The preview chapters of The Beautiful were atmospheric and seductive in the writing style. I felt drawn into the plot almost immediately and found myself eagerly turning the pages for more. This novel is only my second exposure to the work of Renée Ahdieh and I forgot how much I enjoyed her writing style.

I really enjoyed the way the novel was split between the POV of Celine, the novel's main female lead, and the killer. It added a twist of mystery and sent chills up my spine as the killer started to select his second victim. The Author has a way of pulling you into the story by your senses, and when I finished the preview chapters I found myself wanting more. I gave this preview four out of 5 stars and will be adding the novel to my TBR.

I loved this first look! I went out and bought a full-length copy of The Beautiful and I can't wait to read it!

This is a review of an exept of The Beautiful provided by Netgalley.
The exept of The Beautiful was very intriguing. We follow two characters, Celine, a seamstress with a mysterious past who is from France, and an unnamed character who (I think) is a vampire. The story is set in New Orleans. The writing was good, the plot was interesting, but I don't think I will be reading the rest of this novel. It just didn't really "stick out" to me.
3.5/5 stars

This preview chapters were such a promising start!

As a fan of The Wrath and The Dawn and A Flame in the Mist fan, I'm surprised to really enjoy these first few chapters of The Beautiful. Especially since I've heard mixed reviews about it and it being different from the author's previous works.

It's too early for me to really give an opinion about this book but i really want to say that it already intrigued me! There's no doubt i'll continue reading this book in the near future. I personally really like the premise of this book as i'm usually interested in stories about vampires, werewolves, and such. The setting of the book I think is also suitable for the story, so is the writing style even though it took me a while to get used to it because English isn't my first languange. But once i got the grip of it, i can feel and follow the flow of the story,

I really enjoyed this! Thank you to Netgally for this preview of The Beautiful!

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I enjoy the writing style and the flow of the book. The author does a good job of painting a picture.

As this is simply an excerpt, I can only offer a short review of the first few chapters in which we learn about our heroine Celine, and a mysterious vampire determined to bring vengeance upon his enemy through murder.

In the first few chapters, we come to meet Celine, a young woman coming to New Orleans in the late 1800s to escape a dark past. All we know of what happened is that she has killed someone and fled France, hoping that distance and a new start will provide safety. Celine is a young woman skilled at haute couture and which catches the eye of a wealthy young woman named Odette who commissions Celine to create for her a gown for the upcoming Mardi Gras Masquerade. The excerpt ends with a shift in perspective to our mystery vampire killer plotting his next victim and claiming he murders for revenge.

I had initially chosen to read this excerpt because I have seen the cover of this book popping up everywhere and I love a good vampire story. However, I didn't expect to be so engaged in what was happening. I now very much desire to know what happens to Celine, how she is drawn into the court of the vampires, and who our mystery man is (and whether he's actually evil). I really appreciate the way in which Ahdieh paints pictures with her words and gives the reader a strong sense of what the characters are thinking; what they notice, and how, and the language that they use to describe what they see. Celine clearly does not view herself in any positive light - why? What could she have done that is so reprehensible? Through her writing, Ahdieh reaches off of the page to grab your interest until you simply have to know more. 3.5/5 stars ONLY because I haven't finished the story - I fully expect to change this once I'm finished reading the novel.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an extract of this book

I have heard lots about The Beautiful since its release so I was excited to see a sneak peak was still available on NetGalley. And I am so glad it was!

The extract I read was excellent and has piqued my interest already. Vampires are hard to get right, as fiction is so saturated with them nowadays, but Ahdieh seems to be building up to a fresh take on them. I loved the atmosphere from the start, he writing is great, the pacing is strong... and I already feel invested in the main character. What's not to love?

This one will definitely be moving up a few spaces on my to-read list!

This was only a sample but it left me wanting to learn more and find out what happens next. Overall a short but good read

**I was given an ARC of The Beautiful by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review** The Beautiful is the first book in a series about Celine, a young girl who leaves behind a dreadful past and arrives in New Orleans to start a new life, not knowing that it’s filled with the dead. It’s a sort of historical fiction, since it’s set way back, and the thing I really liked about it is the author’s writing style. It reflects the setting of the story very well, and is perfectly descriptive. The main character, Celine, is clever and has undergone a good development, and I like how the author has left us all with a cliffhanger at the end that makes us excited for the sequel.

