As the next and last entry on this week's
Mark This Book Monday I have a book that was highly recommended by Alyssa from
The Eater of Books and that is her 2 of 2 great recommendations to me so far.
It is also finally a book to be counted towards my
2014 TBR Pile challenge, that is one I haven't been doing too well this year! I really need to switch gears a bit and once I have my NG ratio up to 80% focus more on this one!
The Beautiful and the Cursed by
Page Morgan
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
The Beautiful & the Cursed was a book that I had seen around and felt quite curious about, but thought that it'd be too much romance so I had postponed checking it out. But that changed when I read Alyssa's review for it on her blog, and after that I went and bought it for my Kindle and started reading it right away. And boy am I glad that I did!
This book is historical fiction through and through with a strong gothic romance atmosphere and plenty of fantasy/paranormal elements here and there. As soon as I started reading I knew that I was in love with the writing and the dark and creepy feel of the book as well as with the historical setting.
The book starts with Ingrid arriving in Paris with her mother and her sister to a place that his brother had found for them, where their mother could finally start the art gallery she had wanted to work on for a long time. After an incident that the high society of London won't forget easily and that has ruined Ingrid's good standing there, Paris feels like a fresh start for them. But everything changes right on arrival, when they discover that Grayson is not there to welcome them, or anywhere to be found.
Something I really liked is that none of the ladies in this family are the ones to wait for things to be solved. The mother starts using whatever friends and influence she might have to try and find out what happened and involve the police. And Ingrid and Gabby start trying to find out by visiting bookstores trying to follow Grayson movements leading to his disappearance. And they stumble upon so much more than they could have ever imagined!
Demons walking the Paris streets and snatching girls, gargoyles that protect assigned humans and an organization of humans that fight against the demons and have an agreement of sorts to work with the gargoyles. All of that is more or less dumped on Ingrid and she even has to face a demon or two and finds herself falling for Luc, the gargoyle that is her protector. Gabby gets herself in plenty of trouble cause she's so fierce and headstrong, but she proves that she can hold her own.
The romance is present and it is quite a fantastic kind of romance... even if at first I wasn't entirely sure how it had changed from curiousity and protectiveness to attraction and amazing chemistry, but I quickly forgot about that and was swept away by Ingrid and Luc's forbidden romance! I also really enjoyed Gabby's banter and fiery romance with one of the Alliance members. Each one of the romances were so fitting to how different the sisters are.
The plot was paced slowly but surely, you kept on wanting to turn the pages but never felt like rushing through them because this is one book to be savoured! I loved the writing and the characters and there were hints and pieces of the bigger picture scattered all over the pages. I wasn't really expecting some of the revelations we got by the end of the book, but in the end everything made sense and was open enough to what's to come in the next book(s). I wasn't very happy about what Luc decided to do by the end, even if I could understand his choice... still is painful and horrible and even opens a door to possible love triangle and I don't like it!
A fantastic read for sure, well deserving of 4 to 4.5 stars and now I cannot wait for book 2!
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