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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 halt her attempt to restore peace to Orléans. Even Camille herself, our heroine, goes through a darker period while dealing with her anger at Psycho Sophia's tyranny, but also at the larger culture of Orléans, and how Belles are viewed. Some are saying that an incident that happens towards the end of the book was unnecessary, but I think that this reflects the twisted world that Camille is trapped in and the anger, frustration, and sacrifices that she has to make, whether they are the right sacrifices or the wrong sacrifices. While in Orléans, all color of skin and all style of hair is worn, the underlying perfection often reverts to a "white" perfection, at least in the case of Sophia, who is the villain of the tale, with her constant blonde hair and light skin, and how she refuses to resemble her darker skinned mother.

Using the skills she's picked up on the way, Delilah's adventures continue as she plots to rob a rich and corrupt Sultan in Constantinople. I find it fitting that the first book I review during Women's History Month, is a graphic novel with a kick-ass female lead. The juxtaposition of Delilah's and Selim's life and personality, make the story into a great "buddy heist", where they may not be friends when they start out, but by the end of the story they are a well-oiled, and well-respected, team. Overall, this was a delightful read, and I'm definitely going to dive into the next twoo books in the series: Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling (book 2) and Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules (book 3).

Death wasn’t the end, it was only the beginning… Sybella has always been the darkest of Death’s daughters, trained at the convent of Saint Mortain to serve as his justice. But she has a new mission now

So I read a total of 70 books this year with a total of 18,997 pages. I find that interesting, especially if you go by pages read and not amount of books read. I read mostly YA again this year, but with a few Middle Grade books (which are always shorter) and quite a few graphic novel (I mean my shortest book was a graphic novel at only 24 pages), so that number makes sense. Here are all the actual books: My average rating was a 4.2, which is fair as most of these were blog tour books, and I don't post those reviews unless they are a 4 or 5 star.