Disclaimer: read the sneak peek, not the full book. The Beautiful really drew me in! The concept on its own had me interested, but the writing truly sold me. The author does a brilliant job painting the picture, and the few chapters I read made me want to devour more. Will definitely get the full book!

I love Renee Ahdieh's writing style and the way she can create such cool worlds, but I guess the vampire trend just isn't for me. I couldn't get immersed in this story. It was only an excerpt, but I just wasn't thrilled. I do not think I will be reading the rest of this book or trying out the series.

Reading this made me want to read the book so badly! I also have Ahdieh's other series at home (The Wrath and the Dawn) and I'm looking forward to reading more of her! The sneak preview was enchanting, and I've heard people tell me most of her writing is like that so that's a good thing. This sneak preview being a kindle/ebook made the text look really weird sometimes (big letters suddenly, first letter of a paragraph on the line above and the rest of the paragraph as "regular") but I'm sure that's because it;s my phone, I've had that kind of thing happen more often.

I read and loved Ahdieh's Wrath & The Dawn series. SO good. While I liked this book and will most likely read the next in the series, it wasn't as captivating as The Wrath and the Dawn. I wasn't as invested in the main character, Celine, as Ahdieh's previous books. However, I did enjoy the descriptions and atmosphere of 1800's New Orleans. Combining vampires with this time period and atmosphere makes the book enjoyable. 3.5 stars.

It's a shame that this was only a sneak peak, because it definitely didn't leave me wanting more. I found the structure to be quite jarring and repetitive. If I get the chance to read it in the future, I would probably try again if only for the New Orleans setting. Unfortunately, I won't be in a rush to do so.

Wow I’m loving this book already and it’s only a sneak peek copy. I love how this takes place in New Orleans, a place so “beautiful”, magical, and mysterious. I’d like to know what becomes of Celine and the story. Can’t wait! Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Putnam Books for a sneak peek. This is my honest review and based on a few chapters that was given and not on the whole book.

This sample does its work very well, it gives the reader a sneak peek of a beautiful atmosphere, you can really feel new orleans after reading a few phrases. It gives us a nice introduction to our MC, celine, and what could possibly be lurking in the shadows...

This was a very short sneak peek. From what I could tell it is the kind of book I would really enjoy. The cover is lovely and the premiss grabbed me, The dialogue exchanges are crisp and helped move things along in the setup. I would certainly be up for reading the whole story.

I would of loved for this to have been the whole book. The beginning seemed to drag on forever, and I really couldn’t get into it. It seem a promising though so I may read the full book at a later date.

I voluntarily read this book preview . All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love Renee Ahdieh so I was excited to see a new novel. I was also excited to see it was set in late 19th century New Orleans as I found it a unique setting. It was a unique take on the classic vampire trope.

So, for starters, I received the Sneak Peek of this book - not the full book:

I have to get one thing out in the open right now though – I’m conflicted on the cover. I kinda hate it, but I’m hard pressed to say why. It’s not a bad cover, it just feels…so generic. Like, I miss the covers of 80s vamp fare. Those amazing painted covers – like Paperbacks From Hell stuff.

As sneak peeks go, this one was pretty good. I don’t know that I’d buy the book on its merits, but if I found the book sitting in front of me, and I didn’t have other books to read I’d totally read it.

I think what saves it is the historical setting. 19th century teens are much less yawn-inducing than contemporary teens. The younguns these days are a fucking snooze-fest. Except the politically active and compassionate ones – they’re beautiful, fascinating humans that I am in complete awe of.

I like my vamps futuristic or old-timey. Not modern.

I also want to know what Celine’s deep, dark secret (that she has, naturally) is – what caused her to do the (possibly spoilery) thing that she did that led to her traveling to America to escape it? And how will Baddy McVampireTeeth use it against her? Will she learn to love him? I don’t want her to (when did vampires start being so fucking nice?!), but I suspect she probably will!