The Belles

The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton, 2019 Lodestar nominee. This book was like the makeover scene in Hunger Games only it went on for 400 pages (and I was ready for kids to start killing each other after about 20). I kind of feel bad about how little I enjoyed this book - I liked the author's note at the end, I support what Clayton was trying to do here and I hope it was more effective for actual teens than for my middle-aged self. And I really do love that three of the Lodestar books this year have Black girls on the cover; I like to imagine bookstore owners and teen-section librarians setting up Lodestar displays and there they are. (I have no idea whether any bookstores or librarians actually care about the Lodestar but the publishing industry has such a shitty track record on people of color on covers, I think it's great if the Hugos can chip in a little to that ongoing struggle.)

Some more specifics about how this book didn't work for me and why I think it might have/should have behind the cut. Also, hey, notes for torture and animal harm, I mean I don't discuss the animal harm here but it's in the book.( Read more... )