YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE TONIGHT By Kalynn Bayron

June 23, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE TONIGHT By Kalynn BayronYou're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
Published by Bloomsbury YA on 6/20/23
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 204
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Charity has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.

But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. As they unravel the bloody history of the real Mirror Lake, Charity discovers that there may be more to the story than she ever suspected . . .

Short and Sweet Review

Charity is working her dream job, she plays the final girl at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests who come to the camp pay to be scared. Charity and her coworkers reenact scenes from the horror film The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. Charity begins to notice that some of her coworkers are disappearing but she brushes it off and thinks its a lack of work ethic. Charity calls up her friend Paige and girlfriend Bezi to come up and help with the final two days of scares and to close down afterwards. But everything at Camp Mirror Lake becomes real when Charity realizes that there actually is a killer who’s coming for her and her friends and now everyone has to figure out how to survive the night.

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight is a horror/slasher film, but in a book version. Bayron did a great job setting up the atmosphere and the creepy vibe. You know a horror book is good when you’re on edge and wondering if you locked the doors, but I’m here to tell the tale because I made it through the night. Charity is one of those people that takes her job very seriously, she’s basically running the operation herself because the owner is never there. This summer is different though, Charity is used to turnover, but she wasn’t expecting to be short people so she invites her friend and girlfriend up to help cover those gaps. Charity starts to notice a mysterious person around camp and even worse her friends start to go missing. Charity finally learns the truth about the camp site and she knows that she has to get out of there. The camp history and the ending was pretty interesting, I’m still not sure what I think about the secret society it honestly threw me off and I’m not sure if it was good or bad, but it did add to the book.

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight, is a good horror novel and even though it takes place in the summer I think it’d also be a good read in October during Halloween. I would recommend this book, its short and it definitely delivers on the scare factor!

Filed Under: Reviews

THREE DROPS OF BLOOD By Gretchen McNeil

June 21, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THREE DROPS OF BLOOD By Gretchen McNeilThree Drops of Blood by Gretchen McNeil
Published by Disney-Hyperion on 3/21/23
Genres: Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 315
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Being an actress, Kate is no stranger to drama. And when her chance at a leading role gets cancelled, she is willing to do whatever it takes to get her acting career back on track even if that means getting a boring office job at her best friend's father's law firm so she can prove to her parents she can to support herself rather than go back to high school. Now, rather than living life on the big screen, she is stuck filing mundane contracts and watching the people in the office across from hers live their equally boring lives. But when Kate sees things heat up between a woman and her assistant, her new source of entertainment take a turn for the worse when she witnesses a double murder. Now, she must get anyone to believe her and find out who this mystery woman is to get answers. But as she learns more and more about the circumstances leading to the gruesome act, she begins to realize there is a bigger mystery under the surface... In this voyeuristic thriller filled with twists and turns, can Kate get anyone to believe her before she becomes the next victim?

Short and Sweet Review

Kate is an actress but after a scandal the show that she’s on gets canceled. Kate is now stuck working an office job its pretty boring, but when Kate sees an office worker and her assistant spice things up she becomes interested. Kate ends up witnessing a double murder, but no one around seems to believe her. Now Kate has to find out who this woman is and get proof that these murders happened.

Kate wants acting to be her career, but after the cancelation of the show she was on her parents except her to go back to high school and go down the academic path. Kate is determined to get her career on track but in the mean time she ends up working at a law office after hours filing papers. This is when Kate sees the women in the other office live her juicy life and Kate takes interest because it’s not everyday you see someone have an affair, but things take a turn for the worse when Kate witnesses the double murder. The book is interesting because the murders don’t happen until 60% through so Kate basically has to try to convince everyone around her that she’s not crazy. The book mainly focuses on Kates failed acting career, and also the fact that she’s plus sized. We also see the strain between her and her friend Rowan and a romance between Kate and Rowans brother Ty. I would have enjoyed the book more if the murder took place earlier, because the point from when the murders took place and the end of the book everything felt so rushed and a little unbelievable. It was interesting to see what got Kate into the office job but I wish we could have stopped focusing on the acting career because nothing was working out for Kate. The one thing I did like was Kate learning that adulting isn’t easy and neither is show biz.

I usually love books by Gretchen McNeil, but this book was not it. The plot that is introduced in the synopsis doesn’t take place until after the halfway point and the beginning of the book is slow and when things do pick up it seems unrealistic.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE CHEERLEADERS BY Kara Thomas

June 16, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE CHEERLEADERS BY Kara ThomasThe Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas
Published by Delacorte Press on 7/31/18
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 402
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.

First there was the car accident--two girls dead after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know his reasons. Monica's sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they'd lost.

