Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (Book Review)

Cruel Beauty

Author : Rosamund Hodge
Pub Date : January 28th 2014
Publishers : Balzer + Bray
Genre : Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Pages : 342

Add it in Goodreads | Buy it on Book Depository

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 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 enchantes castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.
But Ignifexis 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

I really loved this book. It really blew me away. If you are familiar with me, you'll know that i love fairytales and also mythology, Cruel Beauty is like a mix of the two of them so it definitely give it a boost. 

This book is not like happy-fairytales. This book have a dark nature to it, if you get what i mean. I, sort of, like the dark nature. I don't know how to describe the dark nature or what makes it, but it's like just there, like you can already see the vibe.

The start of the book was very slow, honestly. I was aiming to read it at Japan, but because of the slow start, i'm forced to put it down for a little while and read another book. I mean, it is slow because we are just introduced to the world and the characters so it have to take a lot of time. But after the slow start, i was already sucked into the story, so it was really worth it.

The main character in this book is Nyx. I have to be honest here, Nyx can be a really frustrating and annoying character at times but i still love her. Her passion to defeat him and to never give up is very inspiring in some ways. But with her annoyance, she's not my favourite character. I'm sorry Nyx, i tried to like you, and i did but i liked some characters better.

My favourite character is probably Ignifex. I don't want to spoil you, but he did something that just made me smile a lot. His behaviour is sometimes cruel, but i like him for that. His grace and the way he talks to Nyx is just wonderful. He even have a sense of humor. Even though he is a demon, like the plot said, it's not what we think he is, he's like human. His feelings and his love is just- aw.

There's funny parts in this story, which i really enjoyed. With a dark nature, having a bit of comedy is like putting sugar in a candy. Sweeter. In some parts i chuckled, in some parts i laughed lightly, and in some parts i just really lose it and i just cracks up. Once, one of my siblings was beside me when i was laughing and stared me like "What's funny?"

Some parts are very, very terrifying. This book has one of my favourite quotes : "Demons are made of shadows. Don't stare at a shadow for too long or a demon might look back." I was shivering down my spine when i read it. And when the terrifying things happen, the shivering comes back and i was so scared. I'll never look at a shadow the same ever again because of this dazzling book. 

So Cruel Beauty is a retelling from Beauty and The Beast and i didn't really like that fairytale. I mean, i didn't hate that, but it's not like my favourites. The Disney film for this tale was okay, i guess. I didn't hate it but i didn't love either so that's the background why i didn't really liked Beauty and The Beast. So i have to consider picking it up or not.

But Cruel Beauty, though, make me liked Beauty and The Beast a little bit more. I don't know why, but because of this story, it really makes me liked it more. Usually when i hear "Beauty and The Beast" all i could is the disney movie so it's not that pleasant but now i can put Nyx and Ignifex, which i really love. And i don't exactly know how much is the same from the tale, from what i know, it's pretty good.

The cover for this book is amazing and really beautiful. I'm not the type of people who picks up books with the cover, but if i saw this one, i would be impressed because it's gorgeous. The mashup of the red rose and the non-ending stairs is really beautiful, i applaud the people who made it. And the inside of the inside of the dust jacket is really pretty too, with the shiny rose.

The sparkling moments for this book is definitely the ending. Not the, like, ending but almost at the ending. My heart was beating loudly and i'm sweating of what was going to happen and THE FEELS. I was going to give it a 90 but because of the ending, it got higher.

The world building was very... confusing at times. The world is a bit complicated, with its past and the curse and all. Sometimes when Nyx was explaining the world, i'm like "What?" and i have to reread it again to define it more. But if you get it, it's a beautiful world, trust me.

The character development here, in this book, is pretty good too. I don't want to spoil you, but the hot-headed, mysteriously Nyx we know changes at the end of the book. I'm pretty sure Ignifex changes her but i think what really changes her is her duty and the choices she has to make. And not just Nyx, but Ignifex too and some other characters.

It's really sad that it's a stand-alone. I really want to hear about their next journey and what happens after the ending of the book. I would really like for Rosamund Hodge to make a novella after the ending, i would really enjoy that or make a companion book sequel? I know she made, Gilded Ashes, But it's not about Nyx or Ignifex's past. and i heard she's making another book, Crimson Bound, but i believe it's not the sequel but i'm still pretty excited.

Overall i gave this book a FIVE out of FIVE stars. Shocker. And in my number scale, i gave this book a 95 points, very high points so it's really good. Maybe this book will be in my Top Favourites of The Year. I would really recommend this book to anyone who likes fairytales and sweet-but-dark romance. I can see myself rereading this book in the future.