The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan {Review}

Page Count: 352 pages

Published: May 14th 2013 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers (first published January 1st 2013)

Original title: Grotesque

ISBN:0385743114

Source: Kindle 

 

Summary

 

After a bizarre accident, Ingrid Waverly is forced to leave London with her mother and younger sister, Gabby, trading a world full of fancy dresses and society events for the unfamiliar city of Paris.

In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbingly, the house Ingrid’s twin brother, Grayson, found for them isn’t a house at all. It’s an abandoned abbey, its roof lined with stone gargoyles that could almost be mistaken for living, breathing creatures.

And Grayson has gone missing.

No one seems to know of his whereabouts but Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant at their new home.

Ingrid is sure her twin isn’t dead—she can feel it deep in her soul—but she knows he’s in grave danger. It will be up to her and Gabby to navigate the twisted path to Grayson, a path that will lead Ingrid on a discovery of dark secrets and otherworldly truths. And she’ll learn that once they are uncovered, they can never again be buried.

Set in the dark, mysterious and utterly romantic city of Paris, Page Morgan offers us a stunning debut with one of the less written about creatures: gargoyles. That gorgeous cover drew me in but Page's unique and magical writing style and way with words are what kept me reading.

Wow! That is one would that describes my feelings on this amazing novel. The Beautiful and the Cursed reminded me why I love books with gargoyles and books set in Paris. I mean PARIS is Paris. It's beautiful and magical and ugh! Why can't I be there already? The way the city was portrayed in this book was true to the era. I love historical fiction. I think it is just so intriguing to read about a different time. This one was set in 1899 and Page did a fantastic job of transporting me there. I could see everything unfold before my eyes. 

There was mystery, romance, gargoyles who are sworn to protect, evil fallen angels. Ingrid's story is told from multiple POVs. I believe that it was mainly between her, Gabby (her sister), her brother and Luc (the really amazing Gargoyle protector). What was really interesting to me was the way the classes and social standings were addressed in this. You have the humans, demons, gargoyles, angels and the Alliance. The Alliance are humans who fight for the safety of humanity. Gargoyles were humans, but they all committed the same sin that doomed them to serve the Angelic. Angels obey God without questioning and the demons obey their master without questioning. 

I personally love the whole gothic scene in books and the entire mood of this book was gothic with hints of mysterious disappearances and forbidden love. I think you've all gathered that I love forbidden love. Oh, and there is a love triangle in this book. It's totally obvious that the two guys are utterly devoted to her. I found the love triangle is this book a little annoying, but that's probably because I strongly preferred one guy over the other. Though the other is cute, he's more like friend zone material. Sorry. 

"Ingrid deserved better than selfish kisses and an empty, hopeless future. Even if the Dispossessed allowed it, she deserved to be more than Luc's human obsession."

But of course, Luc is the gargoyle who is utterly protective. His devotion to Ingrid is super sweet and he is just wow. *runs to see if any of the gargoyles on Notre Dame are actually really hot guys who are sworn to protect humans*

*comes back empty handed*

Darn.

 

Ingrid is the true main character of this book. I really liked her. She was stronger than anyone realized, even more than she thought. She fights for what she believes in and won't stop for anyone if it means saving someone she cares about. Through all this though, she is broken from what happened in London. (I really wish they elaborated on this incident a little more. Maybe they will in book 2?) It doesn't take long for her to fall all over again. She's careful with her heart and with what she's been through, she is breakable. It's weird though. I almost think that her breakability makes her stronger.

Okay then, I really loved this book if you couldn't tell. I can't wait for The Lovely & The Lost to come out! (May 14th 2014, are you kidding me?!) I am so totally reading it. Mwahaha.

  .5

I actually designed an outfit on Polyvore for this book:

Can you tell I like this book?
Also have y'all ever heard Miss Jackson by Panic! at the Disco? It fits this book really nicely.

Best,

Jackie