I have been left breathless. Speechless. How are more people not screaming about this book???
Yes, it's a book about beauty, set in a world where being beautiful is its most prized commodity. But take any expectations and scoffs you have and huck them out the window right now because everything you think is wrong. This book is dark, twisted and deeply unsettling. And the style of writing left by Clayton makes it all the more disturbing and jaw-dropping. I seriously couldn't put this down once I got into it.
At first I thought the book was a bit slow to get going. Okay, this is all lovely and everything, but where is the point to this? The deeper meaning of the book didn't really hit home until a certain scene involving a the main character Camellia, and a mother and her young daughter. Suddenly, the underlying message was laid bare with a punch to the gut. No matter what someone tells you to the question "Am I pretty?" it will never satisfy because we've been brainwashed to think what we see in the news and on magazine covers is the goal. From young girls and boys right up until old age, we are vain and constantly unhappy with how we look because Cosmo and GQ tell us how to dress and style and make ourselves up each day. And it's a sad state of affairs.
The world this is is set in was utterly fascinating. Reminded me a little of a French influenced Pirates of the Caribbean, weirdly enough. The magic system (and I use that term lightly) and the history that supports it is incredible. The way the Belles work in society and how they use their abilities is terrifying. It opens up a world of possibilities that should never come to reality.
I am so so glad I was granted an ARC of the next book because there is no way I'm going to wait to find out what happens next!
Yes, it's a book about beauty, set in a world where being beautiful is its most prized commodity. But take any expectations and scoffs you have and huck them out the window right now because everything you think is wrong. This book is dark, twisted and deeply unsettling. And the style of writing left by Clayton makes it all the more disturbing and jaw-dropping. I seriously couldn't put this down once I got into it.
At first I thought the book was a bit slow to get going. Okay, this is all lovely and everything, but where is the point to this? The deeper meaning of the book didn't really hit home until a certain scene involving a the main character Camellia, and a mother and her young daughter. Suddenly, the underlying message was laid bare with a punch to the gut. No matter what someone tells you to the question "Am I pretty?" it will never satisfy because we've been brainwashed to think what we see in the news and on magazine covers is the goal. From young girls and boys right up until old age, we are vain and constantly unhappy with how we look because Cosmo and GQ tell us how to dress and style and make ourselves up each day. And it's a sad state of affairs.
The world this is is set in was utterly fascinating. Reminded me a little of a French influenced Pirates of the Caribbean, weirdly enough. The magic system (and I use that term lightly) and the history that supports it is incredible. The way the Belles work in society and how they use their abilities is terrifying. It opens up a world of possibilities that should never come to reality.
I am so so glad I was granted an ARC of the next book because there is no way I'm going to wait to find out what happens next!