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Cruel Beauty

Rosamund Hodge

Start date: September 22, 2015

Finish date: September 30, 2015

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What Members Thought

Jan 14, 2014 Stormi (StormReads) rated it liked it

Cruel Beauty is the debut novel for author Rosemund Hodge and although I didn't find it to meet my expectations I did find parts of it interesting.

It gets off to a very slow start with Nyx getting ready to go and marry the Gentle Lord. I couldn't figure out why he was called the Gentle Lord when he ruined people with his bargains. Nyx was raised to hate the Gentle Lord and to kill him. Her father made a bargain and she was the price of that bargain. She resents her family for making her have to Cruel Beauty is the debut novel for author Rosemund Hodge and although I didn't find it to meet my expectations I did find parts of it interesting.

It gets off to a very slow start with Nyx getting ready to go and marry the Gentle Lord. I couldn't figure out why he was called the Gentle Lord when he ruined people with his bargains. Nyx was raised to hate the Gentle Lord and to kill him. Her father made a bargain and she was the price of that bargain. She resents her family for making her have to be a sacrifice to save Arcadia.

For the most part Nyx just irritates me because she is sort of whiny. I mean I get that she has been raised to kill the Gentle Lord and her sister has been loved. I just felt like the story tries to pound that into you way to much and that gets boring. Nyx does seem to have a little bit more spunk than the previous wives because Ignifex actually seems to like her. It's because of her wicked heart that he likes her, but who wouldn't have a bit of hate in their heart when you were raised to hate.

This story has a most unusual love triangle of sorts as Nyx thinks likes Shade, who takes on the appearance of Ignifex at night while in the morning he is a shadow. Nyx also finds herself falling for Ignifex even though she knows he is evil and should be killed. It's towards the middle of the book that you get to the main love story between Nyx and Ignifex.

Although it is a little bit like a greek mythological version of Beauty and the Beast it also has a bit of Rumpelstiltskin in it as well. Towards the end I started getting a little confused on what what was happening but over all the ending was nice. I can't say that I hated this story because it really did have an interesting take on B&B, but I didn't love it either. The pacing at times was to slow for me and the repetitiveness that went throughout it made the story drag in places.

I have seen a lot of reviews on this book and I can see why some loved it and I can also see what some hated it. For me though it was just okay and I will check out the Cinderalla enovella that is centered in the same world as Cruel Beauty and give the author another chance.
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Apr 11, 2014 Haze rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, 2023-books-read, 2014-books-read, reread

March 2023 - reading it the second time around is interesting because I barely remember anything about it from the first time except that I loved it. Reading it now, I very possibly might not have loved it as much because I was listening on audio this time, and I missed a lot of details. I don't even think I would've cared if it wasn't because I remembered how much I loved it before, and I would've probably just have discounted it, but since I knew I loved it before, I decided to slow down a bit ...more

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Sep 24, 2015 Karen D rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, ya, romance, retelling

I'd probably give this 3.5 stars if I could, but because I did like much of it, I'll round up to 4.

The crux of the story -- Nyx's village has been basically held captive by a demon lord. Nyx's father trades her basically in a bargain, in order to have children, one of them will have to marry the demon lord. So when she turns 17, Nyx marries the demon lord with the expectation that she will find a way to kill him and free the village.

There was a lot of this that I liked. The mythology and how i ...more

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Sep 21, 2016 Angie Taylor rated it it was amazing

I absolutely adored this book! It's magical from beginning to end. The writing and story telling is one of my favorite books of 2016. Best unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast ever. I don't it even think it can be compared because this story is so good. Loved it. ...more

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Jul 09, 2016 Anjillica Navarro rated it liked it

I liked it....but it was a little weird, hence the 3 stars. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around some things but I'm too tired and so I'll leave it at 3 stars. ...more

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Apr 30, 2014 Heather - hturningpages rated it really liked it

Shelves: retelling, loved-it, awesome-audiobooks

Such a wonderfully dark interpretation of beauty and the beast. Demons, Gods, gardens in sky, magic mirrors, and every character is more complex than you first suspect. Rosamund Hodge, publish more books please!

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