Item: The Belles (the Belles Series, Book 1)
Rating: 1.00
Author: sarahjay

by Dhonielle Clayton

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, 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 Orléans 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. And when the Queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.

With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.

I started out really digging this and about halfway through I realized, oh. This is all it is. You look under the surface and just find more surface. The characters aren't going to get deeper or act like real people with consistent personality traits, or personality traits, period. The world isn't going to be built out at all. The """""""science"""""""" isn't going to get any kind of explanation. The politics are flimsy to the point of being non-existent. There are characters just called things like "the Fashion Minister." Okay. It was like reading The Selection, which I fully admit to enjoying, but without any of the redeeming qualities that made that series fun to read.

I see that there are going to be sequels to this, so maybe future books will course correct some of my complaints, but I will probably not read them to find out. There wasn't a single likable character I could invest in. The dialogue is unbearable. Everyone is excessively selfish and/or willfully stupid about their situations, no one communicates about goddamn anything, and the love interests are laughably ridiculous. On top of all of that there are some anti-LGBTQ tropes that no one asked for or needs in 2018. It's garbage. I wasn't going to be that harsh but fuck it. This book is garbage.

The Belles (the Belles Series, Book 1) (Belles, #1)

by Dhonielle Clayton

Reviewed by sarahjay on Jun 17, 2018

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