Summary
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| Summary from Goodreads |
The Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is the commodity coveted above all else. In Orleans, 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 favourite - the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orleans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and the their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at the 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 the very essence of her existence is a lie - that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagines. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life to help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.
With the future of Orleans 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 the her world forever.
*Copy Courtesy of the Publisher*
Review
The Belles are people who control beauty, being a Belle is great but being the favourite aka the Belle for the royal family is what Camellia wants.
So where to being...
Told from Camellia's POV, we see what it's like to be a Belle, living with her fellow Belle sisters and see the run up to the announcement of who the Favourite will be. Out of all the sisters I really liked Edel - despite the short amount she was present in the book. Camellia was great too, she didn't blindly trust anyone and used her own common sense (at times). I wish there was more on the sisters, would've been interesting to see more.
Despite Camellia being a Belle and brought up to believe that beauty was made and brought, she found beauty in everyone - when people would come to change features on themselves or their daughter - she'd straight up be like
Which I really liked, and she treated everyone equally. At times she did get me frustrated - like how can you be so blind to whats in front of you! What's wrong with you girl!!!!!!
In all honesty I'm surprised I read this book - I tend to gravitate to books about warriors, battles etc. But I enjoyed it quite a bit. However I felt I couldn't connect to the 16 ear old brain or even be like ah yeah I did that when i was 16 ... introvert alert. It just wasn't fast paced, although it did pick up quite a bit later on. The ending is where most of the action was - totally called it about a certain someone, really intrigued as to how the arc will pane out for this character.
This book did surprise me with the dark-ish element and at times had me like *yo wtfff* and I swear if I could punch a few in the face that would be swell! Also let me take a moment to address the diversity bc I am so here for it. All shapes, sizes, skin types etc was beautifully incorporated.
I felt this book really shows that not everything beautiful is perfect and shows how society expects us to follow trends to fit in. Clayton has truly created a vivid and unique Orleans world. A mesmerizing read and a villain whose desire for beauty outweighs everything else, no matter the cost.
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