That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it's not that easy. She just wants to forget.

Only, Monica's world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad's desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . Whatever happened five years ago isn't over. Some people in town know more than they're saying. And somehow, Monica is at the center of it all.

There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn't mean anyone else is safe.

Short and Sweet Review

The town of Sunnybrook no longer has cheerleaders. After two died in a car crash and two more were killed by a neighbor and one committed suicide, the team was disbanded. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die and now five years later the faculty at the high school want to remember the cheerleaders they lost, but Monica isn’t sure she can handle all of the pain that comes with remembering. Monica decides to actually look into what happened five years ago and she learns that some people in town know a lot more than they’re willing to share.

There’s a lot of layers to this novel, it deals with a lot of tough topics: abortion, murder, and suicide. Monica is our main character and she’s been through a lot, she lost a sister to suicide and she recently had an abortion. Monica is asked by one of the teachers to participate in a memorial for the cheerleaders who died five years ago and this stirs up something in Monica. Monica starts to do a little digging into her sister Jen’s death and she ends up learning a lot. She finds Jen’s old phone and starts reading through the texts and she also finds some letters in her stepdads office, which leads her to believe that all of the deaths of the cheerleaders are connected. I liked the mystery of it all and also how Monica became friends with Ginny who was willing to help her with all the investigating. There was a lot of twists and turns when it came to Monica learning information about how the cheerleaders died and how what everyone thought was a closed case is actually something that should have been more closely looked at. I liked how real this book was in dealing with the tough topics, but I do wish Monica was able to confide in her friends. I also liked how we did get to see some things from Jens POV and see how she was feeling and what was happening during the time of some of her teammates deaths.

The ending of the book was pretty good and everything did make sense. I was also pretty surprised by the last chapter from Ginny but all in all it was good. The cheerleaders was a good book to read and it kept me engaged from beginning to end.

Filed Under: Reviews

AND BREAK THE PRETTY KINGS By Lena Jeong

June 14, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

AND BREAK THE PRETTY KINGS By Lena JeongAnd Break the Pretty Kings by Lena Jeong
Series: Sacred Bone #1
Published by HarperTeen on 6/20/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Young Adult
Pages: 447
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Mirae was meant to save her queendom, but the ceremony before her coronation ends in terror and death, unlocking a strange new power within her and foretelling the return of a monster even the gods fear. Amid the chaos, Mirae’s beloved older brother is taken—threatening the peninsula’s already tenuous truce.

Desperate to save her brother and defeat this ancient enemy before the queendom is beset by war, Mirae sets out on a journey with an unlikely group of companions while her unpredictable magic gives her terrifying visions of a future she must stop at any cost.

Short and Sweet Review

Mirae is a princess and everyone is looking to her to save the kingdom, but first she needs to pass a series of test before she makes it to her coronation, but unfortunately things go awry. Mirae finds herself with a new power and her brother has gone missing and its up to her and a group to go find him and bring him back home. Mirae is desperate to save her brother, stop an ancient enemy, and stop a war from breaking out.

And Break the Pretty Kings had an interesting concept that involved a setting of historical Korea, characters that had powers, and history and myths. I honestly don’t think everything worked as seamlessly as it could have. Mirae is very head strong and doesn’t listen to advice from those around her. I think the magic system in this book was interesting, Mirae is about to control elements around her and she ends up with a new power, the power to time travel. The time traveling confused me, only because I didn’t understand the jumping around and the things other characters were telling Mirae when she would end up in their time period and what their motives were. This book was very confusing to me and I think it lacked a clear concept, from the synopsis we can see what the intentions were but it fell short. The characters lacked a clear motivation for what they were doing and it was hard to relate to any of them. We’re also introduced to the antagonist of the book and their motives made everything even more confusing for me. I was interested in seeing Mirae use her time traveling powers and learning more about Korean myths. Some of the things that were introduced were fascinating.

All in all I was just confused for 80% of this book. The ending didn’t make anything better, things weren’t wrapped up or answered in a clear way, and I think that was because there’s going to be a sequel. I believe for me to truly understand what was going on in this book, I would have to reread it… and I don’t want to.

Filed Under: Reviews

WE SHIP IT By Lauren Kay

June 12, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WE SHIP IT By Lauren KayWe Ship It by Lauren Kay
Published by HarperTeen on 6/20/23
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 317
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Olivia Schwartz has a plan. It’s even color-coded.

And the plan is this: a perfect SAT score, a prestigious college, and a straight path towards her dream of becoming a doctor.

The last thing she wants to do—the summer before her senior year of high school, no less—is go on a cruise. Especially with her parents, younger brothers, and all the unspoken things between them since her older brother’s death so many years ago.

