#celine rousseau

[flowerish-cherry-blue]

the beautiful by renée ahdieh

«she has teeth,» he said quietly. «but does she also have claws?»

«there is only one way to find out.» she meant it as a threat.

[mollybeenoel]

Little Ghosts by Celine Rousseau

[inlovewithquotes]

I am so captivated by the beautiful, monsieur. For I know beauty is only a moment in time.

- Celine Rousseau

[mot-hesbian]

Y'all, The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh really is just Twilight with more horror based vampires, murder mystery, and lots of queer coding.

It is quite literally the gayest thing I've ever read.

Also, poc and proper representation galore!!!

[thebellekeys]

Currently reading The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh and the fancasts are clear as day in my head: Jeon Somi as Celine and Omar Rudberg as Sébastien…

[aw3s0me-t0-bl0g]

“I've heard many people say tragedy shapes us." Bastien continued. “But I am not the worst thing that's ever happened to me, nor am I the worst thing I've ever done. Nothing in life is that simple.”

-Bastien Saint Germain, The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

[a-girl-made-of-stardust]

"The trouble with wearing so many faces is that you forget which one is real."

- Sebastien Saint Germain, The Damned by Renee Ahdieh

(Would DNF this but I still read on. It was a struggle really; I mean it was just plain uneventful and maybe this just reminds me a bit of Twilight? Vampires and werewolves, love triangles, etc. But it is different too. Michael deserves more and damn, finally he is a werewolf. Celine is just whiny and Bastien is hot but plain? The cliffhanger makes me want to read the next book just out of plain curiosity.)

[smallville88]

#TheBeautiful

Monday June 29th let’s read or re-read The Beautiful!! Let’s get ready for #TheDamned 🌹🌹!!!

[theblackmarketofsanseroche]

The Beautiful (Series) - Renee Ahdieh

Rating: 4/5 stars  

The Beautiful is a new series by American author Renee Ahdieh. This series contains all of my favourite elements of YA: period romance, the supernatural, magic and the 19th century aesthetic. A series I truly enjoyed reading despite not having a long lasting impact on my emotions or memory after finishing, yet having left melooking foward to the third ( as of yet unanounced) installment (because trust me there cannot not be a spectaluar, final showodwn after that conclusion).

I shall dicuss this as an overall series, having only discovered the first installment  a few weeks back and having devoured the highly interlinked volumes, both in a couple of days. Spoilers ahead: Warning!. I found our main charcter Celine to be truly enojoyable and not a laughable stock image of the typical strong female protagonist who is not like other girls ( although Celine is most definitely not like other girls). She’s quick witted, unapologetically true and forthcoming, qualities I truly enjoy seeing in historical fiction as they set aside the stereotypical 19th century woman, a second class citizen longing to be rescued by a knight in shining armour.

This series does wonders for inclusivity and giving racial minorities important roles. We have an Indian lawyer, biracial protagonists who progress into an interracial romance, queer characters and a former slave made business-man all under the esotheric skies of New Orleans: a place of rebirth, in more ways than one; wrapped in a noir, captivating vail of beauty.

As well as a fresh cast of characters, we still enocounter some tropes as old as time which, I must confess, I am a true sucker for. Queue our mesmerising love intrest Sebastien: edgy badboy in the first book, tormented and lovesick protagonist in the sequel. Though I am not the type to swoon over romance I found it impossible to resist the heartbreak and entaglement between Bastein and Celine, an amost retelling of the infamous star crossed lovers Romeo and Juliette, if only bloodieer and more magical. It is perhaps this element that makes my heart ache for the tormented heir of the Saint German empire, who longs to be a better man for his beloved whilst still maintaining a truly badass facade.

This series has acheived the impossible: the redemption of the ever meme-tastical Twilight, the embodiment of shame among vampire novels. These vampires posses a dark aura around them that will drag you to a far more enchanting world, although not the most complex, without ever sparkling. The way Ahdieh costructs the supernatural elements of this story is just what I love to see (even though the feys were a little unexpected and, at first, seemed to almost comedically clash against the goth-y vampires, until we begin to understand the true nature of the fight between this rapresentation of Light and Dark.)

From a writing point of view, I found a couple of slightly irking details. The first, originally noted in the first installment of the series, is the occasioanlly awkward phrasing which forces the reader to skim sentences a couple of times to grasp them well. Another element that I hope will dispear in the third book is the use of alternation between first person and third person point of views. In The Beautiful, our anatgonist was wrapped in complete mystery, and the use of present first person POV worked beautifully in giving the reader the sinister feeling of something malicious lurking in the shadows, allowig us to feel just as Celine does and keeping us on the edge of our seats. Unfortunately, this doesnt work as well in the sequel, The Damned, as all the first person POV are Bastien’s chapters which, whilst giving us more insight on his previously mysterious character, fail to deliever the edge this writing technique had in the first book.

