The Beautiful (The Beautiful #1) by Renee Ahdieh - Restarting February 25th 2024

[Taya]

is it too late to join?

[Taya]

how much are we reading per day?

[Min]

Hi, you can join us! We haven't decided yet, but how does 2 or 3 chapters per day sound?

[Taya]

sounds good to me.

[Min]

Chapter 8 (13%)

So far, the writing is captivating and there's a lot of plot lines that have been opened for following - I like that it's been established early on. Celine is an interesting protagonist and I'm looking forward to finding out more about her, and seeing her friendship with Pippa develop.

(view spoiler)[Took me a while, but I just realized who the "Hiver" chapters are narrated by. I thought that Noemie was going to be another character narrator but that changed pretty quickly. I also feel like that Pippa hasn't fully revealed her background... (hide spoiler)]

[Alice]

Chapter 8
It started off a bit slow for me, but it did pick up and I love how it's moving right now. I love the friendship we see, and I can't wait for it to develop. As for our protagonist, she is quite intriguing and something about her makes me want to know more.

(view spoiler)[ I kind of figured Bastien was who I thought her was, but I need to know more of his past! Odette is simply intriguing and a part of me thinks Bastien was the one who killed Annabel. We'll have to wait and see though. Arjun is a light-hearted character from what I can tell so far, and I have a feeling that the romance between Bastien and Celine is going to be super slow and torturous. (hide spoiler)]

[Taya]

so far i am enjoying this book. it was slow to start for a little while but quickly picked up and i like that. i'm enjoying the french (i am starting the process of learning the language and have a goal to be fluent in the next 2 years)

i'm not sure exactly what chapter im on but i am about 100 pages in and i can't wait to find out more about Celine and this murderess business

[Min]

Chapter 17 (35%) - read while procrastinating work.

So, a lot of things just happened.

(view spoiler)[Agree with Taya that it really started to pick up after they entered the Court of Lions! And agree with Alice that the romance between Bastien and Celine is going to be slow, given that both are currently quite stubborn around the other. Odette has a mysterious vibe to me...she speaks very lightly but I feel like she's covering up something? Her disappearance after they found Anabel? Truly mysterious. (hide spoiler)]

[Taya]

woah!!!!!
okay i was not prepared for this. I usually like to go into books mostly blind as it allows me to go in with no expectations and for sure i was not expecting to learn this bit of information about one of the characters. i'm being as vague as possible as to not spoil anything. i am about 50% in and am very happy with this story so far.

[Min]

80%

(view spoiler)[A bit infuriated that I still haven't figured out who the vampire is...can't tell if I've just been misreading the clues or if it's going to be some reveal that wasn't intended to be identified. (hide spoiler)]

[Min]

Finished! Would love to hear your thoughts once you are done too.

[Alice]

I just finished too!

[Alice]

(view spoiler)[ Okay so I thought that the Hiver was a female, but I wasn't sure and now that I know that it's Emile, well wow. So I think Bastien is going to become a vampire now? And Celine is going to like Michael, or think she does, but really it Sebby. The whole book was a weird ride, I weirdly did not love the relationship as I did in the Wrath & the Dawn, so there's that. TBH I liked Pippa, Arjun, and Odette the most oops. Also just me, or do you ship Arjun and Pippa too? I don't know it just works for me. Well, that was that, a 3 star for me. (hide spoiler)]

[Min]

(view spoiler)[Yeah, I did not see Emile as Hiver coming! Agree, I think Bastien is going to become a vampire which will kick start the sequel. Celine will probably slowly fall for Michael until she re-meets Bastien and then complicated things are going to happen. I also wasn't a huge fan of their relationship...I didn't think anything about Pippa and Arjun until you mentioned it though! I'm curious to see how the Saint Germain/Grimaldi thing plays out, that was thrown in quickly at the end and never resolved. 3 stars here too, it was not bad, but the last few chapters just felt like a pile of things to resolve in the sequel. (hide spoiler)]

[Elise]

Okay, so I just finished the book, and I'm still confused about Hiver. (view spoiler)[Near the beginning, Hiver talks about murdering the first victim, but that first victim was attacked by a man. Hiver and Emilie couldn't be the same person, unless the Hivers are multiple people (Nigel and Emilie). I feel like I'm missing something. (hide spoiler)]

[R.J.]

-ˏˋ mary ˎˊ˗ wrote: "Finished [spoilers removed]"

I can't wait to read the next book! I loved this book so much :) I agree with you 100%.

