Title: The Beautiful Ones
Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Tor Books (Macmillan Publishers)
Date published: April 27, 2021
A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
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. 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.
⤖ My Review ⬻
To give you an idea of my headspace going into reading Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Beautiful Ones, I wanted to start off by sharing that I had read only one other book by Moreno-Garcia going into this one, and it was not Mexican Gothic, as is the case with many other readers. The first book of hers that I read was actually Certain Dark Things when it was first released back in 2016!
I had launched my blog just that year and was actually visiting my home country of Romania, and more specifically my home town in Transylvania, when reading and reviewing the book. How fitting! All that aside, I was left feeling like more could have been done with the story and that it could have actually also continued on to be a series. I was happy to see that Certain Dark Things was re-released this year, and I will definitely be giving it another try.
Prior to, and even by the end of reading The Beautiful Ones, I have not yet re-read Certain Dark Things, so I was both excited and cautious diving in (especially because of all the buzz around her other novels Mexican Gothic and Gods of Jade and Shadow, which are also on my reading list).
From the synopsis, I knew that The Beautiful Ones would be unique from anything else I had read before–and I’m happy to say, now having read it, that this was definitely the case! Can we also pause for a moment to admire that incredible cover! I found myself staring at it quite a bit, taking in the style, the colours, all of the little details…But back to the interior of The Beautiful Ones.
As I said, this book was definitely unique to me, but in an unexpected way. There were pieces to this story that while looked at separately definitely reminded me of other plots and elements (whether it be from other books, movies, TV shows). However, when all of those pieces are combined together… that combination is what I found to be unique.
I liked how The Beautiful Ones read very much like a Victorian or Regency classic, and while reading it, I certainly envisioned everything playing out as if I were watching a historical TV series or film. I was definitely quite entertained! And the telekinesis aspect definitely made things all the more interesting. Just like with Certain Dark Things, I was left wanting a little bit more, but decidedly in a better way. I enjoyed The Beautiful Ones and hope to pick up one of Moreno-Garcia’s other books soon!
⤖ About the Author ⬻
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of several novels, including Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow and Untamed Shore. She has also edited a number of anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu’s Daughters). Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination.
⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻
⤖ Let's Chat ⬻
Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!
I really need to grab a copy of this one! I adored both of Moreno-Garcia’s previous books, and that cover is too beautiful to pass up, so I’ll definitely be adding this to my TBR soon.
It is gorgeous, isn’t it?! And I hope you enjoy it when you pick it up 🙂
Great review! I really enjoyed this one!
Thank you! And I’m so glad you did 😀
I really enjoyed this one. It was a pleasant surprise, especially because of the regency-vibe setting too! It felt like watching a period movie 😀
Yes it really did have regency vibes didn’t it? It also gave off a different vibe than I expected. Def enjoyed it
This sounds so good, I can’t wait to pick it up too!
It was definitely enjoyable! I hope you like it too 🙂