story had been more subdued, it would not have sparkled out such a captivating story that in the end falls into place.