I received this ARC, this doesn’t influence my review. This book was a good read, but I didn’t like the dual POVs. The world building was okay, I liked the characters.

I hate writing bad reviews but honestly I could tell that this was a wattpad book. The writing wasn't great, the characters were flat and annoying and so so so stereotypical and unrealistic. All the side characters were basically accessories. Some characters seemed important at the beginning of the book but then basically disappeared for the majority of it only to pop back up again at the end. Everything felt rushed. The main character was so so so annoying and was always either angry, or upset that she was having a good time while she didn't know what was happening to her sister. The romance between main character and love interest wasn't believable or very interesting. The plot was predictable. Despite all of this I kept reading (skimming some parts that were too boring) so for that I give it a little more than one star. Maybe 1.5. I'm glad that this author is getting published and hopefully her writing will improve as she gets more practice.

Vampires are the ultimate reclusive celebrities— living in mansions together with an inner circle of “donors,” a highly coveted role for humans who are employed to feed them. Humans who are offered the position are guaranteed fame and fortune after their time in the houses, as well as an inside look into the lives of the world’s most mysterious and obsessed over figures, in exchange for their blood. Renie is probably the only person ever chosen as Donor who isn’t completely under the vampires’ spell, she applied for the role to find out what happened to her sister who seemingly dropped off the face of the earth after accepting her dream job at Belle Morte several months ago.

If I’m being perfectly honest here, this book reads like the very rough pitch for a CW show that I would have gone absolutely feral over as a teen. And like most of the CW shows that I’ve seen, it features a loose mystery that the characters try to solve in the background and character developments that can mostly be explained by “well this character is hot.”

There is little-to-no introduction for almost every character, assuming that readers are as in the know about the celebrities that make up the cast of characters living in Belle Morte. It makes sense from a narrative perspective, but as a reader, I had no clue who the people in this book were supposed to be. Their relationships, appearances, and so much more is just left unsaid, as if it is understood that every reader is up to date on the gossip in the world of the book. So while starting a new book can always be a little jarring until you get a handle on all of the characters and worldbuilding, this one never actually resolves that— something that left me vaguely unsettled throughout the entire book.

There were a lot of things in this book that bothered me, but none so much as the fact that everything was just said and never actually shown at any point in the book. Generally, not a lot is left to the imagination because characters will state things, like broad generalizations that they have secrets or dark pasts or feelings, as facts in conversation with each other without ever really getting into specifics. In this insta-love at first sight book, sexual tension was never really something that I noticed between the characters so much as they told each other that they apparently had a lot of it. In fact, aside from the fact that I knew it was coming, the romantic relationship between Renie and Edmond just sort of happens? There’s not much preamble to it, they don’t really interact with each other much besides noticing that the other is hot and then bam, they’re making out in the library.

Okay, I’m not going to lie, at one point in reading this, I was really getting into it. There are parts of the worldbuilding that are genuinely well thought out, and I think that at its core, this story really has legs. However, upon further reflection (ahem, the next morning), I realize I was also drunk at the same time, which may or may not be a coincidence. The storytelling felt like it was always missing a sentence here or there with the tiny narrative jumps it made. I think that there were a lot of things that would get resolved if it was given just a bit more editing, but I got the feeling that everyone involved in proofreading was so deep into the story that they left out a lot of key details (and spelling and grammatical edits) that would have made it flow so much better.

And if I want to be truly honest here, this book has no resolution. I don’t think that this is a spoiler, the story genuinely just ENDS. I expected there to be at least three more chapters between the end of the story and the acknowledgements page. So many loose ends are just kind of thrown onto the page as it ends, that could very well be setting up a sequel, but it isn’t even remotely close to what I would call a cliffhanger ending.

All in all, this book kind of reads like a Twilight meets Love Island fanfiction, starring THEE Count of Monte Cristo, set in a house that I was convinced was absolutely Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends (shag carpet in different colors per every room? It’s either a tacky nightmare or deliberately color schemed so you can tell these cartoon rooms apart or else they wouldn't be mentioned at all, right?). The idea of it is absolutely there, but I really do think that it needs work. Would I read a sequel? Yes, but I think I would want to take another pass at reading this story once it’s been through a few more rounds of editing because it just isn’t there yet as a standalone and almost needs more to prop it up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

“There is no greater loneliness than immortality.”

