The Belles (The Belles, #1) in Hype or Like Friday

Jan 28, 2018 Danielle (Life of a Literary Nerd) rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, arcs, poc-main-character

“You exist inside a secret world of beauty. You were born full of color, like a moving world of art … You are a Belle.”

As soon as I saw this cover I knew I wanted to read this book - I mean, it’s absolutely stunning. I can happily say that the lush and vivid writing perfectly fits with this stunning cover. The Belles follows Camellia Beauregard, a Belle with the coveted ability to control and craft beauty, and in the world of Orléans Belles are revered. But Camellia uncovers darker s ...more

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Jun 10, 2017 lady h rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2017

Dhonielle Clayton has a way of writing that is rich and layered, and my goodness, does she have a way with similes and metaphors! The way she utilizes words results in vivid, colorful imagery that is perfect for the world of The Belles, a society that prizes beauty above all else. In the country of Orleans, everyone is born with gray skin and red eyes - everyone except for The Belles, a group of girls supposedly blessed by the Goddess of Beauty. The Belles are trained in the arcana to utilize th Dhonielle Clayton has a way of writing that is rich and layered, and my goodness, does she have a way with similes and metaphors! The way she utilizes words results in vivid, colorful imagery that is perfect for the world of The Belles, a society that prizes beauty above all else. In the country of Orleans, everyone is born with gray skin and red eyes - everyone except for The Belles, a group of girls supposedly blessed by the Goddess of Beauty. The Belles are trained in the arcana to utilize their gifts to cosmetically enhance everyone else - a sort of magical plastic surgery. It is a fresh, new concept that Clayton has clearly enjoyed exploring.

Clayton could have sat on her laurels with this concept and made the rest of her world-building derivative, but she did the exact opposite. Orleans is a fantasy world that makes use of a mixture of magic and technology, reminding me of a hybrid of Harry Potter and Legend of Korra. There are magic mirrors that reveal truths when given blood, but there are also flashing words on paper, clever "post balloons" that deliver mail, and of course the arcana itself, a mixture of art, science, and magic.

Our protagonist, Camellia, inadverdently begins to discover the dark underbelly of her world as she becomes mired in the lives of royalty, including the cruel Princess Sophia. As tensions mount and stakes rise, we learn more and more about the origins of The Belles, and things get more disturbing by the page. Greed and cruelty come out to play in this world.

I only had a few issues. First, I would have liked for there to be a clearer explanation of class hierarchies in this book. Getting your appearance altered seems to be very expensive, but never do we see hordes of gray commoners hanging around. Does everyone have enough money to be altered? Is there a huge underclass of people who can't afford to do so? How does this further affect their status? However, this is a small issue, as in this first installment Camellia is quite sheltered and barely leaves the palace. I am guessing that we will see more of this in the second book.

My second issue was with the portrayal of the fat characters in the novel, of which there are two: Claudine, the Princess's lady-in-waiting, and Prince Alfred, who assaults Camellia. When we first meet Claudine, she is essentially described as stuffing herself with food, and the way she is introduced seems to want to convey disgust. Pairing fat characters with gluttony is a tired trope that I would really prefer to never see again. Prince Alfred is, I think, the only fat man in the novel, and his fatness seems to contribute to the overall disgust Camellia has of him. When he is revealed to be a womanizer and a rapist, descriptions of his corpulence are abundant, implying that the two are related.

The third is the presentation of the few queer characters in the novel. First there is the Fashion Minister Gustave, who is portrayed as rather flamboyant. While there is nothing wrong with this, we never really get to know Gustave beyond his flamboyancy, thereby reducing him to a one-dimensional stereotypical character. He also has a staff of similarly flamboyant "dandies." Now, I could be wrong regarding this, but I could have sworn that "dandy" is in some circles a derogatory homophobic term? Let me know if you've heard differently, as I'm not totally sure, but I did a sort of double-take when first coming across the word in this context.

The other queer character is Claudine, who is in love with her female servant against Princess Sophia's wishes. I won't reveal her fate because I like to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but suffice it to say that what happens to her gives off some ugly connotations about the cost of queerness. This wouldn't have been an issue had there been other queer characters in the novel who were given equal space, but there weren't, so Claudine sticks out, as does her fate.

Another not so much issue but question I had was regarding the friendship between Camellia and Amber, who is supposedly her best friend. For best friends, they are more competitive and jealous of each other than anything else. I'm wondering if this is meant to be a commentary on the sort of lives the Belles lead and how they are raised, but it seemed like Camellia's friendship with the other Belles was much more supportive. So this was somewhat confusing.

My final issue was with Princess Sophia, who is portrayed as cruel and unhinged. So far she seems like a one-dimensional and cartoonishly evil villain. There is one instance in the book that humanizes her, when she seems to be in a panic about her older sister, Charlotte, but it is forgotten rather quickly, and barely acknowledged when it does happen, even though it would have belied various beliefs about Sophia's character. In any case I certainly hope we see more layers to Sophia in the following book because as of now she's not very interesting or believable.

