The Damned

I enjoyed this sequel to the first book, finding out how the Vale and the Wyld came to be was great and allowed me to make better sense of the world and rivalry between The Fallen and The Brotherhood. However, I would like to know more about the supernatural creatures in this world as there were so many mentioned in the book. The multiple POVs were a nice addition as I enjoyed hearing from the perspective of all these characters.Celine and Bastien's chemistry is sooo good and I absolutely loved all of their scenes together, but man I really feel bad for Michael! Love triangles can sometimes be done well, but I find this is the case when the reader has no idea who will end up with each other, whereas here it is very obvious.The ending felt a bit rushed to me, but there are so many unanswered questions and I think it has set up the next book well. I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here

So let me preface this by saying “The Beautiful” was a five-star read for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. “The Damned,” not so much. She lost me when she started introducing all these other creatures like fae, goblins, werewolves, and monsters in the fairy realm like “twig men,” and I just couldn’t get into it. It’s too bad because this was one of my most anticipated books of this year. Don’t get me wrong, the book wasn’t all bad, and there were some parts that held my interest, but I feel like adding all these other elements took away from the story and the relationship between Celine and Bastien that you had in book one.

Initial ThoughtsI was SO excited to read this book. I really enjoyed The Beautiful and when Penguin Teen offered me the chance to review this one early, I was like YES, PLEASE!Some Things I LikedDifferent POV. I just loved that Bastien was the first person POV in this book and I really loved how that matched the title. Celine was “the beautiful” and the first person POV in the first book, and Bastien is now “damned” so he’s the main POV in this book. I also liked that we had chapters that followed other characters throughout the story.BAHHH the love story. Ok, BAHHH is not exactly an articulate way to describe something. But, it’s me basically word vomiting all over this post because I loved it so much. Celine and Bastien are just so perfect and so stubborn and they made for such a great romance read.Poor Michael. Yes, I list this in things I liked. Michael is ok but, Bastien > Michael all day every day. I hope Michael finds a nice lady in the next book, not Celine. Celine is spoken for. But, I do feel bad for him.ODETTE – yes, all caps for Odette and how much I loved her as a character. She deserves a series all to herself. She’s so tragic and self-loathing and I love her for it. Where’s her person? Renée Ahdieh, please give Odette a love story!Series ValueIf there is not another book in this series, I do not know what I will do. The ending was so ridiculously open-ended, there can’t not be more. However, I really like the poetry of the names as just “The Beautiful” and “The Damned” – what would Renée Ahdieh even call the next book?Final ThoughtsI liked The Beautiful but I loved The Damned. The twists, the POVs, Bastien as the primary narrator. The pages literally oozed with drama and I can’t wait for more. Although more is unconfirmed, I will continue to wish for more!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Recommendations for Further ReadingThe Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh – if you liked the dramatic writing style and the rich descriptions, try Renée’s other series.A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness – if you liked the supernatural elements of The Beautiful and the various types of beings described, definitely give The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness a read.

After that ending of The Beautiful, there was no way I was going to skip this one.I love love loved Celine in this one. She’s experienced even more and stands stronger than ever. I loved her tenacity and refusal to be placated. Bastian is even more intriguing this time around. I was captivated reading him figure out how he moves forward. And again, I could have done with 5000% more Odette.Plot wise, it was a bit info-dumpy in the beginning, but I relished finally knowing the backstory of everything. Once things got going, there were reveals and false trails and I was here for all of my second guessing. I will say that the ending felt very unfinished and I’m hoping there will be another book. (I've been told from several people that it's going to be multiple books, but haven't seen an official announcement.)Overall, I loved Renée’s take on vampires and will absolutely read anything she puts her name on.**Huge thanks to GP Putnam’s Sons BFYR for providing the arc free of charge**

Usually I want to re read everything by Renée Ahdieh the second I finish it but this series I am struggling with. I do love Celine and Bastian, and adored a lot of the aspects of the first book, but felt like the ending was partially great and predictable, and partially just a huge info dump that didn't make any sense. Before this sequel came out, I assumed that it would explain and contextualize that info dump, but it only did that like 30%... and then it added so much more that again made me feel like the book was getting so far away from its' original storyline and allure.I do love Bastian and Celine, as well as the other amazing immortal members of the Coeur des Lions, so will def read the rest of the series as it comes out- and do hope that things are a bit more tightened up and pared down in some places!