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Belle of the Ball
Belle of the Ball | Mari Costa
6 posts | 5 read | 4 to read
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. Theres only one teensy little problem: Regina is already dating Chloe Kitagawa, 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 Reginas plan works at first, she doesnt 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.
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Kenyazero
Belle of the Ball | Mari Costa
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Pickpick

I loved everything about this delightful queer story, from the art and characters to the story itself. Extremely cute. And yes, I also loved Gina. I found myself hoping this would go in the predictable directions, which it did, so although it was predictable it was not disappointing. This was another random library pick because I liked the lettering on the spine and I‘m so glad I picked it up. I even got my husband to read it. #LGBTQIA

Kenyazero Used for #OwlHouseReadathon Owlbert: an adorable character; and #LGBTQIABookBingo2024 sapphic rep #LGBTQIA2024 2w
19 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Kenyazero
Belle of the Ball | Mari Costa
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I cheated and looked at some reviews for this book the other day, and I see a lot of them hating on Gene. I understand, she's definitely a pain and she has a ton of growth to do, but I absolutely adore her. She's not a bad person. She's very driven and single-minded and not a stellar girlfriend, but overall she's a pretty good character. She's funny, adorable, and has a ton of compelling areas to learn from. I'd read a book about her.

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Kenyazero
Belle of the Ball | Mari Costa
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Sometimes you find perfect books for yourself. When you read chaotically like me and don't read the backs of books before you read, they're even more random and satisfying to find. I picked this one up feeling like it might be a so-so read for me and so far it's extremely perfect. I absolutely adore the characters, and the silly situations they get into. The literary references, nerdy manga love, and charming hate banter are also delightful.

The_Book_Ninja I do the same! I try and avoid film trailers and book blurb. Just need to know the genre 1mo
Kenyazero @The_Book_Ninja love it ❤️ I‘m also the same with film! 1mo
18 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
Kenyazero
Belle of the Ball | Mari Costa
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I'm absolutely delighted by how often LGBTQIA+ books catch my eye. Queer stories are always my favorite. I don't usually read the backs of books, especially graphic novels, when I decide I'm going to read them. I read a bit chaotically and it usually works out well. Somehow, more often than not, the books that catch my eye end up being queer like this one, which I picked up because I liked the title and spine design.

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LiteraryinPA
Belle of the Ball | Mari Costa
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Pickpick

What an odd but cute graphic novel about a high school lesbian love triangle! It‘s a soft pick for me because of one really annoying character, and I also would have appreciated more background on some of the main characters, but it was a fun read nonetheless. My favorite scene was at a renaissance faire! I liked the growth we saw as the friends realized who they were as kids and who they wanted to become after high school.

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coffees
Belle of the Ball | Mari Costa
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Pickpick

EEEEEE!!! I really enjoyed this #lesbian #graphicnovel!! I was on the fence about it but I'm glad I picked it up. It's honestly such a cute read and I loved Belle and Chloe. Gina was...well, difficult 😂 Very feels good with a bit of stress bc prom and graduation but still!!

I even got to interview Mari Costa 🫣
https://bookmarksthat.wordpress.com/2023/03/22/blog-tour-belle-of-the-ball-by-ma...