While the majority of the story is told from the POV of Celine and Sébastien, other POVs are scattered throughout the story.

While we are on the topic of characters, let’s talk for a minute about the POVs (points-of-view) in this novel: there are more than five and I honestly had to stop counting by that point. While he may not be a shining paragon of good decisions, Ahdieh focuses a lot of good emotional energy on building his character. Sébastien however, struggles with his complex feelings over being turned into a vampire and having the love of his life lose all memory of him. And while she remains as strong willed and sassy as ever, there is very little actual character growth for her in The Damned.

Much of the story focuses on Celine trying to remember the events that lead to her current predicament. There is a deep and seductive ambience that weaves throughout the story and leaves you feeling like you are reading the novel while lounging in a richly appointed New Orleans drawing room. Never heavy handed with description, but each scene in the novel has a presence that is easily built in the reader’s mind. The Damned continues the thematic elegance and glamour found in The Beautiful and manages to take it up another level. When Sébastien and Celine meet again, their worlds ignite as truths are revealed and new foes make themselves known.Īhdieh certainly has a way with words. Now, prowling the streets as a vampire, Sébastien must balance the needs of his supernatural family and the unrelenting desire he feels for Celine. Sébastien, on the other hand, cannot stop thinking about the night that Celine gave up her memories in exchange for his life. The constant feeling of being lied to, and that something extraordinary has been taken from her, drives Celine into reckless choices to uncover the truth. And this time, she brought the fey.Ĭeline cannot remember what happened to leave her injured and without her memories, but her nightmares are screaming at her. Continuing in the sumptuous footsteps left behind by The Beautiful, Renée Ahdieh returns to the dark and decadent world of New Orleans with The Damned.

Renee ahdieh the damned