Narrative wise, as already mentioned, the sequel brings far more depth to this world than the first pictoresque scenery of New Orleans presented us with. Although, as it is a little unexpected, it takes some getting used to. The fey world our protagonists become heavily involed with seems rather cheesy at times and something out of Lord Of The Rings, which seems to clash almost too much with the vampire, Tim Burton-esque world of vampires. However, it is just this immersion into the broader world that allows us to learn more about the history of vampires themselves and although I would not have admitted it at first, it only works by having the book told mostly from Bastien’s POV, which therefore heightened the whole reveal about Celine’s mother and her royal heriatge in the Otherworld.

A key element of this series which I truly enjoyed is the tragic and passionate romance that prevails against all odds. Although in the first book it appears a mild case of instalove masked as turbulent physical attarction, it becomes far more concreate towards the end and believeable, especially in the second book, where our star crossed lovers are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the other. What I particularly enjoyed is the conflict within Celine when it comes to Bastien and Michael. I grew to hate love triangles after The Infernal Devices ( I have more than several probems with said series and its author despite my love for Will Herondale). However, what we find in The Beautiful isn’t a constant back and forth on what boy should Celine choose. She’s strong willed and follows her heart more than anyone or anything else. The conflict is far more real as it presents as struggle between her heart ( which longs for Bastien despite her blurred memories of him) and her head (which knows a lady in this era should long for a good, respectable husband such as clever detective Michael Grimaldi).

Now, where does this leave us in regards to the third book? If I have to (SPOILER) give my opinion, I think Ahdieh might pull a Twilight twist on us but actually execute it in a logical way: by the time The Damned ends, we have two lovers heirs to two rival thrones and a long to reuinite and restore peace in the Sylvan world. Plus, with the constant talk of legacies, heirs and family, it would be fair to assume we may face yet another half vampire pregnancy in YA. However, far more is yet to be revealed, plenty of characters still hide secrets, a pack longs for a leader, a man has been betrayed by his beloved and we may have met a new antagonist, far more evil than the werewolf full of hatred that has set motion the conclusion of the series as of yet.

[stardust-ksks]

I despise love triangles...

Celine can have Bastien while I take Michael, thanks x

[shewholovesvillains]

Just read The beautiful by Renée Ahdieh and I am officially in love with odette.

[flowerish-cherry-blue]

book review: the beautiful by renée ahdieh | 2019

summary:

in 1872, new orleans is a city ruled by the dead. but to seventeen-year-old celine rousseau, new orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in paris. taken in by the sisters of the ursuline convent along with six other girls, celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. she soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as la cour des lions, after catching the eye of the group's leader, the enigmatic sébastien saint germain. when the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of la cour des lions, celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about sébastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

when more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, celine and new orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose — one celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. as the murders continue to go unsolved, celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

my opinion:

wow, it may have taken me a little while to read it, but geez, that was good. the author's style and language surprised me, all the descriptions, the intrigue... It was something.

i didn't immediately realize where this book was supposed to be about vampires, as that part was revealed almost at the end. and overall I started reading because it was in top rated for vampires. gosh, and that raft twist about the killer － i know that so many authors who write about that time use that trick, kind of making the killer look like jack the ripper. and even though it sounds fullish, I like it a lot, it adds a kind of detective flavor that i sometimes miss in books.

as i noted above, i enjoyed the language and writing style of renée ahdieh, for those who are non-native speakers like me, I think this is a great opportunity to improve vocabulary, honestly.

by the way, i want to note that before this, i did not come across books with a setting in new orleans - i think it's a pity that i read the story about this city so late. as someone who is obsessed with french culture and writing stories about it, i was incredibly happy to get a taste of how french culture permeated this city, which seemed to me to be a direct embodiment of melting pot.

perhaps i should point out the following, because books always have two sides, just like coins:

• as i said, i liked the author's language, it will help those who are learning the language. but at the same time, that was the problem. as a non-native speaker, it was sometimes very difficult to wade through the pages of descriptions. just imagine, four pages, of descriptions of some closet. !not literally!

• the plot, this is going to sound strange, but it was a little primitive. just a little bit. and i don't see anything wrong with that in this case. but literally from the introduction chapter of the killer, i knew it was a jack the ripper protégé. when celine and bastien crossed paths, i understood who is with whom, and i also get who pippa will be with, literally one meeting of the four was enough for me.

