Renée Ahdieh has established herself as one of the finest atmosphere writers in YA, and The Beautiful applies her gifts to a new setting and a new mythology. New Orleans in 1872 — the French Quarter, Creole culture, the specific social world of a city that is neither fully American nor fully French, that holds African and Caribbean traditions in its soil — is exactly the kind of setting that rewards her approach: sensory, specific, steeped in history that the narrative acknowledges rather than decorates over.
Celine Beaumont has fled Paris under circumstances she does not discuss, seeking a new life in a New Orleans convent. The city welcomes and frightens her equally. When girls from the French Quarter’s pleasure district begin dying in elaborate, beautiful ways, Celine’s investigations bring her into contact with Bastien Saint Germain — charming, dangerous, and connected to a world she doesn’t yet understand.
The Setting
New Orleans 1872 is rendered with care for the city’s specific cultural complexity. The Creole social world, the tensions between different communities, the geography of the Quarter — these details are not background but active elements of the story. Ahdieh’s research is evident and worn lightly.
The Murders
The killings are Gothic in the original sense — beautiful and horrifying simultaneously, with an aesthetic that makes their wrongness more disturbing rather than less. The investigation structure gives the book forward momentum without becoming a procedural.
Celine
Her secrets, and the reader’s gradual understanding of what she is carrying, develop at a pace that makes her more interesting rather than simply mysterious. She is sharp, impulsive, and more dangerous than she appears.
Bastien
The Ahdieh approach to romance — building through opposition and gradual revelation rather than immediate attraction — is applied to Bastien with the same care as her previous series. The supernatural dimension of who he is complicates the dynamic in ways the second book develops further.
Why YA Readers Will Love This
For readers who love lush, atmospheric fantasy with a rich historical setting: Ahdieh’s New Orleans is one of the most fully realised settings in YA vampire fiction, and it earns comparison to Interview with the Vampire in its use of the city as a character.
For readers drawn to vampire mythology that engages with Creole and West African traditions rather than the standard European framework: The Beautiful is a distinctive and original contribution to the genre.
For readers who love Ahdieh’s prose in her previous series and want it applied to a new world: the quality is consistent, the setting is fresh, and the atmosphere is richer than anything she has done before.
The Damned follows.
Published: October 2019 · Genre: YA historical fantasy · Series: The Beautiful, Book 1
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Beautiful about? The Beautiful is set in 1872 New Orleans, following Celine Beaumont — who has fled Paris under circumstances she doesn’t discuss — seeking a new life in a French Quarter convent. When girls from the pleasure district begin dying in elaborate, beautiful ways, Celine’s investigations bring her into contact with Bastien Saint Germain, connected to a world she doesn’t yet understand.
How does Ahdieh render 1872 New Orleans in The Beautiful? The Creole social world, the tensions between different communities, and the geography of the Quarter are described as ’not background but active elements of the story.’ Ahdieh’s research is described as ’evident and worn lightly.’ The review calls it ‘one of the most fully realised settings in YA vampire fiction’ and invites comparison to Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire in its use of the city as a character.
How does The Beautiful’s vampire mythology differ from the standard European model? The review praises The Beautiful as ‘a distinctive and original contribution to the genre’ for engaging with Creole and West African traditions rather than the standard European vampire framework. This cultural specificity is presented as one of the book’s key differentiators within YA supernatural fiction.
How does Ahdieh develop the romance between Celine and Bastien? The review describes Ahdieh’s approach as ‘building through opposition and gradual revelation rather than immediate attraction’ — the same method applied in her previous series (The Wrath and the Dawn). The supernatural dimension of Bastien’s nature complicates the dynamic in ways the second book, The Damned, develops further.
How do the murders function in The Beautiful’s narrative? The killings are described as ‘Gothic in the original sense — beautiful and horrifying simultaneously, with an aesthetic that makes their wrongness more disturbing rather than less.’ The investigation structure gives the book forward momentum without becoming a procedural, maintaining the atmospheric Gothic quality alongside the thriller plotting.
Further Reading from Authoritative Sources
- Renée Ahdieh — Wikipedia’s Renée Ahdieh article provides biographical and bibliographical context including her previous Wrath and the Dawn and Flame in the Mist series, helping readers understand why her atmospheric approach is well-established and why The Beautiful represents a new application of those strengths.
- New Orleans history and Creole culture — Wikipedia’s New Orleans article contextualises the city’s historical and cultural complexity that makes it such a rich setting for The Beautiful, helping readers understand why 1872 New Orleans specifically is the right environment for a story about vampire mythology rooted in Creole and West African traditions.