Vampires are regarded as the royals of celebrity culture. When Renie’s sister June severs all contact after signing up to be a donor for the infamous Belle Morte house of vampires; Renie has no other choice than to follow in her footsteps in an attempt to discover what happened to her.

With the lead male character being called Edmond, I was very worried when I started this that it would a vomit induced recap of Twilight, thankfully Renje is no Bella. It was a entertaining book that I read in one sitting, because I had to know if my theories were correct. They were, but the story still has enough points to keep your rabid curiosity guessing throughout.

Whilst I found the romance believable, Edmond was likeable but a little too bland for my tastes. His memories seemed more interesting than his present day self.

Apart from that the characters are great, especially the friends Renie makes along the way. The vampire politics involving the council and the leaders of each house is really intriguing and something we will hopefully learn more about as the series progresses.

All in all it’s a fun vampire novel and hopefully the start of something great.

Overall an average read for me. This cover is stunning but I was not really invested in the story. I did not enjoy the formatting on the arc but of course that will be fixed in the physical formatting of the novel.

I sadly couldn't finish this book and I had to dnf it.
I just found it bland and I didn't really like any of the characters.
Also I don't think I'm really into vampire books anymore.
I can definitely see other people really enjoying this book, it just wasn't for me.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Belle Morte is the name of the house vampire's run, where human donors volunteer to have the vampires feed on them. Vampires are seen and treated like celebrities. The donors remain at the house for as long as the vampires wish. When Renie’s sister June stops writing letters, she decides to join Belle Morte as a donor to find her.

Belle Morte is about sisterly and romantic love. It had an intriguing plot and is the reason I requested an ARC. Though some parts did fall a little flat for me. I found myself trying to skip ahead but I was intrigued enough that I must know what happens in the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book surprised me, when I first got the ARC I wasn't expecting great things from it because I'm not exactly the biggest vampire fan (I was one of the kids that watched the first Twilight and hated it) but I was curious about this one because look at that cover! And I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by how good this story is, granted it still had its issues hence the 3 stars, but overall it was a very good, fun read that I flew through.

Belle Morte tells the story of Renie who, after her sister goes to a vampire house to be a donor then all news of her stop at once, decides to apply to Belle Morte as well looking for her sister. Except when she gets there what she finds isn't what she was expecting.

I have to say my favorite thing about this book has to be the world it's set in. I mean a world where vampires no longer hide in the shadows and are treated like A-list celebrities? Sign me up!
At first the idea of donors, aka humans who willingly go to be vampires' dinner, seemed very odd to me, but the more I read the more it made sense, yeah people would be into that shit.

The writing was also a strong point for this book, I really liked how straightforward it was and it made me breeze through it (in what little free time I had).

However, in my opinion the weakest link in this book were the characters, I just couldn't relate nor like them. I didn't hate them, I just didn't care and if I'm being honest I'd rather hating characters than being indifferent.
I tried so hard to relate to Renie and like her, after all she was going through so much shit that would drive me insane if I were in her place, but I just couldn't. The fact that she's the dumbest human to ever walk the earth didn't help as well.
Edmond was meh to me, I didn't expect him to be an instant new favorite, but holy shit that man is so bland you could replace him with a loaf of bread and nothing would change.
I did kinda like the friends, both Renie's and Edmond's, but we didn't get nearly enough time with them for this to matter.

The romance was blah, I didn't really feel any connection between the characters, especially since most of their interactions had a lot of telling instead of showing. Hell Jason and Gabriel had more chemistry in that one interaction than Renie and Edmond did in the entire book.

Overall however, this was a very fun read and I really enjoyed going through it and dipping my toes into vampire books, I might even pick up more books about vampires that are not Twilight at some point this year.

Belle Morte is a unique and captivating YA fantasy book surrounding the themes of vampires and mysteries. I was thoroughly entertained while reading, constantly in anticipation of what would come next, and trying to figure out the mystery along the way.

Although I enjoyed reading, some plot twists were predictable to me, as there weren't many other things that could've happened, and that being said, there wasn't much of an element of surprise. Also, the romance started off really quickly, considering both Edmond and Renie seemed infatuated with each other since they first met. Their relationship did redeem itself a bit later on, as it was developed more slowly and the characters were given more depth. I became engrossed in their romance from then on.

