Pages: 352
Received: Received a copy from Harper Collins Canada in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: January 28, 2014
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Goodreads Synopsis:
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.
My Review:
Oh my love for this book is so high, everything about this book sounded perfect (maybe too perfect), and it all worked out so well. This book was a very interesting take on Beauty and the Beast as well as some Greek mythology added in to the story, it was so engrossing and I just flew through the story needing more of the characters.
Nyx has known her future her entire life, she is destined to marry the evil ruler of her kingdom. She has only been trained to fight and kill him so that she can save the kingdom and everyone that lives there. She resents her father for making this deal and also her sister for being the one who gets to live, she has so much hate in her because of her fate. When she finally meets her husband for the first time their interactions are so intriguing, and they really work together well. Everything about the book was magical, the way that Nyx is so drawn to Ignifex, they are very alike and you can see them falling for one another.
There were things that came up in the story that I could guess at, but I didn't mind because I loved seeing Nyx's attempt to solve this puzzle. Nyx's family seem so horrible and you see that she finds a place that she belongs in this castle, she finds someone like her and the verbal spars these two have throughout the book are adorable and quirky at times.
Rosamund Hodge has an incredible writing style, the writing is like poetry. Every little thing is felt and heard and the characters are so real you can almost imagine them as someone you know. This is a book that is all about the romance, and yet there is true strength in the characters, especially in Nyx, she finally understands love and belonging and must make the most difficult decision of her life.
And the ending of this book, oh my gosh, it was perfect... I am never one who likes endings because obviously it means the story is over, but with everything that happened, the ending fit so perfectly. I recommend this book to everyone I know, and I will be pushing so many people to read it because I want this book to be known to the world for how beautiful it is.
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Buy From Amazon.ca / Buy From Chapters.ca /
Buy From BookDepository.com
Goodreads Synopsis:
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.
My Review:
Oh my love for this book is so high, everything about this book sounded perfect (maybe too perfect), and it all worked out so well. This book was a very interesting take on Beauty and the Beast as well as some Greek mythology added in to the story, it was so engrossing and I just flew through the story needing more of the characters.
Nyx has known her future her entire life, she is destined to marry the evil ruler of her kingdom. She has only been trained to fight and kill him so that she can save the kingdom and everyone that lives there. She resents her father for making this deal and also her sister for being the one who gets to live, she has so much hate in her because of her fate. When she finally meets her husband for the first time their interactions are so intriguing, and they really work together well. Everything about the book was magical, the way that Nyx is so drawn to Ignifex, they are very alike and you can see them falling for one another.
There were things that came up in the story that I could guess at, but I didn't mind because I loved seeing Nyx's attempt to solve this puzzle. Nyx's family seem so horrible and you see that she finds a place that she belongs in this castle, she finds someone like her and the verbal spars these two have throughout the book are adorable and quirky at times.
Rosamund Hodge has an incredible writing style, the writing is like poetry. Every little thing is felt and heard and the characters are so real you can almost imagine them as someone you know. This is a book that is all about the romance, and yet there is true strength in the characters, especially in Nyx, she finally understands love and belonging and must make the most difficult decision of her life.
And the ending of this book, oh my gosh, it was perfect... I am never one who likes endings because obviously it means the story is over, but with everything that happened, the ending fit so perfectly. I recommend this book to everyone I know, and I will be pushing so many people to read it because I want this book to be known to the world for how beautiful it is.
Darn you and your addicting reviews! I just bought this :)
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