Title of the book: The Belles
Authors: Dhonielle Clayton
Series: The Belles
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Short summary of the story:
From Goodreads
Good points: This book was gorgeous, dark and disturbing and not nearly as superficial as I worried it might be from the blurb. The setting is so lavish and luxurious it was actually a little dizzying. I loved the way the author weaves in the country’s obsession with beauty so that it dictates nearly every part of life (including the laws). Camellia is a heroine you can get behind as it’s easy to understand why she feels and acts as she does.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.
The book is really frothy on the top but with a twisted streak underneath, a little like a cream cake with a poisoned centre. Some of the main twists I could see coming but there were a couple that took me by surprise.
Bad points: The metaphors and similes get a bit much now and again and there are large patches of purple prose. You do end up sinking into it though and adjusting, so that it’s only the really weird or slightly awkward ones that leap out.
The pacing is slow in the middle part of the book but picks up towards the end.
The worldbuilding isn’t particularly deep or detailed and the magic system is never explained. If you’re happy to go along for the ride though, it’s something you can very easily overlook.
Tis the Season: Food is one of the major ways that wealth and beauty are represented in the palace. Platters of elaborate patisserie and colourful sweets are mentioned every few pages and underly lots of the novel’s tensest scenes as Camellia tries to navigate court. The author often uses food as a metaphor too, describing a building as a stack of colourful macaroons, for instance.
