Full review live on my blog as of 14th June: https://inkandplasma.com/2021/06/14/the-beautiful-ones/

Rating: 4.5 stars!

Thanks to Jo Fletcher Books for the eARC of this book. It has not affected my honest review.

Okay. I don’t usually read historical romance. I was swayed in by Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s name and the mention of telekinesis in the blurb and I’m so glad that I gave it a chance. This book was incredible, and I totally wouldn’t have picked it up normally. There’s a huge focus on society life, the socialites and the grand season and at several points I was literally breathless over the scandals and risk. I was genuinely worried about people finding out the truth about Hector and Nina, it was an emotional ride that I didn’t expect.

The book has all of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s usual, beautiful writing. It’s lush and descriptive, making it so easy to read. The characters were nuanced and interesting, emotive and infuriating in equal measures, and I adore the way that Silvia Moreno-Garcia consistently creates worlds that I sink into whole-heartedly. I think because in my head I thought it was horror (it wasn’t, that was entirely me) I was expecting this to go a different way than it did. I guess I was expecting something that was more Carrie, and instead I got a heart punch instead. The way that this book looked at the difference between cruelty and kindness, and the value of choosing kindness. A lot of that was down to Nina. Nina was so weird and genuine and honest. It made it totally impossible not to love her. Especially when she was compared to Valerie, her cousin and the motivating factor for a lot of the dramatic tension in the story. It made for a gorgeously dramatic romance with a little telekinesis to add a fantasy element.