Slow/Confusing in the beginning but definitely picked up!
Ooof, this book gave me such an intense emotional rollercoaster. I went from so many lows and highs that it was dizzying. To be specific, I went from debating about DNF-ing the book to actually finishing it and ultimately giving the book 4 stars because it ended on such a high note.
To start, I really despised the characters in the book. And at the end, I still didn’t particularly like any of them. Because this book is essentially all about beauty, I found all of the conversations incredibly shallow because they essentially just consisted of “how to make me prettier”, “give me the tiniest waist”, and such. So for me, I couldn’t relate with anyone and I was just not having it.
I also couldn’t connect with Camellia, the main character, because I hated the fact that she couldn’t say no. There were so many instances in the book where she was asked to do something but she knew that it was either wrong or that the person asking didn’t realize how painful it was going to be and rather than denying them, she would half-heartedly inform them that perhaps.. and would ultimately do it anyways. Honestly, that irked me to no end.
Even the sisterhood in the book, the other Belles, lacked any sort of development. In the beginning, I thought that this particular aspect might develop into something more or at least, provide some more substance to the overall book but alas. They were initially portrayed as sisters as well as rivals because they were trying to vie for this particular coveted position but once that was sorted out, I thought that perhaps something further would develop but no. In fact, once that was settled, I felt that the relationships and friendships pretty much disappeared and other than a few messages here and there, it was essentially gone from the book.
The magic system and the world building in the book was the last thing I had an issue with. For most of the book, I was incredibly confused with how the arcanas work and how the Belles were able to utilize their abilities to make people pretty. The author was most definitely showing rather than telling which is good but because I felt that she showed too little and too far in between, it was hard as a reader to fully grasp everything until the last quarter of the book.
However, the one redeeming factor and literally the only reason why I continued was because of the mystery and secret element that was brewing behind the scenes. As I got more into the book, this particular element started to show itself more and more and I was getting incredibly intrigued by what was actually going on behind the walls and what exactly is happening. And this is why the book ended on such a strong note because it literally left me in one of the biggest cliffhanger ever.
Overall, as I stated, this book gave me such highs and such lows. I’m certainly intrigued by the ending to pick up the second book but at the same time, there were definitely a ton of elements in this first book that I didn’t particularly enjoy. I’m going to have to see what others think about the second book before I pick it up myself.
To start, I really despised the characters in the book. And at the end, I still didn’t particularly like any of them. Because this book is essentially all about beauty, I found all of the conversations incredibly shallow because they essentially just consisted of “how to make me prettier”, “give me the tiniest waist”, and such. So for me, I couldn’t relate with anyone and I was just not having it.
I also couldn’t connect with Camellia, the main character, because I hated the fact that she couldn’t say no. There were so many instances in the book where she was asked to do something but she knew that it was either wrong or that the person asking didn’t realize how painful it was going to be and rather than denying them, she would half-heartedly inform them that perhaps.. and would ultimately do it anyways. Honestly, that irked me to no end.
Even the sisterhood in the book, the other Belles, lacked any sort of development. In the beginning, I thought that this particular aspect might develop into something more or at least, provide some more substance to the overall book but alas. They were initially portrayed as sisters as well as rivals because they were trying to vie for this particular coveted position but once that was sorted out, I thought that perhaps something further would develop but no. In fact, once that was settled, I felt that the relationships and friendships pretty much disappeared and other than a few messages here and there, it was essentially gone from the book.
The magic system and the world building in the book was the last thing I had an issue with. For most of the book, I was incredibly confused with how the arcanas work and how the Belles were able to utilize their abilities to make people pretty. The author was most definitely showing rather than telling which is good but because I felt that she showed too little and too far in between, it was hard as a reader to fully grasp everything until the last quarter of the book.
However, the one redeeming factor and literally the only reason why I continued was because of the mystery and secret element that was brewing behind the scenes. As I got more into the book, this particular element started to show itself more and more and I was getting incredibly intrigued by what was actually going on behind the walls and what exactly is happening. And this is why the book ended on such a strong note because it literally left me in one of the biggest cliffhanger ever.
Overall, as I stated, this book gave me such highs and such lows. I’m certainly intrigued by the ending to pick up the second book but at the same time, there were definitely a ton of elements in this first book that I didn’t particularly enjoy. I’m going to have to see what others think about the second book before I pick it up myself.