I read the blurb for this book and completely misunderstood the premise. I was expecting a book full of magic, threats against those with magical abilities and general intrigue.

This book is actually a beautifully written exploration of love, desire, infatuation and machiavellian plots. The triangle of characters that are at the centre of the book are Nina (Antonia), Hector and Valerie. The Beautiful Ones of the title are the monied, titled men and women of society who seem to wield all the power, and play games with those less sophisticated for selfish entertainment and as a means to gain power and influence.

Valerie is one of these women. She is at the pinnacle of society and relishes her power whilst resenting everyone and everything around her. She is expertly brought to life. Even though she is unbelievably cruel and selfish, I still felt pity for her. She is a product of society and has been used herself by her family and husband for their own ends. She is as much a victim of society and Nina is, but where Nina rises to the challenge and cleaves her own path, Valerie becomes consumed by resentment and fury and the bitterness eats away at her.

For me this felt like a modern day Jane Austen novel, and I absolutely loved it. The characters are so well drawn (they are flawed, infuriating, intriguing, funny and brave) that now that I have finished the book I feel bereft, as though I have had friends come to visit me and now they have left.

Thanks go to the publishers St. Martin's Press and net galley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

DNF @ 30%.

There's really nothing wrong with this book, but it's just not what I expected and not what I need right now. I went into this expecting an exciting paranormal/historical story (based on what I'd read in the blurb), but from what I've read so far it's really more of an old-fashioned historical romance. It's well-written, and the characters' schemes have the potential to get really interesting. It's definitely pretty slow-paced, though, and there are other books I want to focus on at the moment.

I admit to being a little bit surprised by Moreno-Garcia's latest--it feels a little more conventional, a little more Western European, than her previous two novels (Signal to Noise and Certain Dark Things). It's set in what seems to be a historical Western Europe analogue, in a world where some people have telekinetic powers--including two of our main characters, a man who makes his living performing magic tricks (but like, actual magic) on stage, and a naive young woman who is interested in the natural sciences--and in him. The third point of this triangle is the performer's first love, a bitter woman who was forced to marry for money--to the naive girl's cousin. I read parts of this with dread because I honestly couldn't tell if it was the kind of book where things were going to work out or not, and I really liked the young girl character and worried about her. This was an enjoyable read, but it didn't feel that different from other books I've read (which means it will probably appeal to fans of like Mary Robinette Kowal). B+.

Not my type of book, I tried to start it but just couldn't get into anything about this book!

I have mixed feelings about this. It wasn't face paced, but I didn't want to stop reading either. The writing was good enough that I still liked it despite being aggravated at some of the things going on. The first half was so good. I wanted to know what would happen next because it was obvious whatever goal Hector was trying to achieve was going to blow up in his face. Nina was so innocent. I felt bad for her. I didn't like what Hector was doing, but I understood it.

Things changed about halfway through. I liked Nina and Hector much better then. They both grew and matured. The amount of drama that ensued was too much. It was frustrating and not in a good way. The one thing this story had not needed was another love triangle thrown in in the second half especially since it was obvious Nina did not have feelings for the other guy. Nina's behavior was aggravating at times and seemed somewhat out of character compared to the earlier part of the novel. She had always been the type to do what she wanted regardless of whether or not others approved. Some of that defiance disappeared. Most of the truly dramatic parts towards the end could have been completely avoided if Nina would have been honest with herself and spoke her mind. The end was satisfying, but I wish there had been less angst in the process of getting there.

I received an e-arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher!

5 stars

I would like to start with that fact that this is not a fantasy novel – it has some fantastic in it but it is mainly a romance. A gorgeous Pride and Prejudice meets Downton Abbey romance. It centers around a young woman, Nina, who comes to the city of Loisail for the Season to meet an eligible match with the help of her cousin’s wife. Nina is very wealthy but she is a free spirit and not what you would call a conventional lady. Not only is Nina a free spirit, but she is also telekinetic and interested in telekinesis – something that is frowned upon in the high society of the Beautiful Ones. At her first soiree Nina meets Hector, a recently arrived famous telekinetic performer. Their meeting is best described like that of Mr. Darcy and Lizzy’s meeting. However, Hector soon learns that Nina’s cousin is married to Valerie – the love of Hector’s life. Feeling betrayed and spurned after Valeirie broke off an engagement in their youth – Hector starts courting Nina to exact revenge upon Valerie.

