At the queen’s palace, she must face not only the demands of her clients, but also a cruel princess’s sadistic whims, a dying ruler with her own plans for Camellia’s abilities, the strange behavior of her faraway Belle “sisters,” and the disturbing secrets that can hide behind a pretty exterior.Īs she delves into the costs of perfection in her imaginary world, Clayton holds up a truth-telling mirror to our own. Although all of the Belles have been bred for this purpose, only one of them can become the royal “favorite,” and for sixteen-year-old Camellia, the realization of that dream is just the beginning. What would you endure in order to be beautiful? The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton’s 2018 novel, introduces Young Adult readers (and others!) to the kingdom of Orléans, whose citizens have been cursed with grotesque appearances until and unless a Belle can be hired to transform them - slowly, painfully, and expensively - into visions of beauty. Our great senior substitute Annie Schapira is a dedicated and discerning reader of YA fiction.
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