Then Olivia meets Sebastian. He’s everything she’s not: charming, exciting, willing to take risks and run with them. For the first time, Olivia feels like she can have fun...

But there’s a lot bubbling up under the surface on this cruise, and when past secrets begin to come to light, Olivia must face all the truths that she’s ignored for so long: about herself, Sebastian, her brother, the past she thought she understood, and the future she’s always planned.

Short and Sweet Review

Olivia Schwartz has a plan, she wants a perfect SAT score, to go to a good college, and become a cardiologist. But the summer before her senior year her parents tell her the family is going on a cruise and Olivia can see all of her plans unraveling. Olivia tries to comply mainly because before her brother Logans death they both talked about going to Antigua, and one of the stops on the cruise is Antigua. Olivia plans on spending most of her time doing school work but her plans go up in plan when her family connects with old family friends and her old friend Jules convinces her to have a little fun, which is how Olivia meets Sebastian. Over the course of the cruise Olivia learns a lot about herself, and tries to face her past while planning for the future.

Olivia our main character is very focused and she has a plan about what she wants in the future and how she plans on getting there. When her parents tell her about the cruise, Olivia is upset, she’s been working on a big science project which needs to be presented, which would now happen on the cruise. Olivia can be uptight she doesn’t seem to know how to relax and have a little fun. When Olivia gets on the boat she’s determined to work on her project, but she reconnects with Jules who is able to convince Olivia to hangout with some of the other teens on board. I did enjoy the setting of a cruise ship and seeing all of the things that the passengers can do, but my favorite thing was seeing Olivia get out of her comfort zone. Within this friend group Olivia meets Sebastian, and its not love at first sight she thinks he’s making fun of her work ethic but eventually she does start to develop feelings for him and this is the first person she’s able to talk to Logan about. I did feel bad for Olivia, she’s never been in a relationship or with a guy so I don’t think she was able to see the signs the Sebastian didn’t feel the way she did. I will say that it did help Olivia to talk to Logan to someone because her parents usually avoid the subject but over this trip Olivia is finally able to have the hard conversation that has been avoided for years. When Olivia learns the truth everything she thought she knew feels like a lie. I truly think this is the first time Olivia has dealt with an obstacle like this, so much so that it makes her start to rethink everything.

In the end I did like how Olivia was able to over come and start to adjust her plans to things that aren’t as concrete as she once thought they had to be. I did appreciate how the topic of Logans death was handle and how at the end her parents realized that avoiding talking about him wasn’t helping. Olivia learns over the course of this book and I did like seeing how she grew as a character and how important topics were covered. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance novels.

Filed Under: Reviews

PROM HOUSE By Chelsea Mueller

June 9, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

PROM HOUSE By Chelsea MuellerProm House by Chelsea Mueller
Published by Underlined on 5/4/21
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 245
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

A KILLER AFTERPARTY . . .

When Kylie walks into the gorgeous beach house, it’s a dream come true. She still can’t believe she talked her parents into letting her spend the weekend down the shore with her boyfriend, Liam, after prom. Kylie, Liam, and their friends have rented the most amazing party house—and it’s all theirs. Prom was awesome, but this is going to be even better.

Except there’s a little problem. A violent storm hits the beach and the power goes out—with no sign that it’s coming back anytime soon. Roughing it with candles and camping lanterns isn’t the vibe they were going for, but everyone wants to make the most of it. Until people start disappearing . . . and turning up dead. Kylie is terrified. Is somebody’s prom date a killer?

Short and Sweet Review

After Prom, Kylie and her boyfriend head to the prom house, a house that her friends rented for an after party. But a violent storm is coming and when the power goes out the teens realize that their friends are starting to go missing and found dead.

Prom House reminds me of other books that follow the same premise of a group going in a house and then people end up dead and now we’re at a point where we have to find out who did it. Anyway these teens think they’re going to party it up at the house but when the they find one of their friends dead they call the cops, when the cops come the body has disappeared. The cops think the group is lying and leaves the group to hunker down while a tropical storm is on the way. Kylie is suspicious of everyone but doesn’t know who could possibly be trying to kill them, but she comes to the realization that the killer is one of her friends in the house. Kylie’s thoughts were all over the place and it made her unlikeable. Prom House was predictable but very poorly executed. There’s a lot of books that follow this same concept that are entertaining and worth the read, but this book missed the mark by a lot.

