Blog tour: The Everlasting Rose - Dhonielle Clayton

Welcome to today's stop on the blog tour for 'The Everlasting Rose' by Dhonielle Clayton. This is the second book in The Belles duology.

Goodreads synopsis:
Camellia, her sister Edel, and her guard and new love Remy must race against time to find Princess Charlotte. Sophia's Imperial forces will stop at nothing to keep the rebels from returning Charlotte to the castle and her rightful place as queen. With the help of an underground resistance movement called The Iron Ladies-a society that rejects beauty treatments entirely-and the backing of alternative newspaper The Spider's Web, Camellia uses her powers, her connections and her cunning to outwit her greatest nemesis, Sophia, and restore peace to Orleans.

Review:
'The Everlasting Rose' is the second book about The Belles and picks up where the previous story finished. The main character Camellia and her sister Edel are on the run, along with Remy, one of the palace guards. They are desperate to find the ailing Princess Charlotte and restore her to her place on the throne. Along the way they're helped by the mysterious Iron Ladies who have rejected the beauty treatments that the rest of society are so dependent and reliant on.

I felt like Camellia became a much more rounded character in this book. She is far more confident in herself and determined and she goes into the action with her eyes wide open. She has a mission to wrest control of Orleans away from Sophia and she will literally stop at nothing to prevent her evil reign. I wish that we'd found out more about the Iron Ladies because they were an interesting addition to the story but maybe Dhonielle Clayton is planning to do a spin-off on them in the future.

My feelings about this book are very similar to those I had for 'The Belles'. It was a good read and I did enjoy it but I didn't love it. I thought that the first half of the story was meandering and rather slow and then the ending was exciting but felt quite rushed. Everything seemed to happen all at once although it was a fitting end to the story and nicely tied up all the plot threads.

If you're a fan of the first book then I'm sure you will enjoy 'The Everlasting Rose'. I tend to feel that it bordered too much on the fantasy genre for my tastes but I will definitely be checking out future titles by Dhonielle Clayton.

Review: The Belles - Dhonielle Clayton

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton, published by Gollancz on 8th February 2018

Goodreads synopsis:
Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, 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.

But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans 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. But 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. 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. 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.

With the future of Orléans 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.

Review:
There has been a lot of pre-publicity buzz surrounding 'The Belles' which I seem to have seen featured everywhere.  In addition, the book made my 'most anticipated reads' list of the year, so I was beyond excited to get my hands on a copy and get stuck in.  The cover is absolutely gorgeous and really eye catching. It looks so pretty sitting on my bookcase. I'm definitely a sucker for beautifully designed cover art. The book doesn't really fall into one particular genre, although I guess it might fit the fantasy niche most of all. 

I absolutely loved the concept of the story.  It's set in Orleans where people are born grey and damned and only a Belle's powers can make them beautiful.  Belles have something unique called arcana which they can use to shape peoples' looks and change things like their hair colour or the size of their waists.  Orleans itself is magnificent and opulent and all the Belles want to stay there and be chosen as the Queen's favourite.

The story is told through the eyes of Camellia Beauregard who wants nothing more than to serve the Queen and make people beautiful.  Although out of all the characters Camellia was my favourite, she wasn't somebody who I had a deep connection with and at times I found her a bit self-centred.  She often finds it hard to follow the rules set out for her and her wilful personality definitely gets her into trouble at times.  There are elements of romance with someone she meets at the Palace but I actually enjoyed the relationship between her and the other Belles the most.  They are like sisters and are stronger when they are all together supporting one another.  My love to hate character was Princess Sophia who really gave me the creeps.  She represents someone who may look beautiful on the outside but has darkness and an evil streak inside of her. 

The author certainly has a strong message to send about what beauty is and how people covert it.  Beauty is often depicted as only skin deep and yet seen as something which is valued above all else. There are different notions of what makes someone beautiful in the story and how everyone wants to be unique and prettier or more handsome than anyone else.

I enjoyed finding out more about the origins of the Belles and as this book is the first in a trilogy, I expect there to be a lot more revelations to come.  I wasn't quite as blown away by it as I was originally expecting which is not to say that I didn't enjoy it but it didn't grip me as much as I thought it would.  The second half was a much slower read than the first half and the story veered down a different path which opened up new possibilities for the rest of the series. 

An original and unique story which  was a lot of fun to read and which I will be continuing with when the series resumes.  

Books I'm looking forward to in 2018

I love the start of a new year because there are so many wonderful new books to look forward to.  Here are just a few of my most hotly anticipated titles for the first half of 2018.

A Spoonful of Murder by Robin Stevens

Published by Puffin on 8th February

When Hazel Wong's beloved grandfather passes away, Daisy Wells is all too happy to accompany her friend (and Detective Society Vice President) to Hazel's family estate in beautiful, bustling Hong Kong. But when they arrive they discover something they didn't expect: there's a new member of the Wong family. Daisy and Hazel think baby Teddy is enough to deal with, but as always the girls are never far from a mystery. Tragedy strikes very close to home, and this time Hazel isn't just the detective. She's been framed for murder!

The girls must work together like never before, confronting dangerous gangs, mysterious suspects and sinister private detectives to solve the murder and clear Hazel's name - before it's too late . . .

The Prophecy by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Published by Hodder on 8th March

The end has come.
Old gods will fall.
New ones will rise...
and Seth and Josie will need more than love to survive the final battle that could not only destroy them, but the world as they know it.

 

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

Published by Orchard Books on 27th March

 

After Maddie's Secret Service dad takes a bullet for the president, he takes Maddie somewhere he thinks they'll be safe - far away from the White House and the president's son, Logan.

But when Logan comes to Alaska, so does the danger.

If there's one thing Alaska has taught Maddie, it's how to survive. And now her best friend's life depends on it ...  

 

 

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

Published by Bloomsbury on 1st May

 

Feyre, Rhys and their companions are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it a hard-earned reprieve. Yet even the festive atmosphere can't keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated - scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their court.

 

 

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Published by Gollancz on 8th February

 

In the opulent world of Orléans, 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.
 

 

Are you looking forward to any of these too?

 

Which books do you have on your wishlist for 2018?