Monday, January 20, 2014

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Genre: YA Fairytale Spinoff
Expected Publication: January 28th, 2014
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Page Count: 352
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Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

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.

I've been wondering when someone would come out with a Beauty and the Beast spinoff!And then this beauty shows its cover (which is gorgeous)! I think I will automatically put any book that is a fairytale spinoff as a must read. It's just a must. And Cruel Beauty was a must.

Automatically, I liked Nyx. She was tough, but all she wanted was to be loved by her father. By anyone, actually. She was bitter and sad, somehow a very real and relatable character. And she had determination and a burning hatred for the demon lord in the castle. She's been destined since childhood to be the savior of their kingdom and kill Ignifex, so it's kind of understandable why she's so bitter and angry.

The main reason why I loved this book so much was the writing. Such beautiful sentences were crafted and I loved every bit of the writing. It was descriptive and unique, not a generic style of writing. The world that Hodge created was magical and dark, like, really dark. And I loved being able to read through her explorations of the house because it was so fascinating to read about.

So, I can already see where people will find the romance to be a little too insta for their taste. Don't worry, I felt that way too. But then, things get explained and lets just say that I ended up very much enjoying the romance. Ir was HOT! And confusing . . . and complicated. Well, it's not something that you'll expect. For me, the struggle was real, and I'm pretty sure Nyx felt the same way, so we were in this together.

I seriously can't get this book out of my mind. The novel, woven in with it's writing, was so unique and made for an unforgettable spinoff. Cruel Beauty was magical and dark, unpredictable and sexy, and I can only hope that others will enjoy this novel as much as I did. This novel was not all about the romance, but more about Nyx's character growth that made her such an interesting character to read about.

5 Splashes

3 comments:

  1. Glad you loved it! I didn't hate this one but I didn't love it either I was a bt overwhelmed with the greek myth (I'm not that well versed in it so a lot of the info dumps confused me). As for Nyx I agree she was so so angry. I know it's understandable, but I wish she didn't let it could her judgment you know. She let it control her and it got on my nerves. But anyways, the writing was mt favorite part. So pretty. And the world building itself was pretty mind blowing I gotta give points for creativity there for sure! Wonderful review, love!

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  2. Sounds like you enjoyed this as much as I did. I don't know if you've read The Goddess Test but Ignifex really reminded me of Henry with his dark and broody ways. Thanks for sharing your review with me.

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  3. The world building sounds great in this book. I read this sometime in November so I barely remember what happened in it but I'm glad you were able to look past the insta-love. I couldn't really look past that and I ended up feeling disconnected from the book as a result of that. Totally agree about Nyx's character, although it looks like you liked her more than I did! I really liked her in the beginning and then in the end I got annoyed by her >.< Fantastic review, though! <33

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