The Beautiful and the Cursed: The Dispossessed, Book 1

Gr 9 Up—In the first book (Delacorte, 2013) in Morgan's new paranormal romance series, a strange accident forces Ingrid Waverly to leave her home in London with her mother and younger sister, Gabriella, for the sparkling romance of Paris. It turns out that their new home isn't at all what they expected—it's an abandoned church with a roof lined with oddly realistic gargoyles gazing down on them. The sisters discover that girls are being brutally murdered in the streets of Paris and Ingrid's twin brother, Grayson, is missing. They become embroiled in a dark underworld of secrets and legendary supernatural creatures. The gargoyles are the dispossessed who watch over the home and are, indeed, living creatures. Narrator Katharine McEwan gives the sisters unique voices and the text alternates between their viewpoints. She also gives Grayson an appropriate voice. Emotions and atmosphere are perfectly conveyed through the narration, making listeners feel like they are uncovering mysteries right along with Gabriella and Ingrid in 19th-century Paris. Though a bit slow at the beginning, the story becomes more steadily paced as the plot thickens. For fans of the "Infernal Devices" series by Cassandra Clare.—Nicole Lee Martin, Grafton-Midview Public Library, OH