Blog Tour: The Belles - A Sweet But Deadly YA Read

I received this book mid-january and I was so excited to receive it in the post from the lovely and wonderful people over at Gollancz! The concept of this book was so intriguing! I thought it would end up in my February wrap-up as it is almost 450 pages which is a little longer than the books I typically read but I read it in two days so you've already had a sneak peek of my review in my January wrap-up!

*The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton (448 pages) ★★★★

Firstly, the cover is just gorgeous! It's categorised as YA fantasy and YA contemporary but I would add in that it's a futuristic or dystopian world, depending on how you view it. I believe that this book is the authors first solo novel (I might be wrong) which is incredibly impressive. Just read my description of the book and try not to be instantly intrigued:

We enter of world filled with the dammned, their skin has turned to grey with eyes that have morphed to red but there's hope in the world in the form of The Belles. While everyone is seeking to change their ageing, condemned forms, The Belles are goddess like beauties that have the ability to make you beautiful again...for a period of time. The sugar coated, beautiful world of the court of the royal family of Orleans is what they have been trained since childhood to belong in but nothing is what it seems. Twisted figures, greed and power fill the gilded halls and Camilla, along with her fellow Belles must navigate this world obsessed with beauty without displeasing the royal family and maybe they will survive. 

I absolutely adored this book, firstly, the writing is so quick and easy to follow which made for a lightening fast read for me. Also the world is just so intriguing, you want to read on and on and on to find out what will happen to The Belles, the future of the royal family and a certain two people who create a lot of cute, angsty tension (if it is a little cliche).

The concept of beauty, body, skin colour and appearance in general as a fluid thing is so unique! I loved the sweet, sugary and beautiful facade of the world which masks the ugly, twisted world beneath. I think this book would make an absolutely incredible film or maybe even a tv show (pick it up Netflix).

While at moments it did feel very YA with a touch of cliche, overall it was so throughly entertaining, whimsical but dark and I found it captivating. I liked the ending which left the story very open and I cannot wait for the next book. If I could liken it to anything it would be a combination of Ru Paul's Drag Race with the regal splendour of numerous YA novels and a touch of classic fairytales but those descriptions don't do it justice at all as it stands out on it's own for it's uniqueness and ability to charm. You enter this world of beauty, glamour and regal splendour but realise quite quickly that beauty has a painful, if not deadly, cost but are you willing you pay?

Will you be picking up this book? What are you currently reading?