The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan
Monday, September 16, 2013
Author : Page Morgan
Genre : Fantasy
Published Date : May 14th 2013
Publisher : Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages : 352
Source : Bought
Rating : ✿✿✿✿✿
From Goodreads :
After a bizarre accident, Ingrid Waverly is forced to leave London with her mother and younger sister, Gabby, trading a world full of fancy dresses and society events for the unfamiliar city of Paris.
In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbingly, the house Ingrid’s twin brother, Grayson, found for them isn’t a house at all. It’s an abandoned abbey, its roof lined with stone gargoyles that could almost be mistaken for living, breathing creatures.
And Grayson has gone missing.
No one seems to know of his whereabouts but Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant at their new home.
Ingrid is sure her twin isn’t dead—she can feel it deep in her soul—but she knows he’s in grave danger. It will be up to her and Gabby to navigate the twisted path to Grayson, a path that will lead Ingrid on a discovery of dark secrets and otherworldly truths. And she’ll learn that once they are uncovered, they can never again be buried.
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Review
When I first saw this book, I was actually quite reluctant to read it, because, you know, I'm a cover-judger. And the cover of this book was not, in any way, make me want to read it. But I guess, it's kinda a nice surprise when I gave it a try, and turned out liking it.
"It was all he could ever be. Her watchman. Her guardian. Her gargoyle."
—Luc
—Luc
One thing I really love from this book was mainly its plot building. It gave us enough details and back story without being boring, but rather gave more depth to the story. The twist and the way the story proceed were also unpredictable, and it managed to keep us glued to it until the very end.
The ending, though, was seriously killing me. It was somewhat satisfying yet making us curious at the same time, and I kinda died a little inside because of the conclusion of both romances. All in all, it successfully made me want to read the continuation.
And oh, one more thing that made me fall in love with this book : Gargoyles! And historical Paris! And lots of swoony guy. Need I say more?
The ending, though, was seriously killing me. It was somewhat satisfying yet making us curious at the same time, and I kinda died a little inside because of the conclusion of both romances. All in all, it successfully made me want to read the continuation.
And oh, one more thing that made me fall in love with this book : Gargoyles! And historical Paris! And lots of swoony guy. Need I say more?
The romance of this book was also really great, in my opinion. The amount of sweetness was perfect (Not too cold, not too sappy), and both the boy and the girl was very reasonable without the usual becoming-suddenly-stupid-because-of-love syndrome.
And how could I not love this book when it focused on a double romantic relationship, both equally sweet and heart-melting?
(But I kinda loved Gabby-Nolan romance better than Ingrid-Luc, mainly because their love triangle—which only lasted for a short while, mind you—was more acceptable than Ingrid-Luc's one)
But, although this book was lined up with amazing things here and there, that was not really the case with the characters.
Ingrid Waverly, as our main character, was sadly not really appealing. Her personality was too flat and generic, and if not for her so-called power, she would just be an ordinary, unattractive girl already. Plus, nearing the end, I think she became even more stupid and frustrating to read.
Strangely, I found Gabby—Ingrid's little sister—was way more unique than Ingrid and stood out brilliantly. She was strong in a realistic way (Via brain, not some kind of impossible power) and her emotions also felt very real and believable.
Luc, as Ingrid's counterpart and one of our main character—although he do make me swoon—was also little bit flat for me. He doesn't have any distinct personality, and sometimes, it feels like he was there only to complement Ingrid. Nolan—Gabby's counterpart—on the other hand, was everything Luc was not. He was witty, charming, and surprisingly believable and stood out from the rest of the characters.
(But I kinda loved Gabby-Nolan romance better than Ingrid-Luc, mainly because their love triangle—which only lasted for a short while, mind you—was more acceptable than Ingrid-Luc's one)
But, although this book was lined up with amazing things here and there, that was not really the case with the characters.
Ingrid Waverly, as our main character, was sadly not really appealing. Her personality was too flat and generic, and if not for her so-called power, she would just be an ordinary, unattractive girl already. Plus, nearing the end, I think she became even more stupid and frustrating to read.
Strangely, I found Gabby—Ingrid's little sister—was way more unique than Ingrid and stood out brilliantly. She was strong in a realistic way (Via brain, not some kind of impossible power) and her emotions also felt very real and believable.
Luc, as Ingrid's counterpart and one of our main character—although he do make me swoon—was also little bit flat for me. He doesn't have any distinct personality, and sometimes, it feels like he was there only to complement Ingrid. Nolan—Gabby's counterpart—on the other hand, was everything Luc was not. He was witty, charming, and surprisingly believable and stood out from the rest of the characters.
 |
| So here's a gargoyle. And here's how I imagined Luc. They don't look alike at all, I guess. But oh well. |
Grayson—Ingrid's twin and Gabby's brother, missing without a trace from Paris—also didn't feel real at all, and Axia was disappointing as an antagonist. Her personality didn't gave off the evil aura like an antagonist's personality supposed to, and she's just overall flat. No good vibe, no bad vibe. Just nothing. Same goes with other secondary character, like Yann, Marco, Marie, and so on.
But one thing that's a plus point for all of them was, maybe, that every single character actually served a purpose and wasn't just there to fill up an unnecessary space.
And other from the unimpressive characters, one more flaw I've found from this book was comparing it to The Mortal Instruments on the blurb. Which, in turn, made me compare them on every single thing. And that resulted in me thinking that some things in this book was somewhat similar.
But the TMI comparing aside, The Beautiful and The Cursed was overall quite an entertaining read. It was full of action, with a pretty easy-to-imagine historical description of Paris, heartwarming romance, compact and moving plot, and most definitely, swoony guys. Lots of them.
But one thing that's a plus point for all of them was, maybe, that every single character actually served a purpose and wasn't just there to fill up an unnecessary space.
And other from the unimpressive characters, one more flaw I've found from this book was comparing it to The Mortal Instruments on the blurb. Which, in turn, made me compare them on every single thing. And that resulted in me thinking that some things in this book was somewhat similar.
But the TMI comparing aside, The Beautiful and The Cursed was overall quite an entertaining read. It was full of action, with a pretty easy-to-imagine historical description of Paris, heartwarming romance, compact and moving plot, and most definitely, swoony guys. Lots of them.
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3 comments
Paris! Gargoyles! Now that seriously sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteAnd we have different perspectives on the cover, Neysa. I'm dying to read it because of the cover.
I'm with Shannelle, I love the cover. Set in Paris? Swoony boys? Nope, you don't need to say anything else, you totally sold me on this book!
ReplyDeleteEHHH NEYSA YOU'RE BACK!! Hope everything's good with you! But I'm going to take a break for a couple weeks after this -__- Midterm exams :/
ReplyDeleteI heard about this book a few times and maaan I do love that cover -- the color looks good! I'm sorry that the characters weren't all likable and there were some unrealistic things...But I haven't read many books that's set in Europe, especially Paris so that's definitely interesting enough for me!
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