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popthebutterfly 's review for:
The Belles
by Dhonielle Clayton
Rating: 5/5
Genre: YA Fantasy/Dystopian
Recommended Age: 16+ (sexual abuse and harassment, attempted rape)
Pages: 448
Author Website
Amazon Link to Order the Book
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley! Thank you NetGalley and thank you Disney Book Group! All opinions are my own.
When I originally heard the title about the book I actually thought it would be about beauty queens. Seriously. But the more I heard about this book, the more I realized that while I’m not entirely sure what it’s all about (because I actively try to not look at synopsis anymore) that I needed to read this book. If you’ve not heard about this book it’s takes place in this fantasy world called Orleans. There are people who have been blessed by the Goddess of Beauty, The Belles, who can use their magic, arcana, to transform people into picture perfect beauty. Our main character is Camellia, who wants to be the favorite. The favorite is a Belle chosen by the Queen to live in the royal palace and tend to the royal family. However, things aren’t all they seem when Camellia leaves her small world for the royal palace. This book was FANTASTIC! The character development was amazing for all of the characters, even the smaller ones, the plot was not only intriguing but held my interest throughout, the world building was so well done that I could accurately picture everything in my mind, the pacing was perfection, and there was SO MUCH DIVERSITY! I AM IN LOVE!!!
The only, ONLY, thing that could be offputting about this book was that the book was longer than expected. I don’t have a physical copy with me but I expected the book to be about 250-300 pages, but it’s actually 448 pages. This didn’t offput me from the book at all because I actually enjoy longer books for the first book in the series, but some people might not. I also had previously read a not-a-review review (weird, I know) about there being ableism in this book, which is the discrimination of able-bodied people. I went into this book with that in mind, but then saw no evidence of this. There was one sentence in the book that described a character as “invalid” which can be used as a derogatory term, but in this sense it meant as it is defined “a person made weak or disabled by illness or injury” in which that character was. She was in a coma. The literal definition of weak by illness or injury. I’m not sure if the comment was in jest or if the person did not understand what invalid really meant.
Verdict: No ableism, amazing use of diversity, and an empowering and fantastic tale about a girl who doesn’t just suddenly gain power overnight. A definite must read for 2018!
Genre: YA Fantasy/Dystopian
Recommended Age: 16+ (sexual abuse and harassment, attempted rape)
Pages: 448
Author Website
Amazon Link to Order the Book
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley! Thank you NetGalley and thank you Disney Book Group! All opinions are my own.
When I originally heard the title about the book I actually thought it would be about beauty queens. Seriously. But the more I heard about this book, the more I realized that while I’m not entirely sure what it’s all about (because I actively try to not look at synopsis anymore) that I needed to read this book. If you’ve not heard about this book it’s takes place in this fantasy world called Orleans. There are people who have been blessed by the Goddess of Beauty, The Belles, who can use their magic, arcana, to transform people into picture perfect beauty. Our main character is Camellia, who wants to be the favorite. The favorite is a Belle chosen by the Queen to live in the royal palace and tend to the royal family. However, things aren’t all they seem when Camellia leaves her small world for the royal palace. This book was FANTASTIC! The character development was amazing for all of the characters, even the smaller ones, the plot was not only intriguing but held my interest throughout, the world building was so well done that I could accurately picture everything in my mind, the pacing was perfection, and there was SO MUCH DIVERSITY! I AM IN LOVE!!!
The only, ONLY, thing that could be offputting about this book was that the book was longer than expected. I don’t have a physical copy with me but I expected the book to be about 250-300 pages, but it’s actually 448 pages. This didn’t offput me from the book at all because I actually enjoy longer books for the first book in the series, but some people might not. I also had previously read a not-a-review review (weird, I know) about there being ableism in this book, which is the discrimination of able-bodied people. I went into this book with that in mind, but then saw no evidence of this. There was one sentence in the book that described a character as “invalid” which can be used as a derogatory term, but in this sense it meant as it is defined “a person made weak or disabled by illness or injury” in which that character was. She was in a coma. The literal definition of weak by illness or injury. I’m not sure if the comment was in jest or if the person did not understand what invalid really meant.
Verdict: No ableism, amazing use of diversity, and an empowering and fantastic tale about a girl who doesn’t just suddenly gain power overnight. A definite must read for 2018!