Dhonielle Clayton

With a price on her head, the evil Queen Sophia out for blood, and no idea who to trust, Camellia Beaureguard, the former favorite Belle, must race against time to find the ailing Princess Charlotte, who has disappeared without a trace. Sophia's imperial forces will stop at nothing to keep Camille, her sister Edel, and her loyal guard, Rémy, from returning Charlotte to the palace 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 uses her powers, her connections, and her cunning to outwit her greatest nemesis, Sophia, and attempt to restore peace to Orléans. But enemies lurk in the most unexpected places, forcing Camille to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice to save her people.

The Everlasting Rose

Sarah Sammis

The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton is the sequel The Belles (2018). Camille and Edel and guard Remy are on the run while there is mayhem in the castle now that Sophia is trying to claim the throne but Charlotte, the rightful heir is gathering her forces from a secret location.

990066 - S/M City offroad

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Gisela Ayala 

Fast-paced and lots of action. The second Belles book kept me entertained the whole time! It also came to a good resolution. The narrator is phenomenal.

Ashley Wendt

I was a bit disappointed in this sequel. I missed so much of the magic from the first book. The pacing on this one was a bit slow and the ending seemed a bit rushed.

Mary Rose Luksha

I don’t usually rate books this low, if it’s worth my time I usually give it 3 stars and I don’t include DNF books in my list. 

But The Everlasting Rose just left a lot of moral/philosophical ideas unfinished or unpacked. I’m not trying to spoil the ending but Ms. Clayton had a wonderful opportunity to make nuanced observations about the price of “beauty” and who you are when you can change your outward appearance. 

Instead Ms. Clayton resolved things in a very black and white story arc and all the morally grey areas weren’t resolved. I rated it 2 stars not because it wasn’t good, it was, but it had the potential to be so much better.

The dazzling sequel to Dhonielle Clayton's Lodestar Award-nominated The Belles. Louise O'Neill's ONLY EVER YOURS meets Scott Westerfeld's UGLIES, welcome to a world where beauty is only ever skin deep . . . Camellia and her sisters are Belles. Only they can make us beautiful. All our lives, my sisters and I have served the people of Orleans. For years, they've held their abilities against us. Not anymore. Now the queen hunts us, because we know the truth about the rightful heir. Camellia murdered our princess and fled with her sisters. The princess is still alive, and we'll help her take back the throne. Together, we will return the Belles to their rightful place. The queen wants us caged. But we will not go quietly. Then they will give us what we deserve: beauty, everlasting. We demand our freedom. No matter what the cost. The New York Times bestselling series of beauty, obsession and magic.

Jasmine Neville

This book has made me satisfied with finally picking up this book. I’m not sure why it took me so long. It kept me intrigued the whole time and I enjoyed the ending

Alexa Jade

Story Eater

Sharply polarizing with a simplistic plot compared to the series starter’s complexity and nuance, Clayton’s sequel does little more than wrap up the story line and bring a resolution. All the villains share similar physical features, which I found disturbing (though someone may find a tiny bit of an exception, the general type is there), and I am sorely disappointed that the sequel was not better than it was, given the skill Clayton demonstrates in spinning a tale. I am torn about recommending it simply because readers will want closure, but they may not like the closure they get.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, for which I give my honest review.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received the earc from Netgalley and the finished book from Rockstar Book Tours and Freeform. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book Series: Book Two of The Belles

Rating: 2/5

Publication Date: March 5, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (suicide TW, slavery imagery, violence, slight gore)

Publisher: Freeform

Pages: 352

Amazon Link

Synopsis: In this sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Camille, 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, Camille uses her powers, her connections and her cunning to outwit her greatest nemesis, Sophia, and restore peace to Orleans.

Review: Okay so for the most part this book is really gorgeous. The writing, the cover, the artwork for the map. Everything is absolutely worthy of The Belles. The book also has really great imagery about slavery and equality and I can see where an English teacher like a decade from now would use this series for their English class. However, I do have some issues with this book.

The book begins and there’s no easing into the book. Usually a sequel will have some sort of in-book synopsis or explanation of the previous book’s events. So, I would definitely recommend reading this back to back with the first book. The book is really confusing otherwise and I struggled to remember all of the people and places and events that happened in the first book while reading this one. The character also had a name change I think. I thought her name was Camellia in the first book, but now it’s Camille? Or am I having a Mandella Effect? The side characters are very underdeveloped and unmentionable. I can’t connect with anyone in this book and the MC feels totally different. I’m so confused over the ending and I feel like there are a lot of plot holes in this book. This book feels like a different story overall. The first book was amazing and fantastic. I loved it and it was definitely one of my faves from 2018, but this one feels rushed and incomplete. I feel like it needed more time to develop and possibly a different course of action for the main. I also feel like the book would have benefited from being a trilogy instead where the story could have been slowed down and better thought out. Right now, the book feels like a first draft instead of a final draft.

