The Belles

Welcome to the dark decadence of Dhonielle Clayton's sharp tale of beauty, obsession and magic.... 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.

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control beauty, and beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. 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. 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 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.

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, Camille must use her powers, her connections and her cunning to outwit her greatest nemesis, Sophia, and restore peace to Orleans.

With the dangerous, erratic Princess Sophia imprisoned, Queen Charlotte decides to invoke the ancient tradition of The Beauty Trials - a series of harrowing tests meant to find the one true ruler of Orleans. Edel, who has always aspired to be more than just a Belle, decides to enter and, after promising to bind her arcana to keep from having an unnatural advantage, joins a few dozen other hopefuls intent on becoming the next Queen of Orleans. But the trials are far worse than any of them bargained for.