Antonina Beaulieu is more used to country living and studying beetles, but when she comes to the city of Loisail for her first Grand Season, that changes. Under the guidance of Valérie Beaulieu, her beautiful and cold aunt, Nina sets out to find a husband. She’ll just have to keep her tendency to say what she thinks and her telekinetic powers under wraps if she wants to keep the gossip at bay.

Then Nina meets Hector Auvray, a telekinetic performer who sees her powers as a gift. As Hector helps Nina develop her talents, she falls in love with him. But Hector is keeping a dark secret that could tear Nina’s world apart.

The Beautiful Ones is both magical and beautiful, with a Jane Austen-like feel for its also being a comedy of manners. Nina is a brave girl who stumbles as she enters a new world she doesn’t understand. Nina’s propensity to speak her mind and act without thinking gives her trouble at the hands of the elite of society, but her love for Hector gives her hope.

Hector is battling demons from his past, and his good intentions are often derailed at the hands of long-held dreams. The battles he faces are as hard as those of Nina, and the darkness threatens to overtake them both. I loved this book! Very different, with hints of steampunk twisted with a classical literary feel.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an award-winning author. The Beautiful Ones is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

 

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