Verdict: Read this if you need some sort of closure from the first book.

Amie Liane

I have to admit that usually I can’t stand sequels where the main characters are on the run from the controlling authority, they all seem to be the same. Find a rebel group and then live underground for 80% of the book. I thought The Everlasting Rose would probably follow this formula, and to an extent it did - but it didn’t have the monotony that many sequels tend to have. I really enjoyed the continuation of the story, and the way it was carried out.
Surprised to find out there’s another book in this series coming out in future, as I felt this could have been a nice tidy ending... but I’m intrigued!!

Tijana Kovac

** spoiler alert **
           I enjoyed the sequel more than the original. The pace was faster and featured more action and grit. 
However I'm still struggling with the intricacies of this world, I feel like things could have been explained better. I wish this sequel had explored more about the concept of vanity with the Iron Ladies in particular. We hear that the gris go mad? Still not sure if that's true or not, same goes with the pain they supposedly feel in their natural state. All we find out is they use eye drops and hair powder? If they're going to relinquish beauty why not fully commit to it? I would've liked discussion about inner beauty being more important.
This series shows how toxic vanity can be but doesn't offer much of an alternative or any self actualization about why it's perceived important and if it really matters at its core.
I still enjoyed it overall but I just feel the execution was lacking.

Samantha Bass

Having read an advance copy of The Belles through NetGalley, it was a pleasure reading The Everlasting Rose through NetGalley too! I loved the first book and I was so excited to continue Camille's journey and find out what happens next! While I did not like this book as much as I loved The Belles, I still really enjoyed the story and the nice conclusion to this epic, crazy journey! One thing I had an issue with was pacing. It felt a bit fast at times and I wanted it to slow down or give a bit more information as to what was going on. Besides that, this is a great read and I'm excited to read more from Dhonielle!

Leelynn Brady

I think this was a great second book to read from Clayton. Sure there were things plot wise that I may not have liked – spoiler territory so I didn’t go deep into it – but in the end it worked out very well. I’m still very curious to know if this is going to be a trilogy, or if a duology works out better, which I personally think it does. Either way, I’m excited to see what else Clayton has in store to read. I like her work.

Read my FULL review on my blog Sometimes Leelynn Reads

Jessica 

The Belles Series:

  The Belles
: ★★★★☆ 

  The Everlasting Rose
: ★★★☆☆
Untitled: TBD 

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Review originally posted here on Booked J. 

 "But safety is never permanent. I suppose like beauty, it's unpredictable."

The Belles was one of my favourite reads of 2018. It was everything I wanted from a YA novel (but with a few tropes I wasn't terribly keen on) and then some: luxurious, poignant, emotional, full of a new kind of fantasy and armed with some heavy truths on the standards of beauty. The Everlasting Rose was, of course, one of my most anticipated 2019 reads because of it. And there were a lot of things that I really enjoyed about it--but a lot of things that fell flat for me, personally.

One of my biggest issues was the lack of resolution (is there going to be a third book?) and barely a hint of the worldbuilding we saw in The Belles. Clayton crafts such a delectable and unique world, I had so many high hopes for how it would develop in this installment--unfortunately, there just wasn't a lot of that and as a result the novel felt rushed at times. Where The Belles thrived, The Everlasting Rose finds itself stumbling a bit.

Dhonielle Clayton has such a wonderful prose but there were times where it felt as if The Everlasting Rose was not what it could have been. When I read her author's note, I could immediately see why. A lot has been happening. Which is why I'm going to put an end to my criticism there because, although The Everlasting Rose wasn't everything I hoped it'd be it was still a fun read.

Here's what I loved about it: The Everlasting Rose is armed with Dhonielle Clayton's beautiful and at times whimsical writing. She is definitely one of those author's that could write about the most boring, unappealing topic and it'd still come out sounding like poetry. She has this almost wistful quality to how she writes Camille's POV and through each and everytime, you can't help but to feel for Camille and her sisters and this incredibly different world they live in.

Then there's the differences between this world and our own. A good storytelling can create a world that feels so unfamiliar, but carries these very serious and familiar qualities to it that come right back around to us. The Everlasting Rose has this familiarity to it that ties directly into what Clayton has created and, of course, our own world.

Overall, The Everlasting Rose was fun and indulgent. If you liked The Belles, you're likely to enjoy this book--and will find yourself hoping for another set in this world.

Liz Griffin

Raised the bar from book 1 with tighter pacing and fewer characters, which narrowed the focus and let Camellia shine. The worldbuilding is so immersive that it’s easy to get wholeheartedly lost in the story. Closed the major plots so I’m intrigued that there’s a third book on the way.

The Everlasting Rose

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