It is very rare these days to find a book with such an original premise as this. I absolutely loved the whole idea of the plot and the charcters within it - it completely drew me in, until I coukd not put it down.
What a rare beast! I cannot wait for more from this author.

Addictive reading.

I love how this book is written from the start - languid and pretty, the words are truly fitting and make for a nice read as we are introduced to Camellia and her powers. The writing works with the story as the words are written as beautifully as the characters are meant to be.

Camellia is also the hero we need. She has so many great character traits throughout this book, she’s charming, strong, empathetic, compassionate, and she makes for a great lead character throughout the story. The comraderie also Camellia has with her sisters I enjoy in The Belles, it feels like a sisterhood and they support Camellia well when they appear within the plot.

I’ve heard so much about this book and it totally makes sense why as this book goes on and with the (excellent) plot not fully resolved, I really need the second book soon!

Thank you to Netgalley, Dhonielle Clayton and the publisher for ARC of The Belles in exchange for an honest review.
First thought; where can I get a teacup elephant/tiger/lion/crocodile/dragon?
Second thought; this book was so lush. I literally adored it, I stayed up while the early hours of this morning reading until I literally fell asleep and then once I got home today started again and read on until I'd finished.

The Belles has been appearing on my Netgalley dashboard for weeks now, but tell me off for Judging a book by it's cover, or rather its name, I presumed it was some kind of historical fiction about debutantes and therefore wasn't interested. I know, I know, I should have read the synopsis but a lot of my Netgalley choosing is done by looking at covers/titles if I don't know the author already, because I just don't get enough time to read every synopsis! But anyway, I digress. I then saw The Belles mentioned on a lot of other blogger's pages as one of the most anticipated reads of 2018 so I decided to give it a go, and I'm so glad I did!

The Belles creates a world which tears apart every concept of beauty we currently hold in today's western society, the celebrity culture and world of Silicon Valley, reality tv and the quest for perfection. Here, all people are created grey, their hair is dry and brittle, their skin the same, bristles grow from their upper lips and chins, their eyes are red, beauty is something nobody holds. Except for the Belles. Created by the Goddess of Beauty to restore beauty to the world, the people of Orléans rely on the Belles to give them long flowing locks, flawless skin in whichever colour they choose, muscles, shining eyes and even tempers, anything their heart desires to make them the fairest of them all.

But (unsurprisingly) there's a dark undertone to this story, which Camille and her sisters, the latest of the Belles to join society, soon find out. Worked to the bone and struggling to maintain their strength and connection to the Arcana in their blood, dominated by a verging on crazy princess, a queen too sick to protect them, and the secrets which lie at the root of the Belle's very existence.

Can Camille get the bottom of the problem and rescue herself and her sisters from the horrors of the royal court? You'll have to read it to find out!

The Belles is without a doubt my favourite book of 2018 so far, and all I can hope is that there's a next book and that it will be coming soon!!

4 1/2 stars. Woah. The Belles is a monster hidden behind a pretty facade of dresses, magic, and beautiful writing. The world and story slowly build through stunning descriptions, as the author peels back the layers of society's obsession with beauty, revealing all the ugliness that lies underneath.

In the fictional world of Orléans, a small number of girls called Belles are able to use magic to create beautiful (or, indeed, ugly) looks to the paying customer's desire. Camellia and her sister Belles have been trained their whole lives for their job, and each longs to be chosen as Her Majesty’s favorite - the one responsible for keeping the royal family beautiful and satisfied.

The descriptions are lavish, an effective juxtaposition with the darker plot lines that unfold. The ugliness in this beautiful world creeps out slowly, though I still found the earlier chapters compelling. Clayton's world was unique enough, and the characters interesting enough, to keep me enchanted until it was time to learn what was lurking under the surface, but it is the last hundred pages where the book really shines. In a horrific way.

Questions gradually arise about the origin of the Belles and their magic. Loyalties are also questioned. Camellia and the other Belles hear voices crying out in the night; voices of people who shouldn't be there. And there is a deliciously despicable villain whose desire for beauty, it seems, cannot be sated, and who made my blood pressure rise and my heart pound. Nothing like a nice bit of nastiness to keep the pages turning.

But, through it all, the real villain is society's obsession with, and expectations for, beauty. In a world where every part of a person can be changed - skin, hair and eye colour, bone structure, waist, breast and hip size, and more - no one is ever satisfied. In the insatiable quest for beauty, deep down, everyone hates themselves. Behind this mesmerizing fantasy of magic and terrible secrets, there is a sad tale, and one that many of us won't find completely unfamiliar.

Lots of originality and food for thought. Oh, and it's a damn good pageturner, too.

My initial thoughts on this book was that it sounded interesting but that it wasn't going to  go anywhere. After all it seemed to be all about changing your appearances. How wrong could I be. This was an addictive, exciting, thrilling ride. That had me hooked from page one and had me begging for more at the end.

This is a book that I am truly excited about. The twists and turns, the plot and the people were so unexpected, so vibrant and so deadly I cannot actually describe what made this book so good. It did start off a bit slow, but the world was so richly detailed that it didn't matter, and it seemed clear from the start that this was set out to be a series.

It reminded a bit of a beautiful Hunger Games, along with The Selection series. Everything is a game and beauty is a commodity. The Belles have the power to make people beautiful but is everything they do exactly as it seems. And why does it feel that so many truths have been hidden from them.

Camellia is our main Belle, she has always dreamed of being the palace favourite, the one to beautify the royal family. But when the Queen gives her a task of rescuing the princess is she getting more than she bargained for? She is kind, and has empathy and determination that she desperately requires to survive Orleans.  Then there is Amber (another Belle) and Remy (Camellia bodyguard) who add so much more to the story.

One thing that I can say for certain is that I am excited that there is another book to come because that ending was a bit of a roller-coaster and now I teetering over the edge.

If you are after a book that is fast, beautiful and deadly The Belles has in spades.

One of the most imaginative stories I've ever read. The most intriguing, fascinating world, wow... It's a heady mixture of beautiful & delicious decoration and detail, with a truly exquisite sprinkling of wtf!!! It's so stunningly detailed...The eye-wateringly delicate and decadent descriptions of everything juxtaposed with the story's darker side is my everything❤️😱! The writing is incredibly accomplished––the pacing, dialogue, character arcs, romance, descriptions, settings, structure, all of it. Clayton's way with words is inspiring, and the execution of this amazing story idea is just magic. End of. I love, love, love this book. It has one of my all-time fave contrasting pairings––the utterly, heart-meltingly exquisite and delicate and glittery and innocent and magical and just outright seriously PRETTYYYYYY, paired with the, What. The. Actual. F*uck? When this pairing is done right, it's always sublime. Clayton not only does it to perfection––she takes it one step further. Seriously, you need to preorder this beauty asap, and then you'll know <3 <3 <3

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1991553602
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