Review: The Belles

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been looking forward to this, Dhonielle Clayton's solo debut, for quite a while, and while The Belles wasn't quite perfect for me, it was damn good at doing its job - exploring beauty standards in a world where the beauty standards are outlandish and disturbing and cruel - not only to the people who agonize over how difficult it is to meet them, but also to the very Belles who are the people's only source of beauty, and yet cannot do so without actually harming them in the process. I mean, you thought the freakishly graphic description of Pretty-making surgery in Uglies was bad enough, or that "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" story you probably read in anthropology class like I did? Oh, you have no idea.

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of this story, I'd just like to bring up that as lovely as the cover is - especially on a screen, especially-especially in HD - the physical copy is printed with a super-blurry cover, likely because it's got one of those rough sort of dust jackets. I mean, couldn't Freeform Books have made a little more effort to make Camilla pop off the cover like she should? Especially against those bright pink endpapers detailing the world map. I guess all I can hope for is that my store got a bad batch, or that subsequent printings will correct this particular issue.

So...The Belles. I'll try to keep this spoiler-free, but there are certain trigger warnings to keep in mind for those who haven't read the book yet: attempted rape, bullying, murder, and assorted moments of queerphobia.

Reading this book, I found that Clayton tended to write it with long stretches of not much happening in terms of action. I mean, sure, there'd be people coming to the Belles for their beauty treatments, and also flashy newspaper ads that sound like they came out of Harry Potter - not only because they literally flash with quick changes, but also because many of them are written in a somewhat Rita Skeeter-esque sensationalist tone (which might explain why one such headline misgenders a citizen who's coming out as a trans girl, the source of the transphobia accusations that's dogged this book off and on in the months leading up to its publication) - and also a lot of emphasis on character interaction, particularly between Camilla and her fellow Belles, or Camilla and a mysterious boy, Auguste, who you know is gonna be important later. Character emphasis, yes, but it does sometimes feel like plot is sacrificed as a result because you know shit's gonna hit the fan, but when?

The good news is, Clayton loads more of the plot-driving moments towards the latter half of the book, which could make for a pretty rewarding experience by the time you power through it all. The bad news is, a lot of those plot-driving moments are problematic to some degree. The attempted rape, for instance, though that's nothing more than an attempt that ends in the would-be rapist getting a hell of a lot more than he bargained for. Also the bullying and murder, which the sadistic Princess Sophia (who reminded me a hell of a lot of Danielle Paige's Dorothy, to the point where I kept expecting her to say something like "Quelle surprise, bitches!") forces Camilla and other Belles to carry out on others in the court. (For the Belles don't just manipulate your appearance - they have more of the Corporalnik powers from the Grishaverse too.) The murder is also super-problematic because it's a queer girl who dies. As a queer reader, I'm not particularly offended by "bury your gays" in settings where queerness isn't exactly a character's top defining trait - The 100 TV series being one of the biggest examples - but since I'm a dude, don't take my opinion too seriously. I will further say, though, that using certain story developments (which, knowing Clayton, I'd be very surprised if she hadn't written them with all the sensitivity) to suggest that Dhonielle Clayton is herself lesbophobic and/or queerphobic, especially in light of this article where she talks about growing up a closeted bi girl, strikes me as pretty problematic in and of itself.

What Clayton does super right any way you slice it, though, is her world-building. Between the liberal use of French terminology, the lavish details to describe the setting, and the creepily intimate nature of the Belles' work, she, again, does her job and then some with this book. Over time, we get tiny hints about secret trouble behind the scenes, secrets swept aside by those higher up - and when some of those secrets finally come out, I was reminded very strongly of a certain key moment near the end of Snowpiercer. Not only because of the way we get to see the ways those most important to keeping society running are horribly, unspeakably abused, but also because, fantastical though this setting may be, it's hard not to read it as Clayton pinning...well, maybe not ninety-five theses, but certainly a few dozen, to the door and standing by to watch as people read her critique on capitalism. That, plus unreasonable beauty standards and racism and colorism, get thoroughly skewered by the time the 400-plus pages of The Belles are over.

Long story short, if you haven't read this book - and don't find yourself triggered by anything I've warned for above - I do recommend you pick it up as soon as possible. Dhonielle Clayton deserves your love too.

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