These are, however, minor grievances in what was a thoroughly refreshing and entertaining book. Ending with an absolutely wicked cliffhanger, the second installment promises to be exciting and fast-paced as the Belles continue to unearth more seedy secrets about their origins. ...more

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Feb 15, 2018 Lynn Williams rated it really liked it

3.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2018/02/12/th...
The Belles is a book set in a world obsessed with beauty. In one respect a social commentary on the lengths that people will go to in order to look beautiful on the outside but more than that a world that is far from beautiful when the surface is scratched,

For me this book was a surprise in more than one way. I think I surprised myself by choosing it because frankly I read less YA these days and books filled with descriptions about beauty, ha 3.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2018/02/12/th...
The Belles is a book set in a world obsessed with beauty. In one respect a social commentary on the lengths that people will go to in order to look beautiful on the outside but more than that a world that is far from beautiful when the surface is scratched,

For me this book was a surprise in more than one way. I think I surprised myself by choosing it because frankly I read less YA these days and books filled with descriptions about beauty, hair and dresses are not really my typical sort of read – that isn’t a judgement on others just a statement of fact. And yet, in spite of that I crumbled and requested a copy and here comes the final surprise – I enjoyed this more than I expected. It was a fast read and quite beautifully written and whilst I have a few niggles this was an undoubtedly and unexpectedly easy book to get along with. Just shows that maybe I need to sometimes be less hasty and reserve judgement until I’ve given a book a reasonable chance.

The book begins with a short history of Orléans. At the start of the world the God of Sky fell in love with the Goddess of Beauty and together they had the children of Orléans The Goddess of Beauty was so enamoured with her children that she forgot the God of Sky and in his anger he cursed their children. Their skin would be grey, their eyes red and their hair like dead straw (not really the worst curse imaginable, sounds a little like me after too much wine, anyway…) Unable to break the curse the Goddess of Beauty blessed the people of Orléans with the Belles. Beauties who would grow like roses in the dark and who would bring light to the people of the world.

We are then introduced to Camellia and the other five Belles who, having just turned sixteen, will perform their debuts before the Queen. Every three years a Beauté Carnaval is held and after competing against each other the Belles will be selected to reside at various Imperial Tea Houses. One of them will be given the coveted title of ‘Favourite’ and will serve only the Royal Family. Up until this point the Belles have led a privileged but sheltered position. They know little of the world that they are about to be thrust into and are about to discover that once alloted their various positions their lives will no longer resemble the first few years of the gilded bubble they previously enjoyed. Their days will be filled with appointments for nobles and wealthy court people. They will be at the demand of capricious clients whose whims to look fabulous are never ending and who change their appearance almost as often as they change their clothes. Put bluntly, they will be little more than slaves, chaperoned from A to B, watched at all times and kept locked within their rooms in the few moments of leisure that they have. But, more than that, they will begin to discover that their innocent upbringing serves more than one purpose. There are darker things afoot in Orléans. The Palace and Tea Rooms are riddled with intrigue and on top of that, other than the superficial beauty treatments that they undertake, the Belles don’t really have much idea about the real magic they possess.

I won’t go further into the plot as it will ruin the read for others. The real thrust of the story is one of courtly intrigue and whilst it wasn’t particularly groundbreaking it was intriguing nonetheless.

The world building is, I admit, a little skimpy, but, I believe that’s with good reason. Camilla knows no more of Orléans than we do. She was raised in the beauty school and the day of her debut is her, as well as the reader’s, first view of the world outside. For me the descriptions of the place and people put me in mind of the court of Marie Antoinette – here is beauty, adorned with jewels and lavished with every extravagance. At first I couldn’t quite come to terms with how they all lived such opulent lifestyles until I realised that we, again like the Belles, were only witnessing the tip of the iceberg – the elite of the world, not the ‘great unwashed’ masses. These are the people who can afford to spend decadently on their outward appearances. Not for them the grey skin or red eyes that the Sky God inflicted on his children. The great majority of the public cannot afford these cosmetic changes and in this story we don’t get to visit them and see what sort of lives they lead. I can only imagine there’s a great disparity and if it’s anything like the French court that it put me in mind of I suspect rebellion may be brewing outside the Palace’s gilded gates.

In terms of the characters. We follow Camellia. She’s certainly not a bad character although she doesn’t always make the wisest of decisions. She’s very ambitious and keen to please and this combination means that she sometimes rushes into things that might not necessarily be the best choice. I sometimes felt like I wanted to shake her but then I’d think – she’s sixteen, she’s led a protected life and isn’t familiar with the cut throat ways of a royal court where favour can be bestowed and removed in the blink of an eye.

So, criticisms. I don’t really think I’ve got a proper handle on the Belles or their magic. It seems to be something inherent in the blood, arcana, but I’m not going to try and explain further because I’ll just end up fudging things. I think the plot was a little easy to predict – but then I’m not the target audience – and there are a couple of romantic threads and, yes, they did make me roll my eyes a little. There are also a couple of scenes within the story, one an attempted assault and another that is tantamount to torture that I feel I should just point out. However, they’re not over the top, gratuitous or graphic and they help to display the particular unsavoury character traits of the antagonist of the piece.

