Cruel Beauty By Rosamund Hodge Genre: Mystery, Fantasy It's official, I need more re-tellings. You know what's a fairy tale. You know what lies they tell. Everything is pretty much too good to be true. Too perfect, too smooth-sailing, too predictable. But with re-tellings then can the book be dark, gory and exciting. It's not the most predictable, it's more of an adventure than a fable. We finally get the chance to change our perfect childhood tales into something that is beautiful and twisted. This is exactly why I love re-tellings. |
Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.
Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.
With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.
But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.
As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.
Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.
With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.
But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.
As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.
I might be biased because Beauty and the Beast was one of my favourite fairy tales but really this book does have that awesomeness radiating there. I'm pretty sure it isn't the best, that there are many ways this book can be made into something darker and more terrifying but I can settle for this. Someone who actually understands herself.
If one of us had to die, it ought to be the one with poison in her heart. |
It's in our personalities, isn't it? That defiance inside. Nyx has this defiance and hatred in her. And no it isn't the "I shall defy my mom and go on this deadly mission as an act of heroism although I'm honestly quite unskilled." it's the yes I'm defiant but I use my brain too.
Really, I'm telling you Nyx has this strong hatred and fire burning in her.
Really, I'm telling you Nyx has this strong hatred and fire burning in her.
O my mother, forgive me that I do not remember you. Guide me on all the ways that I must walk. Grant me strength, that I may avenge you. You bore me nine months, you gave me breath, and I hate you. |
Did I mention I love books with an evil protagonist? Humans are not angelic beings and we do struggle with the monster inside of us. Nyx knows her monster and she stays afloat with the rules and values instilled in her while her inner poison tries to sink her. It's a constant battle.
But I was a girl who had broken her sister’s heart and—for a moment—liked it. I had left somebody in torment and liked it. |
And although I believe her to be a bit of rash at times, she doesn't cease to surprise me. Nyx managed to gain Ignifex's respect with her ferociousness and wit.
I do like a wife with a little malice in her heart. |
The romance was too fast for my liking and I would like it more if there had been more interaction between them. The mystery surrounding this book overshadows the romance by just a little bit and I admit, it would be way better if there were more creepy added to the equation. The world itself was quite complex and vague and it really took a while to fully understand the concept and yet at the end I can't say I fully grasped it.
People can change. Deceptions are all around. Evil lurks in every corner and being. This is a dark love story with not the nicest people. And I always love to be exposed to another sinister side of the human nature.
People can change. Deceptions are all around. Evil lurks in every corner and being. This is a dark love story with not the nicest people. And I always love to be exposed to another sinister side of the human nature.
Even the ones who come sad-eyed and guilty - they weep to the gods that they are sinners, but in their hearts they believe their need is so special that it justifies any sin, that they are heroes for losing all their righteousness and paying with their souls. |