Welcome Back Booklovers,
I decided to do a reread of this series for this review since people often ask me my thoughts about these books. The Belles was one the first YA series I had been hype for after getting back into reading. I found out about it after reading the Tiny Pretty Things series. So I had it sitting on my Goodreads shelf for 3 years prior to release. At the time there were so few Black YA fantasies on the market and we were finally getting some marketed towards us.
This series was such a mixed bag to me. I truly feel this could've been one book vs a duology(and from what I hear it's expanding to a trilogy). To me there just wasn't enough story to drag it out across two books. The first part of The Belles not much happens. Sure the teacup animals are cute and the descriptions are vivid but there's not much real world building or substance there. We read about every sweet treat the girls eat but have no real clue how the monarchy really runs, how Orleans compares to the kingdoms surrounding it, or why being the The Favorite is such a covetable title. There were things ripped straight from The Hunger Games that I recognized even though I've never read The Hunger Games or watched all the movies.
The belles never question their existence. Camellia is supposed to be the rebellious one but she wants so badly to be The Favorite and never questions the purpose of the belles. It's surprising none of them question where they come from or why they have their powers. And it's hard to believe the past belles never give them clues or information about how the world works. And even though Camellia realized most people in the palace were only looking out for themselves she still went around spilling secrets and trusting so easily.
Sophia is a weak villain. I don't understand why her own mother is so afraid of her like she can't put that brat back into her place. Why does she do nothing about her daughter even though she knows she is unhinged? It's not like she has magical powers that are hard to defeat. She's a bratty girl who gets her way due to her position. Often her actions veer into cartoon villain territory and I didn't truly understand how she became the way she did.
I did my reread by listening to the audiobook and while the narrator was very energetic she didn't match the story. This is set in a world based on an alternate France mixed with New Orleans and a little Japan yet the narrator is British and does various variations of the British accent for different characters including one that sounded like a bad British Caribbean one.
I gave The Everlasting Rose a much higher rating than The Belles because the writing felt tighter and more purposeful in it. Instead of Camellia and her sisters just accepting their role to do beauty work for the rest of their lives they actually questioned their existence. We got to meet the people opposed to beauty work. And since much of it included time on the run there was a bit of adventure. It was nice to see them actually explore their powers.
I did feel like the final battle came and went rather quickly. For all the build up between the two books I felt it should've been more climactic. The issue of body image was explored at a very surface level and was instead pushed aside for typical romantic angst and rivalries. I know many people liked the lush descriptions of the initial book but I felt much of it was hollow and pointless. This would be a much better series if I had a better understanding of how the world functioned.
