JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

I am a Belle. I control beauty.

In the opulent world of Orleans, the people are born grey and damned, and only a Belle’s powers can make them beautiful. Camellia Beauregard wants to be the favourite Belle – the one chosen by the queen to tend to the royal family.

But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favourite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that her powers may be far greater – and far darker – than she ever imagined.

When the queen asks Camellia to break the rules she lives by to save the ailing princess, she faces an impossible decision: protect herself and the way of the Belles, or risk her own life, and change the world forever.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton explores the dark nature of beauty, and how one’s obsession with being beautiful can be incredibly harmful and can contribute to society’s high expectations for people to look a certain way.

This book is set in the fantasy world of Orleans — a world where a person can change their body however they want. Everyone is born with red eyes and grey skin, but they don’t need to stay that way. They can change the colour or texture of their skin, they can change their hair colour, eye colour, thigh size, waist size, and pretty much anything else they can think of. And the only people who can successfully help people change their appearance are women known as the Belles. It is their job to fulfil the wishes of their clients, each and every time they book in an appointment.

“You are to act as if you’re an artist floating through this world. Your sole purpose is to beautify, and transform the Gris. You are a Belle.”

People go through immense pain to change their body, but they do it because society thinks they should look a certain way. And this desired look can change every day. Tabloids and news reports are always speculating on what is ‘in’ right now, and then young girls will come in to see the Belles because they once again want to look like what society thinks they should look like. These young girls are never satisfied, and neither is society.

The Belles may be a fantasy novel, but it explores themes of beauty and identity. Any reader who has ever felt disappointed by how they look will relate to this novel. Any person who has ever wished that one small part of their body could be changed will relate to this novel. Because it’s never just one thing. If you were able to change your body however you liked, I’m sure people wouldn’t be able to stop at just one change. The world would be a very different place.

“The rest of the day zips by like in a lightning flash. Women come with their beauty boards, attendants, and friends. I alter bodies, change hair colours and skin tones, give a man a songbird voice, erase age-lines and try to reassure frantic courtiers about how beautiful they are.”

Admittedly, it did take me at least 50 pages to fully understand how the Belles’ power worked and how they were able to change appearances, but once I could wrap my head around the world I was really mesmerised by the originality of the premise and the depth of the world that Dhonielle has built.

The Belles is both haunting and enchanting — Dhonielle straddles the two throughout the book and as a result, readers go through a range of emotions when reading this book. Dhonielle’s prose is very polished, with poetic lyrical sentences that entice the reader. The world-building, whilst talking a little while to be fully explained, is very unique and intriguing and something I hadn’t yet come across in a novel.

“Bree wheels over a cart of chafing dishes. Triangular color blocks sit on tiered trays like a series of sugary petit-cakes. They melt in glass skin-tone pots creating every pigment imaginable: ink black, sandy beige, eggshell white, desert brown, lemony cream, soft sable, brown sugar syrup, and more.”

Dhonielle Clayton presents an unlikely villain in this story, but it is rather satisfying. Princess Sophia is at first friendly and trustworthy, but you soon learn just how manipulative and calculating she is. The characterisation of Princess Sophia is one of the strengths in this book.

Unfortunately, I felt that the relationship in the book wasn’t developed as much as it could’ve been. I didn’t feel like there was any chemistry between Camellia and her love interest, and so I wasn’t really that invested in their story.

Young readers will love this book, enticed by the beauty, magic and obsession that fills the world and the dark, sinister twists and turns. There’s plenty of murder and betrayal to maintain interest.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Belles
Dhonielle Clayton
February 2018
Hachette Book Publishers

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is the first novel in a really complex, compelling trilogy. Jude is a mortal human, but she is raised in a world of faeries and magical beings. She despises her adoptive father because he murdered Jude’s mother and father, and she grows distant from her sister Taryn because Taryn is determined to wed in the Court and fulfil their adoptive father’s wishes.

It has been ten years since Jude’s parents were murdered and Jude and her sisters were kidnapped and taken to the High Court of Faerie. She is determined to become a Knight and learn how to fight, but she is despised by many of the fey just because she is human. She is determined to succeed regardless.

“Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.”

Holly Black brings faeries to the forefront in this novel, and despite the tension and violence present, The Cruel Prince is a rich, vibrant tale that readers will love.

The novel explores the concept of power and the complexities surrounding magic. Jude is considered weak and inferior because she doesn’t possess magic, but her determination and her gut instinct do make up for this.

I loved that Jude doesn’t fall into any stereotypes within this fantasy genre. She doesn’t cower away or get spooked easily. She is violent and confident, and she’s also a murderer. She does what she needs to do to survive, and she’s a really strong protagonist.

“Even though I am holding a knife, even though I’ve avoided his attacks twice and disarmed him, even though I’ve stabbed him once before, he grabs for my throat again. His fingers sink into the flesh of my neck, and I remember how it felt to have fruit jammed into my mouth.”

