THE BELLES

Set at Bellerton College, an elite women's school, this audiobook in the dark academia genre begins in 1951, when Deena, a freshman, arrives on the school's Virginia campus. Narrator Adenrele Ojo describes Deena's desperate need to hide her underprivileged past and become accepted by the wealthy popular girls. Deena's secrets unravel as she's drawn into the sinister obsessions of the Belles, the most exclusive group on campus, and learns there's a price for conformity. Ojo meticulously delivers the novel's stunning prose and satisfying turns of phrase, but her timbre and intonation sound too mature for a story about college girls. Fifty years later, when the graduates gather for a reunion, Ojo's voice is fully believable. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2025]