[Sarah Elizabeth]

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Date changed. Restarting June 11th 2020. Happy Reading ☺

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[Blue Butterfly]

A Touch of Violence
(view spoiler)[So far Celine seems like an interesting character. I want to know more about her backstory and her time in Paris. The magic in this world seems interesting so I can't wait to hear more about that. I love when fancy dresses and clothes are described and since she is a dressmaker I think it is going to be likely that we get a lot of that :) (hide spoiler)]

[Brinley]

A Silhoutte in a Dream, 35%

(view spoiler)[ This is definitely interesting, but I'm not finding myself connecting to the character, or the plot. I do find the detective super interesting, but I'm not the biggest fan of protagonists who constantly refer to this darkness inside of them because they did something "bad". I'm getting the feeling that the man Celine killed attempted to take advantage of her, so really, her killing him made sense, just not in this era. I do hope that we get the backstory there, and it's actually something nefarious, because I'm tired of Celine thinking she is bad because she enjoyed power, which is human nature.

Annabels murder made me sad, I liked having a red headed character. I wonder how the murderer chooses his victims, considering that he had an affair with the first one, but had most likely never met Annabel before. Is it based off beauty?

Am I the only one who's not a fan of the random bits of French in here? I understand it's to drive the setting home, but it feels like a waste of time to translate every one, but it feels like it's necessary for comprehension at times. (hide spoiler)]

[Brinley]

49%

Do you guys find this confusing and super slow moving too? I don't even know what has filled the pages I've read, considering we have no details about the convent, nothing about what they actually do with their days, and barely any information about the characters. This is disappointing me so far

[Brinley]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ I'm still confused on a lot. Who and what were the Fallen and the Brotherhood? What caused the rivalry between the killer and the Saint-Germaines? Who was Hiver, was it Nigel or Emile?

The ending felt very anticlimactic to me. I'm still not sure how Bastien got stabbed, or when. Is he a vampire now? I'm not too big of a fan of the whole memories wiped thing, it was just used to set up a love triangle for the next book. I wish we would've seen more of Michael, I liked him before he was in "love" with Celine.

What'd you guys think? This one disappointed me, but you guys might've seen something I didn't. (hide spoiler)]

[Blue Butterfly]

A Midsummer Night's Soiree
(view spoiler)[I am still pretty confused about who all of the characters are and why they are doing what they are. The story is going pretty slow. (hide spoiler)]

[Blue Butterfly]

Brinley wrote: "49%

Do you guys find this confusing and super slow moving too? I don't even know what has filled the pages I've read, considering we have no details about the convent, nothing about what they actu..."

Yeah I agree

[Blue Butterfly]

Finished
(view spoiler)[I really hated the ending. I wish more information was given about what happens to Celine rather than her just losing her memory. It would have been nice if the epilogue was like 5 years later rather than just a few words. (hide spoiler)]

[Blue Butterfly]

Brinley wrote: "A Silhoutte in a Dream, 35%

This is definitely interesting, but I'm not finding myself connecting to the character, or the plot. I do find the detective super interesting, but I'm not the biggest..."

(view spoiler)[Yeah what Celine did wasn't even that bad. She just did it to defend herself and was not trying to kill the dude.
I didn't really enjoy the random bits of French either. (hide spoiler)]

[Blue Butterfly]

Brinley wrote: "Finished
I'm still confused on a lot. Who and what were the Fallen and the Brotherhood? What caused the rivalry between the killer and the Saint-Germaines? Who was Hiver, was it Nigel or Emile?

T..."

(view spoiler)[I have all of the same questions as you and wish we were actually given some information as to why any of the events in the story occurred. From what I could tell the entire thing was just revenge for not being turned into a vampire.
I hated the ending! I think he is a vampire now. If he really loved her so much he would go after her even if her memory of his was wiped. He could just reintroduce himself to her.
I liked parts of the story but I was pretty disappointed especially compared to some of her other books. (hide spoiler)]

[Brinley]

Shreya wrote: "Brinley wrote: "Finished
I'm still confused on a lot. Who and what were the Fallen and the Brotherhood? What caused the rivalry between the killer and the Saint-Germaines? Who was Hiver, was it Ni..."

(view spoiler)[ I don't really understand the whole revenge thing though, because she was out to punish her brother, who did absolutely nothing to her. It's just strange that it motivated her so much. And I agree completely with you about the ending. The whole memory loss thing just feels like an excuse for her to get with Michael, who was written very poorly. (hide spoiler)]

[Blue Butterfly]

Brinley wrote: "Shreya wrote: "Brinley wrote: "Finished
I'm still confused on a lot. Who and what were the Fallen and the Brotherhood? What caused the rivalry between the killer and the Saint-Germaines? Who was H..."

