Review: The Beautiful and the Cursed - Page Morgan

Where I got it: ARC from AmazonVine
Rating: 5 stars  
Cover Rating: 4.5 stars (Very lovely.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 352 p.
Add it: Goodreads

Ingrid is happy to get out of England. After she had a bit of a scandal, she's ready to move on to a place where no one knows of the accident. Gabby is bit sad to leave the bustle of London, especially when she sees the run down place they are meant to inhabit. On top of all the other mishaps, they find that their brother, Grayson, has been missing. The police hadn't been called and no one in the family can quite understand why. The two sisters know that they will not sit idly by while they wait for people to start looking for him. As they take matters into their own hands however, they discover way more than the bargained for. Now they can realize the full danger that they are in and they understand why the police can't help them.

Loved it. Love, love, LOVE IT! I'm not sure I can even pinpoint what makes me love this book so much. I had started reading it before and put it down after a couple of chapters. This time I didn't stop and found myself sucked into the amazing world of Paris in 1899. This is a bit of an alternate Paris, magic and gargoyles and demons, still lovely though.

I love that this book has gargoyles in it. They aren't represented in novels all that often (or at least not ones I've read) and it was a great change. They are also very fascinating and Page Morgan did a fantastic job crafting this reality with them. The whole setting is eerie and beautiful. I really enjoyed that the creepy parts had creepy buildings to accompany them.

I loved each of the characters in this novel. I only wished we could have spent more time with each of them. Today I saw that there is a novella for Marcus out and I'll have to snatch that up soon.

Ingrid is a really intricate character. Her and her sister are both very strong women and I thought that was great for this book. They are on the cusp of the modern age and it shows. They both have strong ideas and opinions and have a hard time letting anyone get in the way. This sometimes can prove to be disastrous for them though.

I also want more on Luc. I want more about the Dispossessed, and The Order and The Alliance. I didn't feel like the book was lacking. I think we got as much description as necessary, more would have been an info dump. I still crave more about all of these aspects though, because they are wholly fascinating. Luc was a nice, suffering, character. He's cursed and that is his burden. It's an interesting contrast to the sisters who have it all.

This novel had so much awesome in it, without having too much in it. I'm excited that it's a series, but disappointed that the next book isn't out next. You definitely have to check this one out soon. It's just totally awesome.

First Line:
"The boy was late."

Favorite Line:
"If knowledge and curiosity had a scent, it was this."