All in all I found this a quick and easy read. The writing is lovely, if occasionally a little overly sweet, and I think there is a lot still to be further explored. In a world that is becoming increasingly obsessed with self image it explores the lengths that people will go to to look beautiful and, given the plot, the book gives particular meaning to the old saying that beauty is only skin deep. Like I said above, surprisingly easy to read given that my more recent experiences of YA have not always been good.

I received a copy courtesy of the publisher, through Netgalley, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion. ...more

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Jan 31, 2018 Kirsty rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-physical, arc-galley, diverse, reviewed

CW: death, people disillusioned with their own looks, mental illness.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing style fits perfectly, a lot of the time I struggle with fantasy because the writing style is too heavy, which is fine if you have the time for it, but I don't. This isn't full of flowery language or huge off-shooting paragraphs, it's straight and to the point and I loved it.

Clayton writes the novel in a way that to begin with you're a bit confused but she slowly lets you into the world un ...more

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Jul 17, 2020 Zezee rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Reading this novel made me think of candy. I don’t know why. 🍭

The Belles is set in the kingdom of Orleans, where everyone’s goal is to be considered beautiful. I like the folklore that this world is built on: The god of the sky fell in love with the goddess of beauty and grew jealous of her children, with whom she spends much of her time. To protect her children from the god of the sky, the beauty goddess curse them with gray skin, red eyes, straw-like hair, and severe sadness that leads to madn Reading this novel made me think of candy. I don’t know why. 🍭

The Belles is set in the kingdom of Orleans, where everyone’s goal is to be considered beautiful. I like the folklore that this world is built on: The god of the sky fell in love with the goddess of beauty and grew jealous of her children, with whom she spends much of her time. To protect her children from the god of the sky, the beauty goddess curse them with gray skin, red eyes, straw-like hair, and severe sadness that leads to madness. However, only a few, the Belles, are blessed with beauty that they can bestow on others.

The protagonist Camellia is one of the Belles. When the story begins, Camellia and her sisters are about to attend the Beauté Carnaval, where they will debut their skills in making others beautiful. Only one of them will be chosen as the queen’s favorite and receive the honor of residing at the palace and maintaining the royal family’s appearance. Camellia dearly hopes to be chosen as favorite, as her mother was, but things don’t go as she hopes and she later learns that being favorite comes with a price.

Umm… I think the story is okay. It took a while for me to get used to the writing. It’s a bit descriptive but although I love such prose, the flow of this one didn’t exactly work for me. However, as the story progressed, I got used to it and didn’t notice it as much. I appreciated the descriptions, however, because they helped to convince me of the opulent settings Camellia is often in. I wish there were a few illustrations throughout the story showing sketches of the clothing described, certain rooms in the palace, and the teacup pets (because they sound so cute! How adorable would it be to have a teacup dragon). I think that would have went well with the nature of the story.

Apart from descriptions of the setting and clothing, the magic system also interested me. Basically, the Belles have the ability to alter the appearance of others, so they do so to make the Orleanians beautiful and stave off the sadness that leads to madness that they are all susceptible to. Considering the twist at the end, I wonder how the Belles gain this ability. It almost makes me want to read the next book, but I’d prefer if someone just tells me.

The story is fast-paced. Things develop pretty quickly that I was surprised at how fast I got through half of the book. Much of the conflict derives from the princess, a tyrant who wants to be considered the most beautiful in the kingdom and will do and demand anything to get that. To me, she was a weak villain and lacked depth. I thought there would be more to the story than just the focus on being beautiful but there wasn’t. I understand that beauty is a crucial thing for the characters in this story, but I thought the underlying motivation of the characters would be more than just surface beauty.

Camellia hints at this sometimes because she often says her goal is for Orleanians to accept how they are instead of constantly changing their forms, but I was confused by this because she doesn’t seem to mean that she wants them to accept their natural form — gray and red-eyed with straw hair. Also the mention of the deep sadness doesn’t come into play in this book and I kept wondering why not, in what way does it affect the people, and is it touched on in the next book.

Of the characters, only Edel, the gutsy Belle, stood out to me. Although she’s only mentioned a few times, each time I wondered what she’d do next. I was more interested in her story than Camellia’s. Also, although Amber, another Belle, and Camellia are best friends, I wasn’t convinced of such a close relationship between them. I guess it’s because their relationship is contentious throughout this entire story, but, to me, Camellia seems closer to the other Belles, especially Edel, than Amber. I didn’t care for Camellia and definitely not for the princess, who was interesting at first because at first she attempted a pleasant façade that fooled Camellia, but then she devolved into a flat antagonist who often throws a tantrum.

I didn’t care for the romance I noticed developing in this book and was glad that it didn’t overtake the story. I suspect that a love triangle might appear in the next book and again I’m happy it didn’t appear in this one because I’m tired of those things. The two potential love interests were dull. I didn’t care for them either.

OVERALL ★★☆☆☆ ½

It was okay, but I won’t be continuing with the series.

As posted on Zezee with Books. ...more

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