The Beautiful Ones: A Novel

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno Garcia is a lovely romance sure to please any aficionado of light period romance with a hint of the supernatural. No, there are no werewolves or vampires, but there is a bit of telekinesis, just enough to make things interesting. Antonina is a young woman who gets caught up in the crossfire between two ex-lovers and is unfortunate enough to fall in love.

The writing in this novel is absolutely superb, lilting and beautiful and full of exquisite imagery of the Grand Season and courtship in Loisail, the center of culture and commerce in this world. At first, one isn’t even aware there is anything beyond the period-esque setting to the world, but it eventually becomes apparent that some people have minor tele-active talents that are accepted as interesting, though normal. This adds an interesting layer of intrigue onto the common tropes of romance, and the story actually manages to subvert many of these clichés of the genre in order to make for an engaging and thoughtful plot.

This is a refreshing and beautiful read, full of romance, intrigue, and revenge, and will keep you happy and reading all the way up until the end.