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Cruel Beauty

Rosamund Hodge

Start date: February 1, 2017

Finish date: February 28, 2017

Discussion: Stand Alone

Why we're reading this: Won the theme BOTM
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Stand Alone

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What Members Thought

Sep 06, 2019 Susan rated it liked it

Not sure how I feel about this book. I didn't love it enough to give it 5 stars and I spent a lot of time rereading or starting a whole chapter over because I was bored I fell asleep or I was so lost I had to start the chapter over just to try to make out what was happening. It wasn't hard to read or confusing I just think there wasn't enough there to keep me focused on the books and therefore I dozed off or my mind wandered

The MC Nyx was being sacrificed to the Gentle Lord but really he was a d Not sure how I feel about this book. I didn't love it enough to give it 5 stars and I spent a lot of time rereading or starting a whole chapter over because I was bored I fell asleep or I was so lost I had to start the chapter over just to try to make out what was happening. It wasn't hard to read or confusing I just think there wasn't enough there to keep me focused on the books and therefore I dozed off or my mind wandered

The MC Nyx was being sacrificed to the Gentle Lord but really he was a demon due to a bargain her father struck with this Gentle Lord. He had to offer up one of his daughter when she turned 17 and her father offered up her to marry this evil demon when she turned 17. He thought himself as helping whe really he sent people to their deaths more often the not. Her father went to him and bargained that his wife be able to have children and he was granted that wish so long as he offered one of them up when she turned 17. He was so thrilled he was giving his wife what she always wanted and that they were going to have twin daughters but what he didn't know was she was never going to make it out of childbirth alive. The last child born was the one that took her life and therefore the child in his eyes who should be sacrificed on her 17th birthday.

The other sister was doted on and led a very pampered life where Nyx was always treated with indifference and told she was giving up her life to avenge her mother and for the city of Arcadia that fell into darkness because of the Gentle Lord. He held the city hostage and it was up to Nyx to free them all. The day Nyx was going to be leaving her family her sister pulled her aside and gave her a knife so she could kill the Lord and hopefully make it back to them. That was the first bit of a backbone we got to see of the sister. Otherwise she was always in tears over her sister having to go and always so worried. Meanwhile Nyx developed a hatred toward her, she got to plan a future with a real man and plan on a family, her father moved on as well with his wife's sister and all this hatred built up in Nyx.

This was a Beauty and the Beast retelling (one of my favorite kind of retellings to read) but I didn't love this one. I wanted to and being it was one of my favorite type of retelling I was ready to love it. Of course she fell in love with the Gentle Lord and she had a choice to make. Stay with her husband and betray her family or betray her husband. The first person she felt truly loved her and trusted her.

The book wasn't horrible I think maybe I have read a few to many Beauty and the Beast retellings and maybe I need to step away from this type of book for a little while. Others I have read have just made such a last loving impression on me and this fell short.

If you haven't read that many Beauty and the Beast retellings then you might find this a 5 star read. I'm not saying don't read it because it was a good book. It just didn't stand up to the other 3 books I've that were the same style of retelling. I do plan on reading the rest of the books and see what happens. ...more

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Apr 23, 2014 Renuka rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, young-adult, fantasy, romance, mythology, paranormal, magic, e-book, fairytales, reviewed

This was a really weird book. It was a huge mess of Greek mythology, Beauty and the Beast, Rumplestiltskin ("guess me name"), and Bluebeard (the guy with the dead wives). So yeah. It's fair to say I was really confused, and I am absolutely positive that there are going to be plenty of negative reviews. So if you aren't a fan of swirly, lopsided, crazy books - don't read this. However, if you love lyrical language, strange new worlds, a gothic feel, characters that don't always make sense and a p This was a really weird book. It was a huge mess of Greek mythology, Beauty and the Beast, Rumplestiltskin ("guess me name"), and Bluebeard (the guy with the dead wives). So yeah. It's fair to say I was really confused, and I am absolutely positive that there are going to be plenty of negative reviews. So if you aren't a fan of swirly, lopsided, crazy books - don't read this. However, if you love lyrical language, strange new worlds, a gothic feel, characters that don't always make sense and a plot that could rival real life - this is the book for you.

It reminds me a bit of the Night Circus. It's a little bizarre but so beautifully written I couldn't really pull myself away. Their relationship is strange too. It's borderline abusive, but they fit together. Ignifex and Nyx. Two rather horrible people. You can't love them, but you can. Neither of them is very nice, or even relatable. They make awful decisions throughout the book, but their complex appeal is very real. I love me some layered characters.

The overall setting is...very unclear. I wasn't too sure about their world, but I think I loved it? I know I loved Ignifex's warped castle. It was eerie, abandoned, colorful, and twisty - it mirrored the novel itself. Yes, it was (again) very confusing. But - it was all about the writing. The lines that flowed off the page. The descriptions and the danger. Emotions and the supernatural spiraling off the page with a dark fairy tale approach. It was noir fantasy. This book makes it's own genre.

The romance is definitely not for everyone. Let me say one more time - they are not a pretty couple. Ignifex and Nyx do not "bring out the best" in each other. They bring out the real in each other. At some times, that even means the worst comes out. But they are one of the most honest pairs. It's raw and strange and consuming. I couldn't put the book down.

Overall, I was sucked in and couldn't get out until the last words were over. The ending was not my favorite ending, and the book was hugely flawed - but in just the right way. Cruel Beauty is the perfect title. It was complex, the characters were strange, and much was unclear - but I do know that people looking for something darker, and a little twisted will love it.
...more

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