The Belles, by Dhonielle Clayton

Title: The Belles
Author: Dhonielle Clayton
Genre/ issues: YA. Dystopian fiction. Beauty standards.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, search Indies to locate your closest independent bookstore, or find it on Booktopia. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

I’ve had this book and the sequel for a while now, and I’ve gotta say I kind of judged it. It looks sweet, and I figured it was largely a romance novel. I’ve read some heavy stuff over the past couple of weeks, so I pulled this off my shelf for a slightly lighter read.
*cue Present Tamara laughing uproariously at Past Tamara*
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton is great. A fantasy world in which appearance is all, and the Belles are charged with the mysterious and goddess-given power to manipulate physical appearance to manifest beauty on those who can pay for it. This reminded me somewhat of the premise of the Uglies series, which I love. The difference? The “upgrades” come from a mystical and biological process rather than the more technological ones of the Uglies world, and the protagonist is one of the Belles who treasures her role in beautifying the land rather than someone who is on the receiving end of the procedures. A great read – I feel like there’s a lot I’m still missing, and the ending felt a little rushed, but I’ve got book 2 waiting for me, so I’m hoping that there’s some more of the detail I’m craving about these procedures in that!
As someone who has long struggled with her appearance – especially given that so much about me has/would/will never fit within the traditional societal views of beauty, there were moments in this book that were really hard to read. It’s an important issue to be addressed though, particularly for YA readers who are navigating their understanding of own identities in so many ways.

#TamaraReads #2020readingchallenge 34/52

Happy reading,