About Amy Hello, I'm Amy, an aspiring motorsports writer and former blogger. If you dig deeper enough, you find some very old blog posts, as this started as a book blog, but that's really where I got my start in writing: book reviews, hot book topics and as well as the odd personal essay. After leaving university, I left the book blog behind, but continued writing and going in the world of social media, writing film reviews and promoting queer cinema, but after a tragic event in my personal life, I quickly discovered Motorsports. What started as a love for Formula 1, while finally watching the Formula 1 film, Rush, and discovering Formula 1 TikTok, this love soon expanded to everything Formula E, IndyCar, Formula 2, Formula 3, as well as F1 Academy. I soon found the itch to write come back, with the fast-moving news of motorsport, to the drama, the competition, and the journey of drivers trying to find a race seat. I found that it was the people and storie...
* I have received this book for review from the publisher but this in no way affects my review *
Title: The Belles
Source: From Publisher
Publisher: Gollancz
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Book Summary:
I am a Belle. I control Beauty.
In the opulent world of Orléans, the people are born grey and damned, and only a Belle's powers can make them beautiful.
Camellia Beauregard wants to be the favourite Belle - the one chosen by the queen to tend to the royal family.
But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favourite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that her powers may be far greater - and far darker - than she ever imagined.
When the queen asks Camellia to break the rules she lives by to save the ailing princess, she faces an impossible decision: protect herself and the way of the Belles, or risk her own life, and change the world forever.
In the opulent world of Orléans, the people are born grey and damned, and only a Belle's powers can make them beautiful.
Camellia Beauregard wants to be the favourite Belle - the one chosen by the queen to tend to the royal family.
But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favourite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that her powers may be far greater - and far darker - than she ever imagined.
When the queen asks Camellia to break the rules she lives by to save the ailing princess, she faces an impossible decision: protect herself and the way of the Belles, or risk her own life, and change the world forever.
Book Review:
The Belles was a book that had been on my radar for the longest time. A lot of people were interested in it and raving about it and so was. I really enjoyed The Belles as it was an in-depth look at how the world sees the beauty which is so important today.
The Belles plot is definitely interesting and I really was not expecting the plot of the book when I first started reading it. This is obviously not a bad thing and I was definitely intrigued by it. It also did not go in the direction that I was expecting and there were some smaller twists that I found quite unique and unexpected to some extent.
The Belles also deals a lot with beauty and after reading the letter featured in the book I understood how this was really important to Clayton. I do feel like this is really obvious if you go in looking for it which I was also this was one of the key reasons why I kept reading and enjoyed it so much. I also feel like the book can be seen in a way that doesn't take this into account which is good for anyone who doesn't want a message book. It can just be seen as a book that is a fantasy where girls can help beauty.
The characters were often what I problems I had with this book. I often found the characters quite one dimension and especially found her sisters were not developed at all which I didn't really enjoy. As the main character I often also found her quite disposable and there was something that I couldn't connect to.
I feel like although The Belles is a really interesting concept, in general, there was something in general that I just couldn't connect to. I feel like this was just me and that if you do want to read this book then you will probably really like it. It was just the wrong time for me.
The Verdict:
The Belles is a really interesting and unique read that deals with beauty but just did not connect with me but could really interest you.
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