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A review by noellerose
The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS!!!
When Nina was introduced, I thought she was slightly annoying - childish and naïve to a fault. But I also realised this was probably done to highlight the difference between Valerie and Nina: one poised and elegant, the other young and indecorous. And I must say that for the first 50 pages, I was sort of rooting for Hector and Valerie?
This changed pretty quickly, though. I just started feeling very sorry for Nina. She was falling for Hector while he was obsessed with Valerie, and neither he nor Valerie cared about what their whole spiel was doing to Nina and how much it was hurting her.
About a third of the way into the book, and Nina found out about Hector and Valerie's relationship. I liked the timing of this because it gave her enough time to fall in love with her but the whole thing didn't get drawn out. This kind of trope, the 'person A is hopelessly in love with person B but person B is only using them and doesn't realise they'd fallen in love until they've lost person A' thing, I absolutely love. I'm dying for it. I'm gagging for it. And while I think Hector got over Valerie a <i>little</i> bit too quickly, I didn't mind it that much.
Miscommunication is my least favourite trope ever and it seemed, a few chapters from the end, that this occurring trope would be drawn out for the entirety of the book. But then Nina surprised us all but simply saying 'fuck it' and running back to Hector. There were a few points of drama that got resolved quickly, which is just the way I like it!
The pining! So much of it! I loved it!
When Nina was introduced, I thought she was slightly annoying - childish and naïve to a fault. But I also realised this was probably done to highlight the difference between Valerie and Nina: one poised and elegant, the other young and indecorous. And I must say that for the first 50 pages, I was sort of rooting for Hector and Valerie?
This changed pretty quickly, though. I just started feeling very sorry for Nina. She was falling for Hector while he was obsessed with Valerie, and neither he nor Valerie cared about what their whole spiel was doing to Nina and how much it was hurting her.
About a third of the way into the book, and Nina found out about Hector and Valerie's relationship. I liked the timing of this because it gave her enough time to fall in love with her but the whole thing didn't get drawn out. This kind of trope, the 'person A is hopelessly in love with person B but person B is only using them and doesn't realise they'd fallen in love until they've lost person A' thing, I absolutely love. I'm dying for it. I'm gagging for it. And while I think Hector got over Valerie a <i>little</i> bit too quickly, I didn't mind it that much.
Miscommunication is my least favourite trope ever and it seemed, a few chapters from the end, that this occurring trope would be drawn out for the entirety of the book. But then Nina surprised us all but simply saying 'fuck it' and running back to Hector. There were a few points of drama that got resolved quickly, which is just the way I like it!
The pining! So much of it! I loved it!