Review: Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe) by Rosamund Hodge
8:02 PM
May 7, 2015
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.
I love beauty and the beast and greek
mythology, so this book was a win for me. I know. I know. Beauty and the Beast
meets Greek Mythology? Those do not go together. But in this book, they do go
together. The author made it happen.
Since she was a child, Nyx has known that
she would be married off to the demon lord. She also knew what her task was, to
kill the demon lord so she would free the kingdom of Arcadia. She tried to make
peace with it. She tried to make peace with a lot of things. That her father
loves her twin sister Astraia more than he would ever love her. That he chose Astraia over her. That
she would never get to know what real love feels like. Yes, all miserable
things. Nyx also tried not to feel bitter and to truly love her sister; but how
could you love someone that causes you so much pain?
I hated Nyx's entire family. They were
horrible. Her father especially, what a cruel man. Her aunt is no better, and
her sister is useless. Poor Nyx.
Nyx is finally married and dropped off at
the demon lord's castle. She finally meets her husband, Ignifex. Ignifex is the
demon lord, and he was not a good man, err demon, whatever he is; but I loved
him. He was bad, but not entirely bad, just bad enough. I
loved his character. It was so complex and he was just so mysterious. I love
mysterious.
A lot of people are bothered by the love
triangle in this book, but it was not an issue for me. I didn't really feel
like there even was a love triangle. This is just my opinion though.
I loved reading about the different
adventures Nyx had inside the castle. Not all of them were enjoyable for Nyx,
but all of them were exciting for me.
Again when I was reading the reviews, a lot
said that this book was all about love and its main focus was love,
and the romance was overwhelming. I didn't feel that. Maybe it's because I
actually like romance.
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