The Belles #1 - Beauty can be deadly!

Title: The Belles
Author: Dhonielle Clayton
Published: 6th February 2018
My Rating: 4/5
Recommend: YES!
Synopsis:

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. 

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review thank you to Gollancz

First book of 2018 and what a powerful one to that. After debating with myself for the past week and half to coax myself in to reading a book, I end up finishing this just before and that too in one night sitting. I will be honest, when I first heard about this book on Twitter, everyone was raving about how good it is I wanted to read it there and then instantly. However, in my current state I wasn't sure if I was up to the task of reading it.

But this book surprised me as hell, I don't even mind the fact that as I am writing this review I am sleep deprived, a little short tempered thanks to the weather and being in the final trimester of pregnancy. I don't know where to begin with this book.

Set in Orléans, the story begins with the 6 girls all being presented as Belles and showcasing their talents to the royal family. It mainly focuses on Camellia Beauregard who is a very passionate Belle and likes to experiment with the looks a lot. From what I understand, Belles are descendants from the Beauty of God who has blessed these girls with special Arcana's or magic and each of them is named after a flower. Each of them compete with one another to become the 'favourite' and become the one to beautify the kingdom and its people. I like how they are shown to be sisters born on the same day but have different mothers and are very close, it is a very cool concept.

Each of the sister has different personality and are very different to one another, where Amber is shown to be the good doer, Edel a little rebellious and often gets into trouble and Camellia having the tendency to not follow the rules. Amber and Camilla have a very strong bond and are bffs but all that is momentarily broken when Amber is chosen to be the favourite and not Camilla. I have to say things get very interesting after this, you meet new characters, the story starts to explore more themes between doing what is right and wrong and what it means to be a Belle.

I initially thought there may be a love triangle developing, one I was hoping I was wrong and I think I am. Both Remy and Auguste are cute but I have to say I had a bit more favouring for Auguste. However, with how things left off towards the end of the book I see myself deviating from that but I also can't believe he would do something like that???? WHY???? AND OH MY GOSH!! How cute is Remy with his sisters? #siblinggoals 

Although the book seemed a little tedious at times with how long it looks, I am pleased to say Clayton hooked me from the very first page. My fascination with what a Belle is and what extent you have to go through to please someone kept me flying through the book without even knowing how it ended so soon.

A very enticing, gripping story that hooks the reader from the very first page. Clayton makes you pause and think, in a society full of injustice how would you stand up and fight for freedom and justice?


Let's chat: Imagine you had a Belle presented to you, would there be anything you would change about yourself? Or stay as you are? Let me know in the comments below!

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