Book Review: Belles by Jen Calonita

Belles

By Jen Calonita 

Release Date: April 10, 2012

Summary: Fifteen-year-old Isabelle Scott loves her life by the boardwalk on the supposed wrong side of the tracks in North Carolina. But when tragedy strikes, a social worker sends her to live with a long-lost uncle and his preppy privileged family. Isabelle is taken away from everything she’s ever known, and, unfortunately, inserting her into the glamorous lifestyle of Emerald Cove doesn’t go so well. Her cousin Mirabelle Monroe isn’t thrilled to share her life with an outsider, and, in addition to dealing with all the rumors and backstabbing that lurk beneath their classmates’ Southern charm, a secret is unfolding that will change both girls’ lives forever.


Review: I love love love YA contemporaries, so I was so excited to have the chance to review this book. And you know what? It was AWESOME! 

This book is like a mixture between The Clique series by Lisa Harrison and the Private series by Kate Brian (who's actually quoted on the back), and those two series happened to have been my favorite at some point in my life. So it's no surprise I stayed up all night reading this until I was finished!

Ever since the first page I really liked Izzie. She's so down to earth and she's someone that you can't help but like, no matter what she does. Then, when you hear about her past and how she has to move in with her distant Uncle (who happens to be running for senator and has three kids already, including a super popular daughter the same age as her) because her Grandma can't even remember her name, you know you have to root for her throughout the entire story.

I felt really conflicted on wether I like Mira (the popular daughter) or not, because she was nasty when she was around Savannah (her best friend who I hated) but she knew what she was doing was wrong. I really started to like her, though, when she started to realize her life was so fake, even though she was popular and dating the quarterback of the football team. It was cool how she had a secret passion for art and always wanted to be in the art studio instead of being the plastic barbie best friend and girlfriend.

There were so many new things thrown in Izzie's way (usually thrown by the evil Savannah) and I just couldn't get enough of the story (especially when it came to the rocky relationship between Izzie and Brayden, who happens to be someone Izzie DEFINITELY shouldn't be with). And a twist thrown in the end was SO unexpected that my mouth was actually gaping. Maybe I was too oblivious to have realized it, but I was shocked. Only awesome books have the ability to shock me that much and this one sure did.

You know what else I loved about this book? The cover! It's gorgeous! Underneath the cover jacket, it's a picture of the girl and a bunch of the pink flowers. And I love the idea of the title. Mira's full name is Mirabelle and Izzie's is Isabelle, so they're the Belles. Haha, clever right? Well I thought it was! If you haven't had the chance, go grab this book! It's awesome!