Cruel BeautyAuthor's website | Goodreads
by Rosamund Hodge
Genre: Young Adult - Fantasy
Published: January 28, 2014 by Balzer + Bray
Source: ARC from HarperCollins
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.
A dark, gritty retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a stroke of genius that confronts the true nature of love, family, and the things one is willing to sacrifice for both.
The book’s plot was utterly irresistible, and I have no shame in saying that I fell in love with it. It was mind-blowing. Cruel Beauty was a fruit of careful and painstaking plotting. The whole story itself was a labyrinth filled with mystery, secrets, lies, and deceit. There was no scarcity of twists and revelations that would leave your mind shredded into pieces—because of how brilliant it was structured. I really couldn’t say much without giving away something, and this is one book you can’t afford to be spoiled.
Another good thing about this book: it wasn’t pretentious. I love the dark and sinister mood of the story, and how it tackled the evil nature of humans. Nyx, the main character, wasn’t the goody-goody kind. There was hatred and malice in her heart. But so what? The author still developed her character into someone who was able to love—and selflessly at that—despite the stain of malevolence that poisoned her heart. Same goes for Ignifex, the Gentle Lord, who proved himself a very complex character. I think the best thing the author did was bring out the good within these two characters who started off as spiteful and vindictive.
The romance was so affecting and heart-rending. It almost got me to tears because of the unconditional love the characters showed for each other. I’ve never seen a love that raw and selfless and valiant. It broke my heart just reading the scene when
and all the other scenes following that as well.
Ignifex was in Nyx’s room, frantic and desperate to know his name because he loved Nyx so much but she sort-of betrayed him
,and all the other scenes following that as well.
I also admire the underlying themes in the book. How much (and what things) are you willing to bargain to attain your desires? Is sin truly evil if it was done for good? Is love still love if it’s selfish? Where does being evil begin and where does it end? Where do you draw the line between love and morality? What is more wrong: to love someone you hated or to hate someone you loved? What is the true price of redemption?
Cruel Beauty isn’t a fairytale. It’s a stark portrayal of what evil lies inside our souls, and what we must do to defeat it.
Fusing favorite bedtime stories—Beauty and the Beast, Bluebeard, Rumplestiltskin—and the rich history of Greece and its lush mythology, Cruel Beauty is a daring debut novel that crosses the line of conventional YA lit. Rosamund Hodge is an author to look out for.
Favorite quote: "If you desired someone, if he comforted you, if you thought he might leech the poison out of your heart, was that love? Or only desperation?
Rating: 5 stars
Links: Amazon / The Book Depository