Jude is smart and strategic. After ten years of being raised by a violent man, she’s learnt a thing or two about getting what she wants. And she’s also very good at keeping secrets.

The novel explores power, family and abuse. The Cruel Prince is lyrical and at times poetic, taking the reader on a journey that is both lush and brutal. We question what it’s like for Jude and her sister to grow up in this new land, away from the human world. They have been raised by an evil man, but lear that there’s nothing they can do about it. The Cruel Prince forces the reader to think about what horrible actions we should deem ‘necessary’ when survival is the end goal.

“The next day at school, Taryn walks beside me, swinging her lunch basket. I keep my head high and my jaw set. I have my little knife with me, cold iron, tucked into one of the pockets of my skirt, and more salt than I reasonably need.”

There’s one aspect of the book that I didn’t like. The Cruel Prince follows the stereotypical trope of ‘boy is mean to girl because boy is in love with her’ which I find a little unrealistic and overdone in YA fiction.

I’d recommend this to fans of young adult books, but also anyone who has a vested interest in fantasy. The Cruel Prince reimagines the tropes of the genre and presents a unique story with fascinating characters. Holly Black pulls us into this world and leaves us desperate for the sequel.

The Cruel Prince
Holly Black
January 2018
Allen & Unwin Publishers

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for the enemy.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi is the first novel in a stunning new fantasy series, inspired by West Africa.

Essentially, it’s about a mission to restore magic to the world. The characters race against time to complete a particular ritual before the solstice is over; if they fail, they won’t ever get another chance and they will continue to be oppressed and beaten and dictated.

Children of Blood and Bone doesn’t feel 100% unique, but it does have a really compelling premise and layers upon layers of history and world-building. The characters are strong-willed and determined, driving the book and drawing the reader in. Additionally, the novel highlights a lot of larger issues beneath the surface — Tomi draws attention to the consequences of power, privilege and desire, but also racism, racial violence and prejudice.

“They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. Now we rise”

Set in the fictional land of Orisha, the book switches point of view between three characters: Zelie is a fierce warrior maji, referred to as a ‘maggot’ by people who look down on her. She’s the main character in the book. Princess Amari has discovered that magic is slowly returning to this world, so she steals something from her father and joins Zelie on the run. And Prince Inan, whose father orders him to hunt down Amari and return the object she stole. He struggles to understand what he should and shouldn’t do, and his emotional and moral turmoil is a big focus when we read the chapters that are from his point of view.

I actually felt that Amari’s point of view wasn’t needed, because we were getting similar events from more than one perspective. Throughout the book, she’s in most scenes with Zelie and some with Inan, so without her point of view we still would’ve got enough of the plot and her story. Additionally, the novel felt way too long and the book definitely could’ve been edited down a fair bit.

“Amari’s screams reverberate through the trees. Inan and I freeze mid-attack. We whip our heads to see Amari struggling with a masked man just a few metres away. Though she thrashes, a black glove closes over her mouth. Her eyes glaze before rolling back.”

Tomi tackles pacing really well, and the dialogue is relatable and believable. The dynamic between all of the main characters allows the reader to really sympathise and understand them. The characters may be flawed or naive at times, but they’ve got determination and will.

This book is both plot-driven and character-driven. It did take me some time to wrap my head around the massive cast in the book, and at times I had to remind myself how certain characters knew each other, or how they were related. There’s a fair bit of world-building but Tomi has embedded it in the story by scattering it, so that the reader doesn’t feel overwhelmed with too much information at once.

“Kill her. Kill magic. My plan is all I have. Without it, the world slips through my fingers. My maji curse threatens to break from my skin.”

Children of Blood and Bone is about rising up against your oppressors, and will be popular with fantasy readers, as well as fans of young adult.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Children of Blood and Bone
Tomi Adeyemi
March 13th 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard

When I was wild, you were steady . . .
Now you are wild – what am I?

Eden McKinley knows she can’t count on much in this world, but she can depend on Bonnie, her solid, steady, straight-A best friend. So it’s a bit of a surprise when Bonnie runs away with the boyfriend Eden knows nothing about five days before the start of their GCSEs. Especially when the police arrive on her doorstep and Eden finds out that the boyfriend is actually their music teacher, Mr Cohn.

Sworn to secrecy and bound by loyalty, only Eden knows Bonnie’s location, and that’s the way it has to stay. There’s no way she’s betraying her best friend. Not even when she’s faced with police questioning, suspicious parents and her own growing doubts.

As the days pass and things begin to unravel, Eden is forced to question everything she thought she knew about the world, her best friend and herself.

Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard is a young adult novel that explores friendship, growing up, and inappropriate relationships.