Overall, this book was definitely a fun read. I absolutely loved Renie's friendships, they were all very well developed and given a lot of focus. Based on the ending, I’m hoping there will be a sequel, and I'm equally excited for that as I was for Belle Morte. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a vampire romance, amazing friendship dynamics, and an enthralling mystery filled with secrets, lies, and plot twists.

There’s some campy fun to be had while reading Belle Morte, a YA vampire novel that is better in concept than in execution but has some enjoyable moments.

The basic premise of this is decent and had me hoping for something akin to a futuristic vampire version of The Thousandth Floor. While the setup isn’t bad, the atmosphere (for which there is SO much potential) never really arrives, leaving us without much sense of setting.

Most of the characters are likable enough, if one-dimensional and pretty stilted in their dialogue. I liked the friendship/family plot better than the romance. Renie and Roux’s fast friendship is probably the best part of the book, and the relationship between Renie and her sister June is intriguing.

But the romance is super cringey (If some guy started calling me “mon ange” EVER, let alone two days after I met him, I would run screaming). And poor Jason, who could have been a fun part of Renie’s friend group, ends up being nothing but the most basic walking gay stereotype.

It’s very easy to figure out who the villain is from the outset, which also isn’t great and kills what little suspense the book holds after the mid-book reveal of what exactly happened to June.

In all, this is entertaining enough, reasonably likable, and well-paced, but the quality is on the low end for YA fantasy.

I loved the first half of this book. It was interesting and sucked me in. But once we figure out the mystery the book kind of dropped off. Nothing exciting happened until the last 2 chapters. And then it’s exciting and the book cuts off. I’m hoping there is a second in the series.

I fell in love with Renie the main character she was spunky and brutally honest and had no fears. I’d like to read more about her story. Edmund was great, I loved hearing his past stories and would even read a book based on his history.

I really enjoyed this one. 🤞🏻 For a second book

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Belle Morte is about a young girl named Renie who goes to the Belle Morte House, a historic mansion, that is inhabited by vampires to investigate the sudden disappearance of her sister June.

What I liked about this book:
The premise and setting of this book, a world in which vampires are known throughout the world and are treated like celebrities, seemed like an interesting setup.

What I didn't like about this book:
I ended up DNFing this book because the writing/dialogue seemed stilted and repetitive, the main character seemed whiny even though she willingly knew what she was agreeing to when she submitted her application, and was suddenly in love with one of the vampires when she was convinced just a few pages before that every vampire in the house had something to do with the disappearance of her sister. It seemed like a plot point of the book was revealed extremely early and would have been better off keeping the secret until the end of the book.

I would rate this book 2 stars just for the promise of the setting of this book.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What can I say about this book? I literally could NOT put this down. From the moment I started reading it to the time I put it down (early morning hours). Initially, I chose this book because of the amazingly beautiful cover, and the fact it was about vampires was just a plus. Normally you don't see Wattpad books written this well. And this book did not disappoint.

About the Book:
Vampires have come out! They are bigger than celebrities and they hire humans as donors to feed on. Renie has not heard from her sister June after some time of entering and so she herself enters this amazing world that she distrusted to become one so she could see what happened with her sister. Only to find she is not there and she does not believe the reasons on where she is at.

Overall the plot was good, albeit a bit slow for the first half of the book. The characters were great although I do think the main character fell a bit fast for a species she supposedly hated/distrusted. I absolutely loved this book though, and I am very excited I got to read it first before it came out but now I already looking for the next book in this series!! I love the fact that she put vampires in the modern world and how people would react if they did in fact come out to be real. I did figure out pretty early on what happened to her, and who did it. But if you like vampires and romance and enjoy a quick enjoyable read this is a book for you!

Who doesn't love a Vampire story?
This book reminded me very much of The Vampire Academy but with more angst. The first part of the story was rather slow but the second part the action was more prominent. At stages I expected Renie to meet her end, she didn't seem to back talk a lot. A very good ending, if a little out of the blue, which just means I need to read the next instalment as soon as it drops.
A great way to pass the cold evening.

“If you fall, I will help you get back together.”