Filed Under: Reviews

WE WERE LIARS By E. Lockhart

June 7, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WE WERE LIARS By E. LockhartWe Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Series: We Were Liars #1
Published by Delacorte Press on 5/13/14
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Romance, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 256
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Short and Sweet Review

We Were Liars, focuses on Cadence Sinclair and her wealthy family. Cadence visits the family’s private island every summer and she looks forward to seeing her cousins Johnny and Mirren and her crush Gat. We’re introduced to a bit of mystery mainly because Cadence had some kind of accident but she doesn’t remember what happened, so that story unravels throughout the book. We also see how the wealth affects the family and how the adults try to win their fathers favor in order to inherit things from the island. The book started off slow, but the more we get into family dynamics and seeing Cadence slowly remember what happened to her is when things start to pick up. Cadence had some kind of accident where she is blocking out what happened the night of it. I liked that Cadence, Johnny, Mirren, and Gat were a group that didn’t want their parents to influence them and they made a group called the liars. The relationship between Cadence and Gat is interesting because her family obviously thinks she’s above them because of their social status. When we get to the end of the book the ending surprised me but it all made sense, and I really enjoyed it. This book is a good read for the summer and its short and will keep you guessing, I’m interested to see what the next book has in store!

Filed Under: Reviews

THIS TOWN IS ON FIRE By Pamela N. Harris

June 5, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THIS TOWN IS ON FIRE By Pamela N. HarrisThis Town Is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris
Published by Quill Tree Books on 6/20/23
Genres: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 445
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

A lot is up in the air in Naomi Henry’s life: her spot as a varsity cheer flier, her classmates’ reaction to the debut of her natural hair, and her crush on the guy who’s always been like a brother to her. With so much uncertainty, she feels lucky to have a best friend like Kylie to keep her grounded. After all, they’re practically sisters—Naomi’s mom took care of Kylie and her twin brother for years.

But then a video of Kylie calling the cops on two Black teens in a shopping store parking lot goes viral. Naomi is shaken, and her town is reeling from the publicity. While Naomi tries to reckon with Kylie, the other Black students in their high school are questioning their friendship, and her former friends are wondering where this new “woke” Naomi came from. Although Naomi wants to stand by her best friend, she now can’t help but see everything in a different light.

As tensions in her town escalate, Naomi finds herself engaging in protests that are on the cusp of being illegal. And then a bomb explodes, and someone is found dead. Will Naomi be caught in the center of the blast?

Short and Sweet Review

Naomi and Kylie have been friends since they were kids and now they’re going into their senior year of high school, they’re like sisters and Naomi looks to Kylie to keep her grounded. Naomis world is rocked when a video of Kylie calling the cops on two black teens is released and goes viral. The other black teens at their high school start to judge Naomi and Kylies friendship so much so that Naomi starts to question if she ever knew Kylie in the first place. Tensions start to escalate in town, including protests and there’s even a bomb that goes off and Naomi is caught in the crossfire.

Naomi and Kylie have always been friends but after the video comes out Naomi is confused and starts to distance herself from Kylie. I feel like Naomi is so used to doing what Kylie is doing and isn’t exactly comfortable hanging out with other black kids. So when Kylie is called out Naomi is caught between hanging out with a girl who’s being called a racist and trying to figure out her own identity as a black girl. Naomi is trying to balance this two parts of her life and is having trouble bringing them both together without cutting one out and losing a part of herself. We see the tension the video causes between Kylie and Naomi and when Naomi starts to distance herself she cuts cheerleading out her life and joins the dance team and during this time she also finds herself joining a group that enjoys protesting. Naomi also has a romance with Kylie’s twin brother Connor but that also turns sour when she sees he also has a questionable past when it comes to making fun of black people. The book goes back and forth between the present which talks about the explosion and the past which shows which led up to everything.

This Town Is on Fire, showed Naomi struggle between her friend and her identity as a black girl. I did enjoy seeing Naomi find herself throughout the book. This book was hard to put down and it’s interesting to think about what someone would do when their friend ends up being coined a “BBQ Becky”. I will say the ending was shocking, I wasn’t expecting it. This book was full of important messages and its very realistic, it was captivating. I would definitely recommend this book!

Filed Under: Reviews

WHERE ECHOES DIE By Courtney Gould

June 2, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WHERE ECHOES DIE By Courtney GouldWhere Echoes Die by Courtney Gould
Published by Wednesday Books on 6/20/23
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 346
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Beck Birsching has been adrift since the death of her mother, a brilliant but troubled investigative reporter. She can’t stop herself from slipping into memories of happier days, longing for a time when things were more normal. So when a mysterious letter in her mother’s handwriting arrives in the mail that reads Come and find me, pointing to the small town at the center of her last investigation, Beck hopes that it may hold the answers.

