BOOK REVIEW: Belle of the Ball
ABOUT BELLE OF THE BALL: A young adult graphic novel about high school wallflower Belle Hawkins, who ends up in a love triangle after tutoring the girlfriend of her crush.
High-school senior and notorious wallflower Hawkins finally works up the courage to remove her mascot mask and ask out her longtime crush: Regina Moreno, head cheerleader, academic overachiever, and all-around popular girl. There’s only one teensy little problem: Regina is already dating Chloe Kitagawa, an athletic all-star…and middling English student. Regina sees a perfectly self-serving opportunity here, and asks the smitten Hawkins to tutor Chloe free of charge, knowing Hawkins will do anything to get closer to her.
And while Regina’s plan works at first, she doesn’t realize that Hawkins and Chloe knew each other as kids, when Hawkins went by Belle and wore princess dresses to school every single day. Before long, romance does start to blossom…but not between who you might expect. With Belle of the Ball, cartoonist Mariana Costa has reinvigorated satisfying, reliable tropes into your new favorite teen romantic comedy.
NOW FOR MY REVIEW….
“This book has me in all my queer awkward feelings mixed in with just the right amount of drama. Yes, there is cheating but I appreciated how they showed that love and feelings are messy and complicated; they are not black and white. As a queer Black Latine individual that did not get the opportunity to read queer love stories growing up, I was all in for this queer love triangle. I loved all the characters - they were so realistic and whole that they leaped off the page. I resonated with Regina’s type-A personality; I was definitely an overachiever. I also resonated with B. Hawkins’ love of literature and her overall caring nature. The illustrations were stunning and the dialogue was realistic. I also appreciated seeing text message conversations that brought me into the story.”
