The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

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The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton



                Imagine a world full of beauty. A place where you can choose how you look from the color of your skin, hair, eyes, size and change them on a whim. Welcome to Orléans. The people here, the Gris, were cursed by the God of the Sky and now their skin is grey, their eyes are red and their hair is like brittle straw. The Belles are from the Goddess of Beauty and use their arcana to change the Gris’s appearance and make them beautiful again. Each generation, the Queen chooses a favorite from the Belles. Camille always wanted to be chosen as the favorite. Her mother was the favorite of her generation and Camille along with her five sisters have been training all their lives to compete to be the Queen’s favorite and live in the palace. After being presented on the night of their sixteenth birthday they will all learn where they will serve in the kingdom. But they will also learn the truth about beauty and the arcana they’ve been bestowed with. They’ll also learn how far the Gris are willing to go to be beautiful.
                The Belles is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It has so many different elements and is so extremely imaginative. A world where you can determine every single bit of your appearance and there are people who can change your appearance at will. And the extents to which these changes can be made are absolutely mind blowing. I want to take a second and completely gush about how beautiful the world building of this story genuinely is. Clayton’s descriptive language and visual detail is stunning. I was absolutely infatuated with the world she built. This story would not have been anywhere near as successful as it is, if she wasn’t able to deliver in creating this immaculate world. With this kind of template, The Belles absolutely thrived.
                With the lovely world building, these characters jumped off the page. Camille was a very intriguing main character. She is driven by her need to create but she also sees the beauty where others don’t. She has a heart and isn’t an incredibly shallow character, unlike some of the other characters we meet. Her relationship with the other Belles was believable with just enough competitiveness and comradery to mimic what would be expected of sisters. She is young and full of the faults that you would expect in a teenager. But she is incredibly strong and readers never have a reason to suspect her of being anything other than genuine. She is an incredible narrator for the story.
                I absolutely loved this book. I ended up devouring it in two days because I simply could not stop reading it. I found myself swept up in Orléans and these characters. The plot never stopped moving, and was highly unpredictable. One of the things that I enjoyed most in this book were the observations Clayton made about what can be considered beautiful. In a world where you can decide your entire appearance, and fads can be changed and embraced constantly then what is actual beauty. The ways in which people varied themselves and compared themselves to others was astounding. It’s an interesting narrative and one that I can’t wait to see explored in other books of this series! I give this story 5 out of 5 stars. 

Thank you Netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review. 


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