But when Beck and her sister Riley arrive in Backravel, Arizona, it’s clear that something’s off. There are no cars, no cemeteries, no churches. The town is a mix of dilapidated military structures and new, shiny buildings, all overseen by a gleaming treatment center high on a plateau. No one seems to remember when they got there, and when Beck digs deeper into the town’s enigmatic leader and his daughter, Avery, she begins to suspect that they know more than they’re letting on.

As Beck and her sister search for answers about their mother, she and Avery are increasingly drawn together, and their unexpected connection brings up emotions Beck has fought to keep buried. Beck is desperate to hold onto the way things used to be, but when she starts losing herself in Backravel—and its connection to her mother— she risks losing her way back out.

Short and Sweet Review

Ever since the death of her mother, Beck hasn’t been quite right, she’s always thinking about her mom and why she was obsessed with a town called Backravel. When Beck gets a note in the mail in her mothers handwriting saying Come and find me, Beck thinks this is her chance to go to Backravel and get some answers. In Backravel, Beck and her sister Riley quickly learn that things are off in this town. People have memory lapse and they always seem to turn to the town founder and his daughter Avery. Beck and Avery are drawn together and Beck seems to be slowly finding answers about her mother, but the longer she stays in Backravel the more she begins to lose herself.

Where Echoes Die, was an interesting read, Beck is on the hunt for answers about Backravel a town her mother was obsessed with. She brings her sister Riley along not necessarily being completely honest about what they’re doing there. Ever since her moms death Beck has been trying to find what drew her to Backravel, Beck has also been a shell of her former self. When Beck and Riley see how strange things are in this town, including the fact that they don’t have a church or any cemeteries they just brush it off, until they see how strange the townspeople act. Beck knows the only way to get answers is to talk to the town leader Ricky and the only way to get to him is through Avery. Avery has an air of mystery about her, but for some reason her and Beck click. There is a bit of romance between the two, I wasn’t really invested in this relationship mainly because of the thing that’s affecting everyone in town. It was interesting that everyone gets treatment by Ricky. I did like that Beck was getting some answers about her mom and what exactly kept bringing her back to this town. The ending was good and I didn’t want to put the book down, I wanted to know what was going to happen.

Where Echoes Die, has a great premise and it is an engaging read, especially when we learn about Becks mom and what it is about the town of Backravel that makes it different. I do wish that the pacing was better, otherwise this is an interesting read for people who like mysteries with a bit of sci-fi.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE BELLES By Dhonielle Clayton

May 31, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE BELLES By Dhonielle ClaytonThe Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
Series: The Belles #1
Published by Disney-Hyperion on 2/6/18
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 449
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

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. 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 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.

Short and Sweet Review

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle, and in the world of Orleans, Belles are important because they have the ability to make things beautiful. The citizens in Orleans were cursed by the God of the sky making them all gray and look lifeless, but the Goddess Beauty made Belles to help make things beautiful again. Camellia and her sisters arrive at the Palace to display their talents and one of them will be chosen as the Queens favorite and go on to live in the palace and make the cosmetic changes the royals request. All Camellia wants is to be the favorite but once she gets the opportunity to become the favorite she realizes things aren’t as great as she thought they’d be. Now Camellia has a chose to go along with what the Princess wants or follow the Queens orders.

The world of Orleans is actually very interesting, people are either born gray and not exactly beautiful, or you’re born a belle and your job is to make things beautiful. Camellia is a belle and she usually goes above and beyond and gets creative, which catches the eyes of the people of Orleans. Unfortunately Camellia isn’t picked as the favorite, her sister Amber is, but when Amber isn’t able to fulfill her duties Camellia is called in instead. At the palace Camellia meets Princess Sophia who is off, she’s mean, a tyrant, and will go out of her way to make people uncomfortable. The other Princess Charlotte is in a coma like state and the Queen asks Camellia to bring her back, at first Camellia isn’t sure but after dealing with Sophia she knows that Sophia can never become queen so she agrees to help Charlotte. There was a bit of a romance between Camellia and a guard (Remy) and one of Sophia’s suitors (August). There was also a bit of mystery about where Amber was and why she got kicked out of the palace and another one of Camellias sister Edel goes missing. I had a love hate relationship with Camellia. She was determined to do what was right but she wouldn’t take advice from other belles who tried to tell her to be a little more inconspicuous. Camellia drew a lot of attention to herself and there really wasn’t any reason for it, and because of that she became an easy target for Sophia. I’m hoping in the next book Camellia has some character development and stops putting herself and others in unnecessary danger

The ending was fast paced and left on a cliff hanger and a lot of things were answered, but I’m excited to see what happens in book two!

Filed Under: Reviews