Thank you NetGalley, Wattpad Books and Bella Higgin for sending me an ARC. All thoughts are my own

Umh.. so.. this is awkward. I’ve never given a book less than 3 stars.. and I feel terrible doing it now, but I think giving an honest opinion is the most important thing.
So, let’s start with the plot, and I honestly think it has got a lot of potential.

plot >> In a society that made celebrities out of Vampires, Feeding houses are established all over the world, to feed them and give the lucky ones a chance to live a glamorous life. When Renie’s sister, June, stops giving her family updates, she gets suspicious. She will have to get into the house, “Belle Morte”, to try and find out what happened.

I was really intrigued by the plot, reason why I requested this Arc. It was a huge letdown tho. As soon as I started reading, I did not enjoy the writing style. I’m not saying the author’s style isn’t right or you can’t love it… it just wasn’t for me. It reminded me way too much of those Wattpad fanfics we all used to read years ago. Something that also bothered me was the dual povs. In fact, the main character’s POV is in first person, while the male’s is in third… now IDK if there is a reason behind this decision, but if so, I don’t get it.

Furthermore, the plot stopped being interesting after page 120 for me. After the main character uncovers the secret we have been waiting to find out, nothing interesting really happens. Just her and her vampire boyfriend dealing with a forbidden love and him telling her about his life for pages and pages and pages.

Talking about the main relationship… It didn’t make any sense for me. They don’t even know each other, have like… one meaningful conversation and fall in love. By page 15 she was already feeling butterflies and he was already trying to resist her.
Not my kind of thing at all.

In the end: this book was not my cup of tea. I’ve never read about vampires so I was really excited. For anyone who decides to read this, I hope you love it more than I did.

Cam <3

This was a very interesting book. I really enjoyed Higgin's prose; her dialogue between characters felt very real and natural.

This really seems like something I should like, but unfortunately I just didn't. Futuristic vampire stories (the kind where vampires live openly and require willing donors) often don't work for me, but it's been a long time since I read a good vampire book, so I really wanted to try this one. The world and characters both felt really bland and weak. There were tons of detailed descriptions of the house and outfits, but I kind of lost focus while reading them. I ended up not being interested in Renie's quest to find her sister. Also, Renie read a lot like a Mary Sue. Of course she's the only one who doesn't care about vampire celebrities!

First, I want to thank NetGalley and Wattpad Books for sending over an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Now, on the book and what I thought.

The description drew me in. A girl, who doesn't like vampires, becomes a donor for vampires to find out about what happened to her older sister, who had always been a donor. Something about vampires will always crave to read more, but the interesting idea of this mystery made me want to read as well.

I really like Renie, the main character. She's strong and a fighter. She doesn't just accept things told to her. She needs to see things for herself. And Edmond? Oh my! 😍 Swoon. Also, Roux is just a badass. I really think people will love these characters and love them as much as I did.

Bella really does a great job of building up this interesting and unique world where vampires and humans co-exist. I do wish there was a bit more building and a little less slowness of conversation that wasn't very useful to the story. Some parts of the book are really slow and you really want to skip over it to move the story along. I also felt like the problem in the book was predictable. But it's still a fun, fast read that I HAVE to continue reading about.

I like the concept of this story and how the main character didn't just swoon once she was in Belle Morte. When Renie kicked Edmond's shin I actually laughed. She has grit and determination standing up to so many vampires in order to get the answers she went their for. I was a little disappointed that the world building that we love to see in fantasy was missing. There wasn't a lot of outside influence. But what a cliffhanger! I do want the next story so I can find out what happens.

3. 25 / 5 Stars

A book about a human girl who hates vampires goes to a house full of vampires to find out what happened to her missing sister and meets a handsome vampire. Yep, that sounds like the type of book I will love to read.

What I liked:
I love how this book takes place in modern times but still feels old…I liked how we got to see the growth of that world in regards to vampires. The world building and plot were easy to follow and understand, which made for a fast and fun read with loveable characters.

What I did not like:
It was so slow, I found myself skipping lines trying to finish it faster. The problems in the book dragged on for an unnecessary amount of time. There were only three issues that the characters had to overcome: 1. The love between the main characters 2. What happened to the sister 3. How to help the sister, and only 1 and a half of those problems were rushly solved in a predictable way at the very end of the book. There was so much dialogue throughout the entire book, which also shows how nothing happened, it got boring at many points.
Lastly, The way that the dual perspective was written was hard to follow because one would be in first person and the other would be in third, and for me, it got really confusing.

Overall, I really hope there is another book because I NEED to know what happens next because of the major cliffhangers.