When Eden finds out that her best friend Bonnie has run off with their music teacher, she is both confused and shocked. Bonnie tells her everything, but she didn’t tell her this? For most of the novel, Eden struggles to grapple their friendship (or what she remembers of their friendship). Eden doesn’t understand why Bonnie would make this huge — and very wrong — decision and not even tell her about it beforehand. And yes, it seems selfish at times that Eden is really only thinking about herself in this situation, but Eden is a teenager and teenagers can be selfish at times.

“I go up to my room and sit on my bed for a while, turning my phone over in my fingers, trying not to think about Bonnie. Her absence and silence today is, in a weird kind of way, more unsettling than anything that’s happened so far this week, and thinking about it makes me feel nauseous.”

Goodbye, Perfect also explores the relationship between Eden and her older sister Valerie. Valerie appears to be perfect in every sense. She’s smart, good-looking and excels at everything. Eden barely passes her exams, and doesn’t want Valerie around making her feel inferior.

I actually think Sara did a really great job of portraying this relationship. Sibling relations can be so tricky to illustrate in fiction without it seeming overdramatic, but I was able to relate to this part of the book. The relationship between the two sisters seemed authentic and realistic.

“I can tell that she’s sceptical but trying not to show it, her mouth twitching with the I’m-so-much-older-and-you’re-just-a-teenager smirk that is so endlessly annoying.”

Goodbye, Perfect is really dialogue-heavy, but it is a quick read. At only two hundred pages, a lot of frequent readers will get through this is one or two sittings.

I did feel like parts of the novel were a little hard to believe. Bonnie runs off with a teacher and Eden is the only one she talks to and Eden decides to keep it a secret? I feel like even a teenager would soon realise how wrong that is. Even a teenager would end up telling the authorities, because they’d realise how much danger Bonnie was in.

“Now I have Jack.”
“And, what? That’s your life plan?”
“Why can’t it be?”
“Because you’re fifteen?”
“Love is love, Eden. However old you are.”
I swear I almost hang up on her.

I also think the ending was rather rushed, and there was no real resolution to the story. It’s hard to explain any further without giving away spoilers, so I’ll just leave it at that.

I recommend this to young readers, between 12-14. I definitely think this falls to the ‘young’ end of the YA readership, because the dialogue and the interactions between the teens seem quite immature and there’s a lot of texting and over exaggerated dialogue that felt more reflective of young teens rather than older teens.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Goodbye, Perfect
Sara Barnard
February 2018
Pan Macmillan Australia

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

Before Carrie Bradshaw hit the big time in the City, she was a regular girl growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. How did she turn into one of the most-read social observers of our generation?

The Carrie Diaries opens up in Carrie’s senior year of high school. She and her best friends — Walt, Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse — are inseparable, amid the sea of Jens, Jocks and Jets. And then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture. Sebastian is a bad boy-older, intriguing, and unpredictable. Carrie falls into the relationship that she was always supposed to have in high school-until a friend’s betrayal makes her question everything. With her high school days coming to a close, Carrie will realize it’s finally time to go after everything she ever wanted.

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell is a novel about Carrie Bradshaw before Sex and the City. It’s a fun, entertaining novel about her final year of high school when friendships are tested and relationships threaten to break down all that Carrie has built.

This book is set during that time in a teenager’s life when they have to figure out what they want to do after they complete school. Carrie wants to be a writer, but she’s been rejected from a summer writing seminar that she desperately wanted. She doesn’t want to stay in Connecticut, instead, wanting to explore the big cities and feel like she’s meant for something more.

If you’re a fan of Sex and the City, you’ll love The Carrie Diaries. You’ll love getting to know a young Carrie as she goes from aspiring fiction writer to the sharp, insightful non-fiction writer that we’ve come to love in the TV show. At the end of the book, you’ll also get to meet a Sex and the City favourite as her and Carrie cross paths.

Don’t get me wrong — you don’t need to be a Sex and the City fan to read this book. It’s a standalone novel, and completely separate from the series. So anyone can read it.

“I spot Walt behind the counter by the grill. The only other customers are three teenage girls with hair dyed in multiple hues of pink, blue and green. I nearly walk past them when suddenly I realise that one of these punks is my sister.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting going into this, but this was one of my favourite reads from the past year. I read it on holiday, and this is such a fun, fluffy book but it’s also incredibly well-written with plenty of depth and relatable characters. Even though this is set in America, I recognised some of my own high school experiences in this book.

“I understand her despair. Maggie is one of the millions of kids out there who have no idea what they want to do with their lives — like Sebastian, I suppose, and Lali.”

At times the plot did feel a little unrealistic and absurd, but the friendships are really developed and the dialogue is realistic and the characters are relatable. Anyone who is creative and has a dream of pursuing that will be able to relate to Carrie. Any girl who has gone to high school or has dated a guy that wasn’t really right for them, will also relate to Carrie.

The Carrie Diaries is very dialogue driven, with plenty of characters in every scene. I recommend this to teenagers, but also fans of chick lit, romance, or fans of the TV show.

The Carrie Diaries
Candace Bushnell
June 2010
HarperCollins Publishers

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