Rosamund Hodge
Published By: Balzar and Bray
Publication Date: January 28, 2014
Date Read: April 10, 2020
Genre: YA - Fairytale Retelling
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 342
From Goodreads:
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.
"Where you go, I shall go; where you die, I shall die, and there will I be buried."
Cruel Beauty has been sat on my shelf unread for such a long time. I remember picking it up not long after it had published and I had been super excited about it but, as is usual for me, I just got distracted by other books. I am such a huge fan of fairytale retellings and this one sounded like the perfect book for me as it is a retelling of my favourite fairytale, Beauty and the Beast. I enjoyed Cruel Beauty... but unfortunately I was left feeling a little bit let down with it.
Cruel Beauty is a good retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I did enjoy this book and one thing I really liked about it was that there was a hint of mythology included in it which I found really different and unique about a retelling. I don't know what it was about Cruel Beauty but I just didn't love it as much as I thought I would. Maybe I've read too many retellings of this fairytale but I found myself getting quite bored with it. All of the twists and turns in this book I guessed long before they happened and I found myself just wishing the book was over.
Cruel Beauty is a cute and quick read but unfortunately it just fell a bit flat for me. I did enjoy it and I am glad that I finally read it but I'm probably not going to continue and read the rest of the series.
"I love you more than any other creature, because you are cruel, and kind, and alive."
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