The Beautiful Ones are beautiful and sparkling outside, but inside, there is sinister darkness waiting just below the surface. It's not all beautiful parties and glamourous gatherings, but gorgeous people putting on airs to be more than they are. Nina steps into this world and tries to navigate it with her cousin Valerie's guidance, the most beautiful of The Beautiful Ones. But Valerie is not what she seems and has darkness in her heart. She looks like perfection to the naked eye, but she is an angry, lonely woman who is not happy with her life. Poor Nina unknowingly becomes pulled into a love triangle that is genuinely heartbreaking in more ways than one.
The levels of anguish and heartache from so many characters are overwhelming at times. It had me crying on more than one occasion. This story has the feel of the great romance classics that leave your soul feeling tortured with every page you flip. But just like those great romances with the heartache comes great passion that ignites the pages. Nina grows so much through this journey and becomes a remarkable woman. I felt honored to travel with her as she found herself and navigated her way through her first heartache and love. Nina is much like a butterfly who is once an unattractive caterpillar. Still, she wraps herself and rebuilds herself, emerging into a beautiful butterfly that leaves the Beautiful Ones envious and unable to look away from her. Her beauty shines from inside and out when she finds who she is and becomes comfortable with her true self.
The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is both beautiful and heartbreaking. It has a way of grabbing you and not letting go. Once again, Silvia spun a web that captures the reader like one of Nina's insects and plays with our emotions till the end. It is as much outstanding as it is maddening.
The levels of anguish and heartache from so many characters are overwhelming at times. It had me crying on more than one occasion. This story has the feel of the great romance classics that leave your soul feeling tortured with every page you flip. But just like those great romances with the heartache comes great passion that ignites the pages. Nina grows so much through this journey and becomes a remarkable woman. I felt honored to travel with her as she found herself and navigated her way through her first heartache and love. Nina is much like a butterfly who is once an unattractive caterpillar. Still, she wraps herself and rebuilds herself, emerging into a beautiful butterfly that leaves the Beautiful Ones envious and unable to look away from her. Her beauty shines from inside and out when she finds who she is and becomes comfortable with her true self.
The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is both beautiful and heartbreaking. It has a way of grabbing you and not letting go. Once again, Silvia spun a web that captures the reader like one of Nina's insects and plays with our emotions till the end. It is as much outstanding as it is maddening.
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.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2021/12/the-beautiful-ones.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