(view spoiler)[I think his sister was trying to get revenge on his uncle not him. She tried to get to him though his last remaining relative. I'm pretty sure she is mad because he refused to turn her when she was dying. Yeah it was really dumb. (hide spoiler)]

[Brinley]

Shreya wrote: "Brinley wrote: "Shreya wrote: "Brinley wrote: "Finished
I'm still confused on a lot. Who and what were the Fallen and the Brotherhood? What caused the rivalry between the killer and the Saint-Germ..."

(view spoiler)[ I guess that makes more sense, but its still weird because the uncle didn't really care about him. It seemed to me that he mostly cared about keeping the line going, so he really could've had another heir even if she killed him. I'm not so sure what's so great about being an immortal werewolf destined to try and kill your family, but apparently that calls to Emile. (hide spoiler)]

[Blue Butterfly]

Brinley wrote: "Shreya wrote: "Brinley wrote: "Shreya wrote: "Brinley wrote: "Finished
I'm still confused on a lot. Who and what were the Fallen and the Brotherhood? What caused the rivalry between the killer and..."

(view spoiler)[I think she is just mad that there was a way to save her and her uncle refused to save her. Her loyalties are now to the wereworlfs because they have her a chance to live again. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

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Date changed. Restarting September 23rd 2020. Happy Reading ☺

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[Aly]

I'm listening to this now

[Aly]

28% (view spoiler)[ I'm bored. I struggle with historical books and I feel like nothing is happening really. Sebastien is meh. Now that Anabelle is dead maybe things will start moving (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

51% (view spoiler)[ I don't like how the narrator is doing the killer woman's parts. So slow and boring sounding.
The plot still seems slow, I really need it to pick up! More vampires, more romance, something. Sebastien threatening Art was interesting though (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

76% (view spoiler)[ Is Sebastien a vampire or what? I think he's human but he knows about vampires, but I'm not sure. And I thought the person killing people was a woman based on how the audiobook narrator read the parts, but now I'm not sure.

I am glad Sebastien and Celine finally kissed, but this book just isn't working for me. (hide spoiler)]

[Tammy]

Wow you were able to finish it fast!! I’m about at the 10% mark. (view spoiler)[ Not much has happened. We met the main characters. A girl died on the dock. We meet Odette, I’m assuming she’s a supernatural creature. And I’m also pretty sure the handsome well dressed guy who crossed the street without a word is the hero (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Tammy wrote: "Wow you were able to finish it fast!! I’m about at the 10% mark. [spoilers removed]"

I really like Odette, she's my favorite character

[Aly]

finished (view spoiler)[ Of course the last part picks up and makes me want to continue. Is Sebastien a vampire now? That's what I think, it was a trade off. Celine loses her memories of Sebastien and the night creatures and he gets to live as a vampire.

And his sister is alive and killing people, plus Nigel is a bad guy too. Maybe I will see about the next book... (hide spoiler)]

[Tammy]

Aly wrote: "finished Of course the last part picks up and makes me want to continue. Is Sebastien a vampire now? That's what I think, it was a trade off. Celine loses her memories of Sebastien and the night c..."

For some reason I thought you were already finished. This book sort of has a slow start

[Aly]

Yeah. It's tough because I was pretty bored but then the ending was good. So now the debate about reading book 2

[Tammy]

Aly wrote: "28% [spoilers removed]"

It’s been slow for me but I’m thinking the same thing you thought at this point (view spoiler)[Annabel dying might get the ball rolling (hide spoiler)]

[Tammy]

Sooo I guess it’s picking up a bit (view spoiler)[Sebastian just throws around his money and people are scared of his snake. I’m wondering if they’re all vampires or if the court is made up of a variety of immortals (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Tammy wrote: "Sooo I guess it’s picking up a bit [spoilers removed]"

Yeah, I was thinking that too

[Tammy]

This literally did not get good until like 91%, even when everything was going on. Maybe 3 stars

[Aly]

Tammy wrote: "This literally did not get good until like 91%, even when everything was going on. Maybe 3 stars"

So true! Some of the reviews I read for the second book said it was really slow so I'm not sure if I'll read it

[Saar The Book owl]

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Date changed. Restarting July 15th 2022. Happy Reading ☺

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[[deleted user]]

Sorry I haven't been able to pick this one up... I'm going to try to start it today... My vacation is over so I won't be able to read as fast as I'd love...

[Jenn]

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Date changed. Restarting February 25th 2024. Happy Reading ☺

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[Jenn]

Finishing up my current read but should be starting this one sometime today :)

[Jenn]

19%: (view spoiler)[ rereading this one so i can finish the series. I dont really remember that much about it so its like its new all over again. So far nothign has really happened besides 1 murder. Celine seems to ve an interesting character but shes definitely trapped in a life she doesnt want (hide spoiler)]