Dhonielle Clayton has developed a wonder of a world unlike any I can remember reading before. Set in Orleans, with a bayou, teacup crocodiles, and magic used to manipulate bodies for temporary changes. I truly have never read anything quite like it, though there are some standard court intrigue and power plays, which do feel old hat. Camellia was wonderful, loving yet driven, and I can't wait to see more of her interacting with her sisters. However, I did find that the world felt oddly disconnected from its grounding. Like, how does this society function? Who is growing the food? Where does the money come from to support this world? There must be other industries other than beauty? These might be answered in the next book, and I am certainly far more interested to explore this wholly fascinating world than to spend more time with people obsessing over beauty treatments; I already kind of live in that world.

5 of 5 stars to THE BELLES.

I'm honestly a little speechless at the end of this book? It was gorgeously written, with layer upon layer to it...it was such a trip to go from this opulent, splendid world to the layers of ugliness underneath it.

It's a splendid book.

What a world! Fabulous story, detailed world building - I cannot wait for Dhonielle's next book!

This turned out to be very different than I expected, but I really enjoyed it. The Belles’ ability to transform people is interestingly portrayed, as is society’s obsession with beauty trends (talk about “beauty equals pain”!). Princess Sophia is pure evil and devastatingly cruel. It is hard to believe that the queen would not have done more to control her and protect the people around her. The book ends on a dramatic cliffhanger. Can’t wait to see what happens.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. The author did a great job of explaining the history of the Belles while also moving the story along! The descriptions of the setting made me feel like I could see, hear, smell, and feel what was going on! Definitely lived up to the hype I was hearing about this book!

The Belles is a novel unlike any I've ever read. And that's a big compliment! This is a world where everyone is born with gray skin, straw-like hair, and basically just ugly. But luckily for the people of the world, there are The Belles, aka people born naturally beautiful who have the ability to make others beautiful as well. We begin watching all the Belles be introduced to the world and soon the queen would choose a Favorite, the Belle that would work on the royal family and the palace. Our main character, Camille is desperately hoping to become the favorite.

But this world isn't all beauty and glamour. Camille has been sheltered her whole life, so is she ready to be thrown into this would of politics and games?

I really LOVED this book. It really sucks you in from the first, with the world being so unique. And in a lot of ways, Camille is a outsider, so as we're learning this world, so is she. Especially in the world of the court. So that's very interesting to learn about it with her. But the things Camille does know is explained to you, so you're not left out of the loop. And I also loved Camille because she's such a genuine person and really wants to do the best she can. I can identify with that. All the characters are also very fleshed out, even the minor characters.

The only issues I had with this novel was the romance- I felt like it was awkward from the beginning and didn't enjoy it throughout the novel. Added to the twist at the end, and I thought "well you could have seen this coming from the beginning." Also, I felt like there were large parts of the novel where the pace was very slow, and then so much happened at the beginning and end. Instead of a gradual build, that middle section just fell flat. I wish we could have had more consistency in the action.

Nevertheless, I did really love this book and can't wait to read the next one!

3 stars

I really wanted to be blown away by this new teen fantasy series, but it just didn’t happen for me. There were certainly elements that I enjoyed; I liked the flashy fantasy world, and the unique combination of French culture and style with the sci-fi aesthetic. I also liked the concept of the Belles, a group of young women born to each generation with the unique ability to alter peoples’ appearances and temperaments in a world where most people are born as “gris”: “skin pallid, gray, and shriveled, eyes cherry-red, hair like straw.” The concept of Beauty with a capital B is a major theme in this book, and while the concept itself is rather common in teen literature, I did feel that this book offered some fresh insight into the idea.
What killed it for me was the pacing and predictability of the plot. I feel like this book could have benefitted from dropping a good 50-100 pages in the first half. As many reviewers have also noted, the plot doesn’t pick up until the latter half of the book, and much of the first 250 pages focuses on little scenes and exposition that don’t contribute all that much to character or plot development. Additionally, the story and characters are fairly predictable. The bad characters are really bad and consistently do really bad things, and the good characters are really good and consistently do really good things. There is a *SPOILER ALERT* very Frozen-esque twist where the romantic lead does a 180 and turns on the main character, but you could easily see this coming a mile away.
A little more character complexity and better pacing choices would really turn this around. I have high hopes that The Belles series will find its footing in the next installments.

Wow wow wow! I had been looking forward to The Belles for over a year, and not only did the story not disappoint, but it actually blew my expectations out the window. You go in thinking this YA fantasy will be about a Belle becoming the favorite and making people beautiful. Quickly things are turned on it’s head and we get to see the dark and disturbing reality’s of this kingdom. The parallels of race and class to our own word makes this fantasy feel very real. The book doesn’t shy away from the horrors of slavery and those who will do anything to stay in power. This is definitely a book I think any YA SFF fan would enjoy, especially fans of The Lunar Chronicles. Now I guess I’ll just have to try and be patient until the next book comes out!

