I went into this book really wanting to love it, but ultimately feeling as if it wasn't the right book for me. I loved how descriptive the world was and the characters but felt that there was something missing for me. Again, there was nothing wrong with this book and I will be recommending it to teen patrons because it does have it's appeal and more books with this particular books message do need to be accessible to those who do need them.

I should have picked up this book MONTHS ago. The writing is lush and beautiful—I wanted to crawl inside of it. The premise is fascinating and the plot delivers. The characters are rich and interesting and the main protagonist is someone you like to spend time with. The cliffhanger ending has me already counting down until book 2 releases in February. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Dhonielle Clayton's "The Belles" is a frankly frightening picture of a world in which beauty is a commodity to be bought and sold by the masses. The rich can afford the best beauty-work and constant upkeep, while the poor are left to suffer the effects of becoming "greys." Not only do greys lack color in their skin and have red eyes, but their personalities also suffer negatively and anyone who goes too long without beauty treatments shows signs of madness. The only bright spots in this world of dismal grey and ugliness are the Belles who are born beautiful and blessed by the Goddess of Beauty with the ability to make others beautiful as well. However, this gift comes with a price and being the most favored Belle in the land might turn out to be the most dangerous position of all rather than the most coveted. A fantastic read that will keep you turning pages until the very end and begging for book two. 5/5 stars.

Clayton’s story of a society consumed by beauty is creative and alluring. The Belles are young women skilled at bringing beauty to those who can afford it. They not only manipulate skin tone, bone structure, hair and eyes but they can even modify temperament. Camellia is one of the six Belles graduating and she dreams of being the “favorite.” When she eventually gets her wish, she is faced with the ugly side of a kingdom built on beauty at all costs.

There is courtly drama, competition between the Belles, strange demands and people obsessed by power - all the makings of a great teen novel. But this book is more than that; there is a statement inherent in the book about a society that places beauty above all else. It’s beauty at any price and the need to be the most unique beauty is the penultimate goal.

The characters are great and the additional elements of the dystopian world add great flare. Things like the Post balloons and the teacup creatures are inventive and creative. While most of the characters are female, one soldier stands out and adds a subtle hint of romantic inclinations. As the first book in the series, the ending leaves readers on the brink and anxious for the next installment.

Having listed to the audio book, Rosie Jones must be commended for her outstanding reading. She breathes life into the characters and makes the narration lively and enjoyable.

*I received this book as an eARC from Disney Book Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I have had a horribly slow year of reading. The Belles has been on my kindle being read for almost half of 2018. I don't think it was this book itself that lead to my slump, though. I absolutely loved the writing style in this book. The worldbuilding from page one is done excellently. Clayton painlessly adds worldbuilding vocabulary that the reader easily can interpret without info dumping.

This may be since it took me so long to read, but I didn't connect too well with these characters. I absolutely loved the world. I loved the story, but each character never really fully formed for me. The love interest(s) bored me. There seemed like a lot of the book had some features just to fit in well with popular YA tropes and patterns. I wanted even more focus on the protagonist and her sisters.

I highly recommend this book. I want more books like this out there! I wish I would have been able to read it faster and focus on in closer. I give this book a 4/5.

While at times The Belles could be repetitive and predictable, this was such an original and disturbing fantasy. Clayton holds up a mirror in front of our society's obsession with appearance, and the result is not a pretty as we'd like it to be. Definitely recommend to fans of the Lunar Chronicles or the Crewel series.

I had to drop this book three chapters in. The style of writing wasn't working for me and I got tired of having to look up every fifth word in the dictionary. While the description that I could understand was great and Clayton set up a rather magical story, it just wasn't living up to the hype for me. Usually I wouldn't drop a book so early, and I still feel bad about not giving it more of a chance, but picking it up was already feeling like a chore and I have so many other books to read. Maybe this will be one I come back to later, but for now it's going to my DNF shelf.

The Belles reminded me of the addicting fantasies I used to binge read when I was younger. I don’t typically reach for fantasy anymore, but this story made me want to get back into the genre. The world building does need some work and the writing tended to be excessively flowery. Though the book did feel like that “first book in a series,” I’m still intrigued on what’s going to happen in the sequel. Rating: 3.25/5

4.5 stars

Really original, enjoyable story. The book was well-written, and you could tell the author really enjoyed world-building: the descriptions of everything were so lush and detailed. I'll definitely be picking up the sequel.

This was a fascinating and horrifying book all at the same time. It really makes you consider what makes a person beautiful and question why we let magazines, movies and all other forms of media tell us what beauty should look like and why we aren’t enough by thier standards. Camille was a strong character who always tried to stand up for what was right. She lost her way a few times but managed to find her fighting spirit once more. I HATE Sophia but that is exactly what the author intended. By the end, you keep wishing something bad will happen to her. The world building and descriptions of everything in the story were phenomenal. I would definately recommend this book!

