Meet the Belles, an exclusive group of magical women who possess the power to make their clients exquisitely gorgeous – or hideously ugly, depending upon their whim. In a lavish ‘through the looking glass’ New Orleans, the Belles are artists whose sole purpose is to transform their customers cursed monochrome lives into something fabulous, and to feed society’s dangerous obsession with the quest for beauty. The only problem is, only the rich can afford what the Belles offer. The poor remain the damned.

But the discrepancy between rich and poor is not in Camellia Beauregard’s mind when she joins her Belle sisters at court because Camellia is determined to be recognised by the queen as the most talented Belle in the land. After all, she has trained all her life for this moment. And yet it doesn’t take long before Camellia realises that, behind the opulent walls of the palace, a terrible and obscene darkness awaits – and when the queen asks her to use her talents in unexpected ways, Camellia is forced to make a decision that could shatter the world of the Belles forever.

We all want to feel beautiful, but what happens when that hunger for beauty becomes dangerously destructive and when absolute beauty conceals absolute ugliness? That seems to be the question at the heart of The Belles and it’s a thought-provoking one, all wrapped up in some fine storytelling and a cast of characters who spill vibrantly off the page. Camellia is a fascinating heroine who isn’t afraid to take action when she eventually realises that the Belles are trapped inside a gilded cage and, although we should probably feel repelled by the Belles’ preoccupation with power and status, we can’t help but experience a tingle of dread for the evil which is slowly closing down around them. In fact, all the characters are carefully drawn and are all equally as compelling, especially the feisty authority-challenging Edelweiss and the depthlessly cruel Princess Sophia. This is an intensely well-realised universe that gives author Dhonielle Clayton the chance to explore a lot more than just physical perfection (issues like social class, racism and slavery are also subtly bound up within this narrative) and the ending is a doozy. Maybe the ultra-competitive ‘who will be the winner of the Beaute Carnaval’ subplot feels a little bit like The Hunger Games just collided with Britain’s Next Top Model, but that’s a small complaint about a novel that will keep most readers hooked to the very end. The Belles is good-looking escapism with a hard edge and it comes very highly recommended.

THE BELLES / AUTHOR: DHONIELLE CLAYTON / PUBLISHER: GOLLANCZ / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 8TH