Cruel Beauty

Nyx learned when she was nine that she had to pay the price of the bargain her father made: in exchange for the birth of healthy twin girls, one must become the wife of the Gentle Lord who trapped the land of Arcadia under a false sky and rules the demons waiting in the shadows to drive mad anyone who looks in them for too long. This knowledge has ruled Nyx’s life as she puts on a brave face for her family, especially her twin sister Astraia who is carefree and loved while the poison of resentment for her duty grows in Nyx’s heart. Though she is being sent away to her doom, Nyx does not go unprepared: her father’s every attention to her has been to groom her to carry out a plan by teaching her the Hermetic arts, the drawing of sigils called the ‘Hearts’ of Water, Earth, Fire, and Air so that she might destroy the Gentle Lord even if she must be destroyed along with him.I adored this book in every sense. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale and Hodge does not so much retell it as use it as a foundation from which to build something incredible. She weaves in mythologies of Ancient Greece and Rome with a smattering of hedge-gods to create a tale of gods and magic, destiny and trickery. The plot is intricate and twists in on itself in ways that show and also conceal; my story sense was thrown obvious things so I could feel smug but there were still clues that blew right by me so I was amazed right up through the end. I have some unanswered questions but it just makes me want to read it again because I'm sure the answers are in there. The setting is pure enchantment: Nyx has never seen the true sky; not the sun and stars or anything but a veined parchment dome that pretends at being the heavens and the tower she goes to live out her destiny in is full of shifting, wondrous rooms that she explores with keys she is given or manages to get on her own as she searches for the Hearts.With all of that going on, let it truly mean something that the characters are the best part of Cruel Beauty. Hodge’s characters are complex and real, filled with all the little warring emotions and actions and regrets and wishes that people really have. The story explores the mistakes we make by trying to be what others expect of us and how this compounds because of the assumptions and choices that we all make for ourselves and for one another. Love and duty are put to their limits and I fell in love with Nyx straight away for the person she is for the position she’s in: “I had to smile back. It felt like I was baring my teeth, but she didn’t seem to notice. Of course not. For eight years I’d bourne this fate, and in all that time she’d never noticed how terrified I was. For eight years you lied to her with every breath, and now you hate her because she’s deceived?” Nyx struggles with the bitterness her duty has instilled into her and wishes that she could be selfless and proud for the chance to sacrifice herself for Arcadia, all the while longing to be loved for her own self instead of the destiny she has had thrust upon her. There are few characters, but each of them are complex and surprised me, perhaps Ignifex, our Gentle Lord and prince of demons most of all.“Everyone who ever bargains with me is convinced that he is righteous. Even the ones who come sad-eyed and guilty--they weep to the gods that they are sinners, but in their hearts they believe that their need is so special that it justifies any sin, that they are heroes for losing all their righteousness and paying with their souls.”This book is phenomenal; inventive and horrifying and spectacular in every way. I cannotnotnot wait to read more from Rosamund Hodge.

