Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Belles

This was fun and different!

I’ve never really read anything like this plot with the changing how people look and the power it might bring. This starts off kind of slow but after like 150ish pages o was entertained and wanted to know where the plot was going. I liked the main character even though she annoyed me at times. There’s a slight romance in this which was fine, but I’m hoping there’s a bodyguard romance in the next book, but I’m sure I’m wrong.

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tealstarlight's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed the world the Belles live in. The vivid and frothy descriptions are a great contrast to the disturbing side of life in the kingdom. There are charming elements in the relatively simple ways people live in this world: the unique postal system, the floating lanterns that can be changed according to mood/ occasion, and the bustling, almost Dickensian marketplaces.

The Belles' magic takes the place of plastic surgery. I wasn't expecting the vivid descriptions of the painful magical procedures, but they highlight the kingdom's obsession with beauty.

Random favorite thing that enchanted me in this book? The absolutely adorable idea of teacup animals!

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enchanteddroppings's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.5

It was a book I wanted to love, but it fell flat. maybe I can try again when my head is in a different space, or I have less expectation from the book. {shrugs}

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goldenwing's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Beautiful descriptive language created a vivid world and the world building was so interesting. The pacing felt a bit rushed towards the end and I was a little bit frustrated by some of the characters choices in the ending chapters (although it's a refreshing thing to have flawed characters at least) but on the whole I really enjoyed it and would definitely read the next in the series.

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_book_girl_82_'s review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

There's a cliffhanger and I don't have the next book 🥲
Some of the characters were questionable, but the ending was pretty good (even though it was a cliffhanger

we love Edel (is that her name I always forget))

)

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