Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge Published by HarperCollins Pages: 201
My rating:
Synopsis
The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in a dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.
Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known her fate was to marry him, kill him, and free her people from his tyranny.
But on her seventeenth birthday, when she moves into his castle high on the kingdom's mountaintop, nothing is as she expected--particularly her charming and beguiling new husband.
Nyx knows she must save her homeland at all costs, yet she can't resist the pull of her sworn enemy--who's gotten in her way by stealing her heart.
For fans of bestselling authors Kristin Cashore and Alex Flinn, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away.
Yet another fairy tale retelling! This one with the unexpected greek mythology touch struck me more as a retelling of Psyque and Eros’ myth than one of the Beauty and the Beast.
No denying it was super entertaining, specially considering the revelations that turn your world upside down later on.
The whole story is one really cool buid-up, because with things as messed up as they were, torn between love and saving the world, you wonder how the hell is all going to be solved. And… that is the problem right there. I’m still not sure about how it was resolved exactly. The ending was very confusing. That annoyed me very much.
The Romance
I was quite satisfied with how the romance was handled. It was funny, and also believable, since Nyx was supposed to transition between wanting to kill Ignifex, to loving him. True, not that big of a journey, but, hey, she had some pretty preconceived notions that would make anyone hesitant!
Pacing? Hmmm…
I just wish it had been more evenly paced in the end, and that the middle hadn’t dragged on so much. I’m serious! The house is supposed to be one giant illusion of a maze that made my head hurt, but that was okay, because it was awesome. What is so not awesome is the fact that I read about Nyx searching from strange room to strange room every day, and though I guess it makes sense in the world of the book that she’d try to get to know this place better; me as the reader was getting very bored.
Cruel Beauty was a good read, but that could’ve done a lot better. Really, it had greek mythology, an interesting setting, some odd characters…
I ADORE FAIRYTALE RETELLINGS. I was actually on a fairytale retelling kick very recently and this book was part of it.
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My week of fairytale retellings ended with Cruel Beauty, but I will continue reading them (duh they’re awesome), I had a lot of fun and if you have any recommendations don’t hesitate to drop one!
Here’s a recap of the books I read:
Cinder and Ella will have its own review soon, don’t miss it!
I feel like the only living person in the book blogosphere who hasn’t read this book 🙁 I HAVE TO READ THIS. I absolutely love fairytale retellings too! Most of the retellings I’ve read were literally awesome, and since people enjoyed this a lot, I feel like I’m missing a lot. 😛 Thanks for the positive review! You convinced me!!! <3
Jillian @ Jillian’s Books recently posted this awesome thing…Diana Reviews: Velvet by Temple West
LOL This was how I felt up until I finally read it. YES Go ahead! Super curious to know what you’ll think about it!