The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 342
Publisher: Gollancz
Released: 7th of March 2019

With a price on her head, the evil Queen Sophia out for blood, and no idea who to trust, Camellia Beaureguard, the former favorite Belle, must race against time to find the ailing Princess Charlotte, who has disappeared without a trace. Sophia's imperial forces will stop at nothing to keep Camille, her sister Edel, and her loyal guard, Rémy, from returning Charlotte to the palace and her rightful place as queen.

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 attempt to restore peace to Orléans. But enemies lurk in the most unexpected places, forcing Camille to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice to save her people.

What I Have to Say 

I loved the Belle so much, so I was really excited for this one! It was so easy to sink back into the world of Belles and Beauty work where everything is so defined by how you look. The writing is so evocative and I just love how Clayton shows so many different definitions of beauty in her books. She shows people picking out any skin colour or eye shape even while showing the dark side of this obsession with beauty and pushing the limits of what's possible. 

Everlasting Rose really upped the stakes for Camille and the other fugitive Belles. They really did deep into how much the Belle system is being abused and Sophia tightening her grips on the society. Sophia is such a frightening character. She shows the abuse and addiction of both the thrill of power and of the beauty work that the Belles do. 

I have so many questions about the world. I want to know more about the Iron Ladies and the Gris. I feel like there are more lies to be uncovered and so much more to tell about the world. I look forward to seeing what comes next. 

My thanks go to Gollancz for providing me with this free copy for review. 

Blog Tour: Peril on Point: Writing What You Know with Helen Lipscombe

Today we are lucky enough to have with us the lovely Helen Lipscombe, author of the new middle-grade spy series, to hit the scene: Peril on Point, to talk about the ultimate piece of writing advice! 

On Writing What You Know 

When I tell people I’ve written a children’s book about ballet and spies, the first question they ask is, are you a dancer? (Luckily, they never ask, are you a spy? Because then obviously I’d have to kill them).

In fact, far from writing what I know (which is usually the first piece of advice you hear as a newbie writer), I found myself writing about something I didn’t. It was fun dreaming up impossible spy gadgets and evil ballet mistresses, but I was anxious. I wasn’t being authentic.

The truth is my ballet career went down a plug hole – quite literally – age six, but that’s another story. So what did I know about ballet?


I knew it was tough. It was technical. It had a language all of its own. Taking on the subject as a non-dancer, I felt like an imposter. I began to read books with impossibly beautiful photographs, articles on the shoemakers’ craft. I attended adult ballet classes, a backstage tour of the Royal Opera House. I went to see Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet. I watched films on tutus, on ballet shoes, on rehearsals – all part of the Royal Ballet’s excellent online resource.

I still felt like an imposter.

It’s no surprise that I didn’t know much about spies either. It’s not easy to research secret agents – they’re, well, secret. My knowledge extended to James Bond movies circa 1979, reading my dad’s library books as a child, and the books my sons loved by Anthony Horowitz and Robert Muchamore. I turned to autobiographies, journalistic accounts, stories about the incredible female spies of the second world war.

It was only when I’d finished my second draft and started thinking about the central themes in Peril En Pointe, I realised that I did know about some things – school, friends, bullies, family, fear, love – that feeling of never being good enough. Maybe if I could convey how Milly felt when she danced – the fear and excitement of being a spy – I could still make my story work?

I also had other experiences I could draw on that related to my story.

I’d lived in London.

Growing up, my grandmother and aunties all performed in the local theatre.

Who hasn’t experienced teachers who have favourites; those kids who always get to play Mary in the school nativity?

I thought back to some of my friends at school; sensitive boys, sometimes eccentric, who despite the tropes, were often best friends with the confident sporty types who got away
with everything. And I recalled an old friend who’d put me up in Singapore for six months. She was kind. She was loyal. She was tiny. She was fierce.

And even though it wasn’t consciously done, a little bit of me is in Milly. We both suffer from imposter syndrome. We both rely on our friends. We both love our mums.

My anxiety began to subside. Perhaps I’d been writing what I knew all along?

PERIL EN POINTE by Helen Lipscombe is out now in paperback 

(£6.99, Chicken House)

Find out more at www.chickenhousebooks.com and follow Helen on twitter @Helen_Lipscombe

Want to follow along with the tour? Here are the hosts for the rest of the stops!