Review: The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Series: The Dispossessed #1
Pages: 352

Received: Received a copy from Random House of Canada in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: May 14, 2013
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Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

My Review:

I fell in love with this book when I first saw the cover, I love the colour and I find it stands out so much. But as beautiful as this cover is, I find that it didn't really fit the story that much. Not that the story wasn't good because I loved it. This book had a bit of everything, there was romance, there was murder and there were supernatural creatures, all within 350 pages.

What I really loved about the characters is that the female characters were strong and had an attitude. These two sisters are not they type to let people save them, they want to be able to do things for themselves... especially Gabby who is used to being treated as a little girl. I loved how both Ingrid and Gabby were determined to find their brother and save him from whatever danger he is in. Family is such a huge part of this book and I love reading a book where the siblings are close.

The romance of the book was the one thing that I didn't really feel for a lot of it. The romance Gabby gets in the story makes sense, there is a build up and I loved the way she interacted with Nolan. It made for very fun and enjoyable scenes. But Ingrid's romance was too much for me to really enjoy, I do like her interactions with Luc, but of course there is another guy that comes in, and I feel like she kind of forgets what is really important when with the guys.

This book was very dark though, there are many disturbing scenes with murders happening all over Paris, and some of them are quite gruesome. I think that this story took some time to really get into the explanation of what was happening and instead focused more on these people that continually go missing. But the explanation was really interesting, especially when we find out more about Ingrid and her brother Grayson.

Despite the cover showing one thing, this book is very dark and the females are definitely not the type to be saved. This story was so interesting and unique to the YA market. I am excited for book 2 to come out and see where these characters will go next.... though I really just want the romance to be pushed to the side and focus more on the supernatural.