I did receive an eARC from Netgalley and the publisher but I also bought my own copy while at BookCon in June. All opinions are my own.

I had to DNF this one. I tried to get into it several times, but it just didn't hold my interest at all.

At first I thought this book seemed to echo The Hunger Games and I was prepared not to like it. But as the story went on, I discovered it was different and interesting I loved the world building, the beauty arcana, the political intrigue, the sisterhood. I can't wait for the sequel..

"Don't you want to be beautiful?"

In The Belles we follow Camilla, one of the new Belles presented at court. In a world where everyone is born grey, Belles are the only ones who can bring beauty and color to the people through the magic given to them by the Goddess of Beauty. Camilla and her closest Belles sister Amber both covet the position of Queens Favorite and have been training really hard all their lives to be chosen. Once at court Camilla discovers some secrets that change her perspective on what it means to be a Belle. Now she must decide if she willing to break all the rules to save the people of Orleans.

I had been looking forward to this book FOR SO LONG. The premise intrigued the heck out of me. I mean, a diverse story set in like an alternate New Orleans? Yes, please. Among all of the prettiness and dresses and opulence, there is a darkness lurking that makes the whole book entirely fascinating. I couldn't stop reading to figure out what's going on and what will happen in the end.

The Belles contains lush, luxurious settings, great prose, a dynamic cast of diverse characters, and scary parallels to our real world. I definitely recommend it!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

Brilliant, beautiful, and poignant. Incredible world building, amazing imagery, and intelligent observations about society's obsession with beauty and the true ugliness underneath that obsession.

I absolutely adored this book, which was both a bit of a delightful surprise and the first step in laying a foundation of affection for everything that comes after this!

I absolutely adore this book. I went out and purchased it ASAP. It’s fantastic read and I recommend it to everyone

WHY DID I LISTEN TO THE BELLES BY DHONIELLE CLAYTON?
I genuinely respect a lot of what Dhonielle Clayton has to say on twitter. I also met her for like fifteen seconds at New York Comic Con back when her debut with Sonia Charaipotra was coming out – Tiny Pretty Things. After seeing the bold and beautiful cover for The Belles, I KNEW I had to read it like yesterday. Lucky me, my library had an audiobook copy on Overdrive and I only had to wait for one person before it was my turn.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
The Belles is about this girl of color named Camellia Beauregard. She is a Belle. This means basically that she has color and is beautiful and said to be blessed by this Goddess. Belles also control beauty, right. They are the hottest ticket and everyone who is gray and boring in the kingdom wants these powers. So, Camellia and the other Belles train for the chance to be the Favorite of the Queen. This is Camellia’s biggest goal – being Favorite.

Unfortunately, as it turns out, court life isn’t all it is cracked up to be. Nor are her powers all beauty and light. In fact, she discovers some pretty sinister things. Meanwhile, the Queen wants Camellia to use her Belle powers to help out her daughter who is sick so she can be on the throne instead of her other daughter. FYI, demon is putting it lightly.

HOW DID I LIKE THE BELLES?
OKAY SO, a lot of The Belles went right over my head, mainly because I just have that problem sometimes. HOWEVER, oh my god the writing. It is sumptuous and beautiful and ugh, so much imagery. I just want all the teacup animals. And the food sounds so good too. But like, you can tell that something sinister lurks beneath the surface. Still, I know based on twitter that there were breadcrumbs in this book that I did not pick up on, likely due to my privilege and being Captain Oblivious over here. Still, I really enjoyed this book, despite some really tough scenes to listen to. ALSO OMG Sophie. That girl, she’s one of the princesses. She’s utterly evil and oh my goodness, kudos to Clayton for writing someone so compelling and depraved. Camellia’s interesting too, let’s be real. However, I am not sitting here typing this writhing with hatred for her.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook of The Belles is narrated by Rosie Jones. She does stuck up posh B very well, FYI. I had anger palpitations during scenes with Sophie. However, Jones also does a great job with Camellia and just drawing listeners in. I would totally give this a recommend via audiobook for sure.

I've read some interesting reviews about this book and so my thoughts on it are kind of up and down. I did really enjoy it as it was a unique story that was on my most anticipated list of the year. It did not disappoint, for sure. The visual imagery was spectacular and Dhonielle Clayton certainly has a way with words. I'm definitely interested in reading more by the author and would love to have more books in the world of The Belles!

A fantasy novel featuring a young woman of color, great characterization and lovely style of prose. Yes please.

Beautiful book and fantastic plot! I enjoyed this even more than I thought I would going into it.
Absolutely recommend!