The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
- Pub. Date: February 6, 2018
- Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
- Pages: 448
- Rating:4/5
- Goodreads/Amazon/ Book Depository
Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.
But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.
With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.
Review: Do not let the beautiful cover fool you like it did me. The world in which The Belles live may look like a dream come true from the outside looking in but when you bury yourself into those pages and submerse yourself entirely into their world, you learn it's all just a facade. The way things work in the world of The Belles are all oh so very dark and twisted.
It did take a while for me to really get into the book, not saying I didn't find the slower parts interesting because I did, but it didn't become a true page turner for me until the plot really kicked up and people started showing their true colors. I loved the vivid come to life writing by Clayton, I mean the way she described scenes and people and places was almost kind of poetic, I couldn't get enough of it.
The characters in The Belles will infuriate you, some you will love, others you will feel a great deal of sorrow for and then some you will love to hate. Through her characters Clayton really shows the ugliness behind a society who cares too much for beauty, I know our beauty-obsessed society is nowhere near as bad as what is in this book but it's a little scary to think what if we had Belles in our world would we go as far as the people in this book do. A great conversation starter in my opinion.
I am a little upset with the way things left off, okay I'm devastated and I get it cliffhangers keep us coming back because we need our damn closure and boy did this book have one hell of a cliffhanger. I need the book gods to bless me with the next book in the series like yesterday. I am very excited to see what happens next, the ending was intense and I have so many questions and let me put it like this for all of you, nothing was resolved at the end...nothing.
Overall I highly recommend it, I just wish I had read this closer to the release of the next book.