I could not put down the book. While it is not a fast-paced book – the emotions of each character are written so well that I just couldn’t tear myself away. Miss Moreno-Garcia writes emotions and motivations extremely realistic and I honestly could relate to a lot of them. Even Valerie, who is one of the cruelest characters I have encountered can be understood when reading her POV. Furthermore – the character grown in this novel is palpable and so gratifying – there is nothing I hate more than no character growth, and Miss Moreno-Garcia does not limit this to just her main characters.

Furthermore, Miss Moreno-Garcia examines some extremely poignant social issues – such as what is the worth of a woman, what role does a family play and how love can be measured. All of which make this novel, not just a pretty tale, but an important examination of women’s social status. Miss Moreno-Garcia is clearly asking some very fundamental questions and expects her readers to dwell on them.

If you like gorgeously written romance, with loads of drama, women’s issues do yourself a favor and read this gorgeous book!

It's a 4.5 for me because I have to take in the transitions that lagged a bit for me, but otherwise, I fell on the right side of the star rating. I loved this so much, I'm surprised. I was expecting to fall for the fact that they knew about and somewhat encouraged mental talents in the ballgowns-and-carriages era, but instead I fell for the romance that failed and the romance that survived. When I first started this, I wasn't sure where it was going because I'd forgotten about the blurb. It was a nice surprise, then, when the first young woman I was introduced to ended up being the outsider. I loved how the story changed to the different POVs, how each character saw the other in such a different light. It was heady. And disheartening. And often times maddening when it came to a certain viper. The drama and romance and the changes of the human heart were fascinating and had transfixed the whole way. I stayed up til four in the morning, I was that hooked.

The writing style was very simple and I liked that. A little hard to get into at first with their different speech-thought patterns, but it wasn't hard to love it. The three characters were different for me; a venomous woman who chose left, a man who chose to follow, and a young woman who'd yet to move. I don't want to spoil anything so all I will say on them is that they were very complex, one more than others, and I also appreciated the supporting characters in their life. The whole thing was an unusual obsession for me. Where I usually fawn over dragons and magic, I ended up crying and laughing and crying (I was mostly crying, alright?) over three people who'd been blessed and cursed with knowing what love was. It's an absolute recommend.

My apologies but I am unable to complete this book and have abandoned it at 40 per cent. I find that there is no plot and all but one of the characters are unlikeable. I hoped, based on the title and the author's previous work, that this would have a stronger fantasy element. Instead it reads more like a period piece which I am not finding very entertaining. I compare this to "These Ruthless Deeds" which I found more enjoyable.

Thank your for granting my request. Given that I have not finished the book my review will not be posted online.

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"All we ultimately have to do is believe. We focus our mind on one single point, one single purpose, and we push. We grasp. We manipulate wood and glass and iron. However, the greatest trick is the belief. Belief is what makes it real."
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This was a surprisingly delicate story, woven out of what seemed at first to be somewhat uneven fibers. It started out strong, then wobbled a bit and almost lost me... Fortunately, I persevered, because it turned out to be quite a lovely tale of love, revenge, and hope - but without falling into the sappy or hackneyed traps that all-too-often accompany those particular descriptors. There's a Victorian sensibility to the tale, with its formal relationships and male-female interactions. There's an undercurrent of magic/supernatural ability. There's a thundering love story full of passionate, violent, over-brimming emotion and the towering highs and devastating lows that so often accompany that type of overwhelming feeling. There are tremendously well-developed characters, full of flaws and talents and endearing frailty. Each of those pieces offers promise, but it is the threads that tie them all together that set the story apart...

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"I am glad of who I am now. You don't know that when you begin a journey, and looking back the picture is not always pretty, but I wouldn't take any of it back."
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The narrative is woven together in a way that alternates between tension and ease, teasing the reader into thinking they can see where the relationships are going, then suddenly taking a subtle twist or turn that winds up throwing everything into chaos. It's a delicate dance, marvelously managed, and it makes for a very enjoyable and engaging read!

Moreno-Garcia, Sylvia The Beautiful Ones, 336 pages. Thomas Dunne Books, 2017. Language: PG-13 (29 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (alluded); Violence: G.

