Published by: Balzer + Bray, January 28th 2014
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 352
Format: Ebook
Source: Balzer + Bray via Edelweiss (thank you!!)
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.
Addictive, endlessly beautiful, and powerfully emotional.
Cruel Beauty tells the tale of Ignifex, the prince of demons who rules over the town of Arcadia, and his bride Nyx who has sworn to kill him to end the plight of her people. Despite her vow to kill the Gentle Lord, Nyx finds herself falling in love with him - but she will have to choose between ending her people's suffering, and saving the man she loves.
This book is stunning. It's effortless and beautiful and so much more than I expected. It captivated me from the beginning, drawing me in with the awesome, ever-changing rooms of Ignifex's house, the enigma that is the man himself, and the unwavering determination and razor-sharp wit of Nyx.
Cruel Beauty is utterly faultless. Hodge's writing is lush and descriptive, her world building is wonderfully detailed, and the way she writes romance took my breath away. Rosamund Hodge is, perhaps, the only author about whom I will talk in terrible, gaudy cliches.
The story, the plot, the romance was intense on every page, culminating in a heart-wrenching happily ever after. I have been ripped apart by sadness, love, elation, and loss - all in the space of a chapter. The only way I can explain it is this: I feel raw and made of jagged edges. It doesn't make sense but it's all I've got.
A magical debut, Cruel Beauty will ensnare and enchant you, no matter what genre of book you read.
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.
Cruel Beauty tells the tale of Ignifex, the prince of demons who rules over the town of Arcadia, and his bride Nyx who has sworn to kill him to end the plight of her people. Despite her vow to kill the Gentle Lord, Nyx finds herself falling in love with him - but she will have to choose between ending her people's suffering, and saving the man she loves.
This book is stunning. It's effortless and beautiful and so much more than I expected. It captivated me from the beginning, drawing me in with the awesome, ever-changing rooms of Ignifex's house, the enigma that is the man himself, and the unwavering determination and razor-sharp wit of Nyx.
Cruel Beauty is utterly faultless. Hodge's writing is lush and descriptive, her world building is wonderfully detailed, and the way she writes romance took my breath away. Rosamund Hodge is, perhaps, the only author about whom I will talk in terrible, gaudy cliches.
The story, the plot, the romance was intense on every page, culminating in a heart-wrenching happily ever after. I have been ripped apart by sadness, love, elation, and loss - all in the space of a chapter. The only way I can explain it is this: I feel raw and made of jagged edges. It doesn't make sense but it's all I've got.
A magical debut, Cruel Beauty will ensnare and enchant you, no matter what genre of book you read.
Characters ★★★★★
Setting/world building ★★★★★
Writing Style ★★★★★
"A dazzling and clever retelling, CRUEL BEAUTY is delightfully dark, lushly romantic, and utterly spellbinding. I adored it, and can't wait to read Hodge's next novel!"
- Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series
"What a stunning debut. This is a book you will want to read as fast as you can for the intricate plot and as slowly as you can to savor the gorgeous world-building and the ravishing love story."
- Sherry Thomas, author of THE BURNING SKY
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