It's been a while since I've written a dedicated review post, so I feel like the fact that The Belles has motivated me to write this already tells you how much I loved it. You should all go read it and go buy it now. I'd hoped to have a review up at its release date, but I'm in college and in midterms right now so things have been a bit crazy. Once I was able to dedicate some time to reading it though, I was able to read it in two or three sittings.
Synopsis: This is the official version and what you can find on Amazon, but I've shortened it because I think the full synopsis gives too much away and I'd recommend discovering it as you go along.
Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orleans, 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 Orleans 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.
Review:
The short of it: 6/5, please go buy it now.
The long of it: I already knew I loved Dhonielle's writing because I loved her duology with Sona Charaipotra, which started with Shiny Pretty Things. The Belles was gorgeous on so many levels and magnificent in so many ways. I think I may have said this about The Star-Touched Queen, but this is one of those books which made me wish I visualized things as I read. The sensory descriptions in this book are magnificent and paint a rich, colorful picture of Orleans and the lives of the Belles. I honestly think I need to reread this book when I get a chance because everything about the world and the story is so layered and nuanced that I know I'll be discovering new things about it each time I read it.
It's so hard to surprise a reader without the plot feeling out of place with the story or within the genre. What Clayton manages to do is shock you in that strange way where you didn't see it coming, but when you look back on the preceding events and context, that is the only logical conclusion.
This book just shows Dhonielle's incredible command of the English language and shows the care she took to craft all the layers of it. Even in a world where people can pay to have their skin color change, the power dynamics of race still exist. Part of why Camellia is treated differently is because she is racialized. On her twitter, Dhonielle talks about this and what she put into the book. She talks about the things that I and other white readers and reviewers will not be able to understand in the novel because these layers of the book are not for us. Still read the book. There are other parts of it you will understand, but the exploitation of characters in the book will mean something very different to me than it does to a black reader.
I think everyone should read it and get what they can from it (which is so much, no matter who you are) and then read some of what Dhonielle has said about it.
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