For ten years, Valeria has been living the life of a Beautiful One in the sparkling city of Loisail, after she was forced to void her engagement to the love of her life and marry for the sake of her family. Now she is shepherding her husband’s young cousin through her first season and the girl, Antonina, is just annoying, with her country ways and unsophisticated manners. When Hector returns to town, however, and pays some attention to Nina, Valerie’s jealousy raises its ugly head and she will do anything she can to destroy anyone else’s happiness.

While this book is set in an imaginary land and contains a little bit of magic, there is very little actual fantasy within the book. The magic is like an afterthought to make this look like a fantasy. The story line is fairly predictable, but reads easily, like a beach read.

ADULTS – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher

Wow! This book was not at all what I expected. There was a lot more romance than magic (both Hector and Nina are telekinetics). It reminded me of reading a Edith Wharton book with a bit of magic mixed in, complete with naive protagonists, scheming cousin-in-laws (the vicious Valerie) and bumbling suitors. The writing is beautiful, and although the pacing was sometimes slow, I was 100% invested in these characters.

Valerie is the perfect villainous. She has had a sour life, denied a marriage to the man she loved, pouting as her husband (a perfectly nice man, by the way) throws jewels her way. She has made almost no choices in her own life (which is a sad commentary on the rigid gender roles in the 19th-ish century - I write 'ish' because it really isn't clear when this novel takes place), and she's determined that young Nina suffer through the same fate.

I will stop here, as I want to keep this review spoiler-free. But it was an impressive, accomplished novel, and I highly recommend it.

This was such a beautifully written book. I didn't know what to expect (the genre is a little strange with the slight magical aspects, but it reads like a Victorian romance, I guess). In any case, I was really blown away. Yes, you could say the plot is not fast-paced, but don't confuse that with it not being engaging. I couldn't put this book down. I found myself re-reading paragraphs just because they were so beautifully written.

While I thought this novel was an intriguing and extremely well written, it was not what I was expecting. I thought this would be more along the lines of The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare or A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. Based on the description, that is what I took away. It was not, so if that is the type of novel you are looking for, The Beautiful Ones isn't for you. However, if you are a fan of Jane Austen-esque novels with a hint of supernatural in it, then you should immediately pick up this book!! I am not a Jane Austen fan (just not my cup of tea) so that is why I found this book kind of slow to get through (in addition to what I found to be a slow build up of the novel overall). I found I spent most of this book waiting to get to what I thought would be the plot line so that also through me off. It details a lot of Victorian era culture, which was interesting for someone like me with an anthropology background.
Overall, an interesting read but not my cup of tea. Someone who is into Jane Austen/Bronte sister's literature would probably give this a higher rating and enjoy it very much. Someone who was looking for more supernatural elements, be ready that this book doesn't quite hit the mark. [Review shared on goodreads]

Nina Beaulieu would rather be out at her country manor collecting beetle and butterfly specimens than debuting in high society for the Season at Loisail. However, as a Beaulieu she's expected to make an appearance and a beneficial arrangement for marriage.

She's had a hard time getting people to see her as anything but strange--aside from her interest in science, she's also got telekinetic powers that are unpredictable and hard for her to control.

When she meets Hector, she thinks she's not only found someone who could understand her (as he is a famous telekinetic performer), but someone she could love. She just doesn't know the ulterior motive from his past that guides his every move.

The Beautiful Ones is a story of manners and love with a science fiction twist. The characters are interesting and compelling, and one of them spirals down into a vindictive madness that takes the story to some interesting territory. It has the feel of so many classic tales of manners and love but keeps the story fresh and inventive.

Damn, I knew I was right to be excited about this book. The Beautiful Ones is the first novel I have read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia but I'm really glad I decided to give it a try. I found this book to be very engaging. It was an interesting take on a historical novel with the addition of the characters telekinetic powers. The characters are wonderfully drawn, their desires and decisions believable. The setting is lightly sketched, in the sense that there's no in-depth exploration of the speculative element, but the places and the society are beautifully evoked, no less so for being closely based on historical models.

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is utterly breathtaking. *holds the book tightly to her chest with a look of absolute wonder on her face*

There are no words that would be able to adequately express my love of this book...no words. The author’s writing style is simply amazing. Clear, concise and wonderfully descriptive, the word flow is perfect with no lag, while the pace is a smooth and steady one that gives us a great build-up and the unique ability to get to really know all the characters and the driving forces behind them. The Beautiful Ones is exactly what I imagined but so, so much more than that. The world, characters, and everything within this stunning book are well-defined and vivid, not to mention absolutely captivating. With touches of the regency era, romance, drama and scandal, and paranormal elements, this read is sure to delight one and all. This story is original and so full of feels that it will bring you to your knees! A must-read!