• again, i really liked the new orleans setting - how many times have i read about london, paris and new york? it was something new to me that i really enjoyed and i can't wait to read more about the history of this city.

• i was a little disappointed in the choice of character who turned out to be a murderer. i swear i thought detective grimaldi or nico saint germain was the killer: michael is bastien's nemesis, nicodemus － why not. I was saddened by the introduction of an unknown character as the killer, and certainly his puppet didn't seem like a good choice at all.

• you can kill me all you want, but nicodemus saint germain is not a pleasant character. i was waiting for him to show up after the description odette provided, but here he is and the first thing he does is threaten celine, trying to intimidate her. then he refuses to save his own nephew, literally the whole court of the lions was built to protect sébastien and here, he twirls his nose, saying that if he helps, all his efforts will go to waste. oh man, i thought better of you and now, are you kidding me?

finishing, i highly recommend reading this book. seriously, I haven't read such a good vampire book for a long, well except for the coldest girl in coldtown, that's the number one favorite, but we'll talk about it next time maybe. this book has everything i love, from enemies to lovers, vampires, magic, and most importantly humor, it was really entertaining to read this book.

my rating:

4.4/5

«a snake?» pippa squeaked, looking for all the world as if she wanted to melt into the paneled wall at her back. «what kind of person has a pet snake?»

«lucifer,» celine said in a flat voice. «lucifer would have a pet snake.»

[diioonysus]

women in history | spies

[artdaily7]

From Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Celine

Travel is useful, it exercises the imagination. All the rest is disappointment and fatigue. Our journey is entirely imaginary. That is its strength. It goes from life to death. People, animals, cities, things, all are imagined. It's a novel, just a fictitious narrative. Littre says so and he's never wrong. And besides, in the first place, anyone can do as much. You just have to close your eyes. It's on the other side of life.

Henri Rousseau 1903-1910 Exotic Landscape with Lion and Lioness in Africa, oil on canvas, PC

[wealldeservelovejustsomemore]

The Beautiful

by Renee Ahdieh

Book: 2

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thoughts: wow what a good book. Ido have quite the bias, because I’ve always been a slut over vampires (and New Orleans, for the matter) even though this is probably the first modern book I’ve read that I really enjoyed. I’m in love with every character (except for Michael. Not really my type of character. Nothing big against him though). In. Love. I want to kiss Odette’s stylish lesbian face. Pippa deserves all the love in the word. I’d actually kill for Sébastien Saint Germain. And of course, there’s the beautiful, magnificent, literal love of my life, the titan that brings darkness wherever she goes, Celine Rousseau. I’ve added her to my list of favourite characters ever. The ones that have a special place in my heart. The ones I obsess over and that I could never let go of. To me, she was really the standout of this book. It’s been years since I’ve read a book with a character that fascinated me this much. She already starts as such a powerful woman. One that isn’t afraid of standing her ground. So confident, so smart. She felt so real, like she could exist in real life. She grows so much. Learns that she can be good, and bad, and kind and selfish all at once. Absolutely loved how she could be a stylist and be a bit vain, and also be stupidly beautiful but also be a complete badass. Most women in books don’t get to be both feminine and deadly. I can’t believe I have to say this in 2020, but I loved the fact that in this book, there was no slut shaming or any other way of women putting other women down. It was refreshing. The diversity in this book also? great. amazing. beautiful. Specially for a book set in the late 19th century. Also, let’s talk about Sébastien Saint Germain because he also deserves it. What a man. Want one for myself. All he had to do to win my heart was not being a pig and he did more than that. The scene when he quickly takes a peep of Celine’s cleavage and profusely apologizes for making her uncomfortable and being nasty? fantastic. His face? beautiful. Being that fucking powerful? that’s hot. Truly congratulating her for defending herself against her abuser? just marry him. The pace is so nice, it didn’t crawl on forever but it also wast stupidly fast. Although I thought, at first, that aspects were a slight bit rushed, like Celine’s friendship with Odette’s, I later realized that meeting someone and instantly wanting to be best friends with someone is very in character for Odette. I liked how I was genuinely suprised by most of the plot twists. I really liked the mix between first and third person narration. It kind of reminded me of the young elites.The ending wrecked me. It really did. Like most good books do. I hope that the second one doesn’t disappoint me.

2020- books

i’ve decided to make a list (mostly to myself) of the books i read this year. rating, immediate thoughts upon reading them and also whatever i want to write.

[birdcagewalk]

Photo: Celine Rousseau @celineyrs