Review: The Beautiful Ones

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin's, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've heard great things about Silvia Moreno-Garcia, certain great things about her book Certain Dark Things (see what I did there???). I haven't had a chance yet to read it, though I did buy it earlier this year to read, but when I saw this on Netgalley, I had to give it a shot. Telekinesis talked about as if it's relatively normal in this world? Sounds fun to me.

Well, here's the deal... if you're going into this expecting more of an urban fantasy or paranormal romance, you're in for a surprise. The telekinesis aspect, while it plays an important role in the development and relationship between two of the three main characters, is really a tiny part of the story. This book is mostly historical romance, a genre that I typically don't pick up except on rare occasion. So the telekinesis almost felt like it was there to trick me into reading something I normally wouldn't.

...and I'm glad it did. I ended up loving the book! Three compelling main characters, all broken in their own ways. Two of them fight to find something more, and one of them is one of the most despicable and cold and heartless characters I've seen on the page -- but she made for a great villain. Nina, though, stole my heart. She reminded me a lot of myself, and that made for an excellent read as I saw her grow and develop.

There were a few times the pacing felt a little off, and I would have liked a little more of the powers, but those are minor complaints about a really compelling read. I'm glad I took a chance on this. I can't wait now for Certain Dark Things, because if she does for vampires what she did for historical romance with a tinge of the supernatural, then I'm in for a treat.

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