Please note that an ARC was generously provided in exchange for an honest review of which this is both honest and completely voluntary.

I was excited to see supernatural powers portrayed in a society of class and manners. But this books was more class and manners than supernatural.
Nina visits the city to become cultured as a lady. Raised in the country, she has no time or patience for her cousin in law who continues to disparage her because she will not confine herself to the silly rules of society. She strikes a friendship with a Hector an entertainer with the power of telekinesis; a gift she has but is afraid to use. By becoming involving involved with Hector, she becomes caught in a game of cat and mouse trapped in the politics of the upper class.
It took forever to get me interested in the plot. Everything was predictable until the final chapters and the story focused mainly on the rules of society. In fact, telekinesis was a background providing minimal motivation and used very little throughout the books so you are taken by surprise once you arrive to the ending.
I did give it three stars because even though I saw the strife at the half way point coming, I cried for Nina. I did identify with her and my heart broke for her pain.
I would recommend The Beautiful Ones to those who like stories of class and society and not to those interested in tales of the paranormal.

The question that held me in suspense almost throughout this book was, "What genre is this?" It has elements of literary (particularly the focus on the interiority of the characters); elements of romance (the focus on the characters' relationships); and a relatively small, but in the end significant, speculative element, in that the two main characters are both telekinetics in a society where this is not common, but also far from unheard of.

The main reason I wondered about the genre is that if it was pure literary, it might turn into a tragedy in which the characters spiralled downwards through helplessness into hopelessness and everyone ended up miserable. There was definitely potential for that to happen, given the premise: Hector, a stage performer with a powerful telekinetic ability, has returned to the capital city of Not!19th-century Not!France after a long time touring out of the country, and is now a wealthy man. He meets a young woman, Nina, who happens to be the cousin of the man his first love married instead of him. He's never got over that youthful love, or the disappointment of losing her, and he uses the pretence of courting Nina to get back in to see her cousin's wife.

There are all kinds of ways in which that could go bad, of course, and for a long time it looked like all of them were going to happen, intensifying the question: is this a literary novel where everything falls apart while the author describes it beautifully, or a romance, in which the characters manage to make a happy ending? And is the fantasy element (the telekinesis) merely decorative or symbolic, something that Nina can do but is discouraged from doing because of her social status and her gender, or will it end up being significant to the plot? Answers inside the spoiler tag.

<spoiler>It turns out to be a romance, and the telekinesis is important, so I will declare this to be a fantasy romance with strong literary sensibilities.</spoiler>

The characters are wonderfully drawn, their desires and decisions believable. The setting is lightly sketched, in the sense that there's no in-depth exploration of the speculative element, but the places and the society are beautifully evoked, no less so for being closely based on historical models. The language occasionally shows hints in an odd phrasing or two that the author may not speak English as a first language, but it's generally elegant and capable without being overly obtrusive.

Overall, I enjoyed it very much and looked forward to each time I had the opportunity to read it.

I received a copy from Netgalley at no charge for the purposes of review.

of course, this isn't a grand piece of literature, so I won't judge it with the same ruler as those intense pieces of work, however, as a free novel I was very impressed and found that I quite liked this novel. In fact, I could say I loved it as a simple, casual read

Antonina Beaulieu is in the glittering city of Loisail for her first Grand Season, where she will attend balls and mingle among high society in hopes of landing a suitable husband. But Antonina is telekinetic, and strange events in her past have made her the subject of malicious gossip and hardly a sought-after bride. Now, under the tutelage of her cousin’s wife, she is finally ready to shed the past and learn the proper ways of society.
I really wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. I always enjoy books that take place during the Grand Season. I enjoy the idea of glamorous balls and beautiful dresses, that whole period of society. But this pacing in this book was just so slow for me. I understand world building and set up but for me things took way too long to get moving.
The writing itself is very well done, and the descriptions are beautiful and characters are well developed.
For me this was mostly based on pacing, I need things to move a little quicker, so I am unable to put the book down. For me once I started the book I was reluctant to put it down, but then I found it hard to pick up again to fall back into.