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.
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.