The cover looks like every other dystopian hunger-games-esque teen novel, right? WRONG. This is so much more thoughtful and unique than the droves of trilogies that currently line the YA shelves.

<u>The good:</u>
The atmosphere: this book is... dark. It comments on beauty and society and people's role in the world. It erases our society's conceptions of race and beauty by allowing everyone to choose what skin color, height, body shape, hair, and features they want... at the cost of incredible pain, and as long as they can financially afford it. Economic and class differences still very much affect the people in this world. The book also poses questions about people's rights over their bodies - what should be legislated and what should not. It was so much more thoughtful about these things than I expected.

The world-building: the rules of this world are complex, tantalizingly not-completely-unexplained, and unique. I've not read any other fantasy/dystopian novels that have a similar world before. The rules for how the Belles "powers" work, the rules for how things function socially in this world, the small glimpses into how "regular" people's lives function, e.g. not princesses' or Belles' lives. All of this was quite intriguing.

The hints of pride and equality: in this world, it is considered just as normal for someone to marry a person of their own gender as a person of the opposite gender. This is not a major plot point, or even discussed except in several offhand comments about love and marriage. But I'm glad it's there, and it's also very interesting how it contrasts with the draconian rules about cross-class relationships.

<u>The less good:</u>
I had hoped, seeing a POC main character on the cover, that this was going to be a world inhabited by mostly brown people, or ruled by brown people, or whatnot. There is not enough diversity in positions of power in the world of dystopian and fantasy novels. I guess the commentary on what a world would look like if race meant nothing sort of made up for it... but on the other hand, simply erasing race is in a way too easy. I understand that my disappointment is based entirely on my own personal expectations, but I'm a little disappointed to not get the book I thought I was getting.

That said, though, POC MC on the cover! Yay!

Overall, a great read, and lots to think about. I will for sure seek out the sequels.

Absolutely fantastic! A book for any teen collection and all the teenagers you know.

DNF for now at 13%. I'm not sure if it's me (I've been very distracted lately) or the actual writing style but I'm going to set this aside for now and come back to it. Lots of very purple prose and so. many. adjectives that it's a little distracting, but the story is intriguing and I like the characters.

It took me a while to get into this story but overall I really enjoyed it. I like the world building and the richness of the descriptions. The cover art is fantastic and poster worthy. I liked Camellia and her relationship with the other Belles (sisters).
Thank you to Disney-Hyperion for the ARC of this book via Net Galley.

I would have liked this book a lot better if the plot was better resolved, it's not quite a cliffhanger ,but there's certainly no resolution. It was clear from the beginning who the "better" romance option was. It's a book with a clear message, but it's well crafted and entertaining enough that the message doesn't feel too lessony

It took me a while to get into this book because I was kind of burned out and hit a slump, but once I dead, I really really REALLY enjoyed the setting of this book and the reimagining of New Orleans. Separately, I also enjoyed the world building a lot more than I anticipated. The wealthy are outrageous in that futuristic and fantastical way that is just so fun! Paired with the characters, their motivations and the messages that are, while not subtle, very thought provoking. 4.5 star read for me!

Thank you to Disney-Hyperion and Netgalley for the Kindle ARC of this book. I cannot stress enough how much pre-reading helps me build my middle school library’s collection.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for this fantasy. I loved the premise - a lush world where people have been cursed with graying skin that can only be fixed by the powers of Belles, who transform people into whatever they wish (within the rule of law and how much they can pay, of course). When Camellia and her sister Belles find themselves tangled into the upper echelon of society and under the employ of a cruel princess, they must find the truth and a way to save themselves and everyone in Princess Sophia’s path.
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I definitely had to push myself through this one. I am not sure if it was because of my mood (TBR anxiety) or because the middle kind of dragged. The cliffhanger ending leaves me curious about the second book in the series though, so I will likely continue with it [the series]. Recommended for grades 9+.

While this book is sure to be a hit with my middle school girls, I found it tedious and predictable. The characters were flat and annoying. I found the characters, plot and pacing very similar to the Selection series, which is hugely popular at my library.

It took me thirteen chapters to get into this book, but I finally did. There were two spots that felt like rushed writing, or maybe I just forgot those events. I’m not sure.

Pretty good. Reminded me of the Red Queen, and the Selection series.

Great series opener. Really enjoyed this title, and know my students will too. Thought-provoking without being didactic, I think this one will appeal to reluctant and typically non-fantasy readers. The ending was especially exciting, and I know I'll have students clamoring for the sequel!

I enjoyed the story, and holy hell is that some descriptive writing. Clayton paints pictures with her words.
Just don't think too hard about some of the world-building (how the hell does their economy even function?!) and it's a fun ride with some interesting concepts. Lots of hints at what the sequel may hold.