The main character, Camille, behaves nonsensically whenever possible. So I'm carefully leaving this review before I try to return this book. This really inflates the reviews on Audible. But after you do that the site prevents you from leaving a review. You might be thinking 'but there are so many good reviews for this'! Let me tell you a secret about Audible: you can 'return' books you find awful and get a refund. I pre-ordered it for Kindle and then used a precious Audible credit on the audiobook.

But then it turned out to be just filler. At first I was very charmed by how 'pretty' the book felt, how it set the tone. Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not? Surprisingly cliche, couldn't get through it With the future of Orleans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide: save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles, or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie - that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. She wants to be the favorite - the Belle chosen by the queen of Orleans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land.īut once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. In Orleans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.īut it's not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control beauty, and beauty is a commodity coveted above all else.

Dhonielle clayton the belles