Cruel Beauty by Rosamund HodgeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Summary from GoodReads
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.
REVIEW
It all began with the cover. Roses, gowns, a running woman and I fell for it. When I saw that there was also the retelling of my all time classic "Beauty and Beast" I adored it.
I waited a year to find a copy available for borrowing and I was surprised to see so strange characters.
On "Cruel Beauty" the world-building is set on a fictional time, where folklore and roman history, greek mythology and magic come together forming an interesting mix. Nyx, daughter of the lord who is trying to destroy the Gentle Lord, the demon who has trapped their world, is send off to marry the demon in order for her father to pay for the bargain.
From the moment she arrives at the house, everything becomes...strange. It really took me time to UNDERSTAND the way the plot was revealed. Nyx is indeed a crule person who later becomes torn between her duty and her feelings. The Gentle Lord was truly a hald crazy, half cocky man who didn't even know the house (go figure) until the second half of the book, where we finally managed to see through the sceme of things.
It was really original the book, I admit that, but mostly it felt way too complicated. I still don't know if the bad guys were destroyed or if they will make any other appearances on the next novel. As a standalone it was really great but I would prefer if the plot wasn't too cramped at least.
FIND THE BOOKS ON AMAZON (click the covers for more details)
About the author:
I couldn't get into this story and it ended up being a DNF for me, but everyone else really seems to love it. All of the reviews I've seen have been mostly positive. I really love the covers. They're beautiful.
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