For the full version of this review as well as other reviews and features, go to sleepsontables.com.Actual rating: 3.5/5Update: Shortly after this review posted I was informed by Christina from Reader of Fictions that aside from a novella Cruel Beauty is a standalone, which makes some content of my thoughts in this review irrelevant so that’s sad. I assumed since Crimson Bound looked so similar that it was a sequel to Cruel Beauty but I assumed without researching it. So please ignore my naive mistake. Haha. Also: The fact that this book is a standalone makes me dislike the ending even more.Cruel Beauty is a book that I knew I wanted to read. I’d followed the early reviews of it and was super excited, but unfortunately it fell of my mountainous TBR wagon for a long time. I ended up buying it sometime in late 2014 if I remember correctly and I just now got around to reading it. I’m very glad I read it but there are things about this book that irk me.Cruel Beauty is pitched as Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast. Now I haven’t read Graceling so I can’t speak to that, but I’ll tell you that this book is definitely Beauty and the Beast meets Greek mythology. AND YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE GREEK MYTHOLOGY. (A lot.) The Greek mythology compares comes from the legend of Hades and Persephone wherein Nyx is sent to live with Ignifex. There are so many parallels and subtle hints and I really hope this Greek mythology is something that carries through the series.The Beauty and the Beast aspect of this book is pretty obvious. Nyx is the Beauty who because of her father, has to go live with the evil Beast, Ignifex.The first thing about Cruel Beauty to praise is the world building. I’ve felt that Harry Potter and Throne of Glass has some of the best world-building out there and what Rosamund did with Cruel Beauty fits right in that ‘best of’ niche. She crafted this Cruel Beauty Universe that I could picture so clearly. The descriptiveness of everything was so on point and utterly distinct. This was the kind of world-building that I enjoyed so much that if I would’ve rated the book 1 or 2 stars I probably still would’ve read the sequel just because of how well the universe was depicted.The next thing to praise is the characters. Nyx and Ignifex are both so amazing and flawed. Nyx is meant to avenge her mother’s death by marrying Ignifex and destroying him from within his stronghold. All her life she’s been training for this moment, taught since she was little to hate the Gentle Lord, but when she’s finally in the situation, she finds herself hesitating. She has little epiphanies when she realizes that she’s been told to act a certain way her whole live, told and told and told, but when it comes down to it, is that really what she wants? It’s marvelous character transformation wherein Nyx not only learns to think for herself but also acknowledges that every person has an amount of good and evil inside of them, that everything’s not just black and white.Nyx is also very amazing in a similar way. He starts off as this evil enigma and, very much like the Darkling, we fell for him. His character is so intriguing and when we learn more about his mystery we realize that he’s just like Nyx. He’s been forced his whole life to believe something or do something. Is it something that he wants to do? Not necessarily. When Nyx makes him think about being good he makes a subtle switch and when the ultimate opportunity arises to appease, he surprises you. Another very important thing is what he teaches Nyx about the every person have good and evil in them. Ignifex definitely goes up on my list of favorite bad boys to love.I’ve spoken about a lot of love I have for this book so what did I not like? The structure. There was definitive flow to this book but what was inconsistent for me was the execution of different scenes. I felt like it was a roller coaster of a read. There were scenes that were written so beautifully and then there were others that were lacking and fell flat. If that was remedied, there is no doubt that I’d give this book 5 stars. Going along with the structure, my major qualm with this book was the ending. Everything was set up so insanely well for the end of this book. There was background and detail and suspense that built until I couldn’t take it anymore. But when the thing happens it happens so abruptly and the fall off from it is so confusing and quick. I would’ve lovvvved more downhill in the plot from the climax to help me understand what happened better. That’s also a big part of the issue. I finished it and had to go back and reread the end because I didn’t know what the hell had just happened.Review in Review:I really liked–almost loved–Cruel Beauty. Obviously I had a couple issues with this book because I didn’t give it 5 stars. However, what I did like about it, I loved. It has wonderful world-building, intriguingly flawed characters, and a hint of Greek mythology. This is everything I could’ve asked for in terms of concept and I was worried it’d let me down but bottom line is that I’m made I didn’t read it sooner and now I need to read the sequel. If you like retellings and Greek mythology then this book is the book for you.

Very cute story and really recommend or an easy fast read

I've been meaning to read this for ages. I think I added it to my TBR in 2017, so yeah, it's been a while. I finally got around to reading it and... well, I mean, it wasn't a bad book by any means, but it's nothing that hasn't been done before, or nothing that I will remember in three years. In short: it wasn't worth the wait.A lot of things (the setting, the world, the mythology) are confusing, and the characters don't make a lot of sense. I really liked the MC, I thought the author did a good job at making her a 'morally gray' character, but she did one 180s too many for me.I hated Astraia (the MC's sister) and the author doesn't do anything to endear her to us, no matter how she tries to spin it at some point. The aunt and father weren't much more likeable either.I guess you could say that this aimed to do what The Shadows Between Us (by Tricia Levenseller) managed to accomplish: a Slytherin romance, where you actually root for the characters, even though you know they're terrible people. Alessandra had a lot of greed and hate in her heart, but she owned it, and no matter how many times in this book Nyx tried to convey the fact that she was a spiteful being, all I could see was a lost 17yo girl not being very greedy or very hateful.Same goes for Ignifex: he's presented as the ultimate Demon Lord, but falls in love after ten pages and short of lying to someone during a bargain, he doesn't actually do a lot of wrong. To go back to the Shadows Between Us comparison, Kallias actually is a scary king, and it's not just telling from the author's part.Also, I'm super confused as to why, in this book, death threats (which, IMO, at no point were hinted as anything but that) are considered banter (especially in the first part, where they're casually threatening to kill the other and then she's lusting after him). Again, there was a lot of telling about the sexual tension between them, and I had very little cases of feeling that tension.Oh, well.

“Why is he scared of the dark?" "Like all monsters. Because it reminds him of what he truly is".This book hit me in such a way... I loved almost every aspect of it. Nyx being a "true person", with rage and grief, and always putting others above herself. I really liked the concept of Ignifex and his backstory, I learned that we cannot put our fear of the future above everything else, or we may regret it. The whole Shade connection with Ignfex is also quite intersting (even though I disliked him through the entire book). Plus, can we talk how Ignifex and Nyx relationship is cute and also funny? And that ending... I REALLY was in love with it, everything (and everybody) literally changed, and I cried for like, 1 hour in a row :p.Note: Someone please kill Astraia :)Note2: Alchemy and greek elements? Sign me in!

He leído todos los libros que Rosamund ha publicado, y aun así, no puedo evitar regresar a este, Cruel beauty es y siempre será una de mis historias favoritas. La forma en que todo está narrado, como presenta las debilidades de cada uno de sus personajes y los hace tan reales es realmente genial.

Awsome just awsome....it was a fantastic story which got me involved in it day by day as i read it....I always had to know what happened next just couldnt keep the book down from my hands.....wonderful story...amazing drama....beautiful love...and a thrilling climax.