Brittany
Written on Dec 14, 2019
If you're excited about the upcoming Disney film Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson, don't miss Cruel Beauty. The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in this dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny. Perfect for fans of bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away. Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known that her fate was to marry him, kill him, and free her people from his tyranny. But on her seventeenth birthday when she moves into his castle high on the kingdom's mountaintop, nothing is what she expected-particularly her charming and beguiling new husband. Nyx knows she must save her homeland at all costs, yet she can't resist the pull of her sworn enemy-who's gotten in her way by stealing her heart.
- ISBN10 0062224743
- ISBN13 9780062224743
- Publish Date 1 December 2016 (first published 28 January 2014)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc
- Imprint Balzer and Bray
- Format Paperback
- Pages 368
- Language English
Reviews
mitabird
Written on Nov 23, 2019
Amber (The Literary Phoenix)
Written on Apr 14, 2019
As a dark fairytale, Cruel Beauty is fascinating. Nyx has been sold into marriage to the Gentle Lord - a demon king - because her father made a foolish choice and because he hopes she will find a way to end his reign. Of course, Nyx falls in love, but there's so much more than that to the story. The elements required to end the reign and the dark edge of old mythologies woven into this make me SO HAPPY as a reader. But as far as plot goes, 70% was spent on romance and romance-related plot points, and 30% was spent on other plot points. That's where I, as a reader, lost interest... but other readers, especially those who really enjoy romance, will LOVE this book.
The pacing is a bit slow, but that's made up for in how rich the world is and how complicated the characters are. I would have liked to see a little more depth in the minor characters, but that is more from a lack of screen-time than a lack of development.
All in all a good book, ESPECIALLY for the ideal audience. If you enjoy S. Jae-Jones or Holly Black or Melissa Albert, you'll most likely love this one. And if you're a fan of romance, dark fantasy, Beauty and the Beast, or retellings... even better.
Jordon
Written on Oct 25, 2017
jeannamichel
Written on Jan 23, 2017
littleread1
Written on Oct 21, 2016
Katie King
Written on Aug 10, 2015
Cruel Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with a twist. Long ago, a man made a deal with the devil, as many of the villagers do, exchanging the ability to procreate with one of his unborn daughters - Nyx. She would be wed to this devil - ironically called the "Gentle Lord" - sent to live in his castle from where he keeps a watchful eye on the village, and attempt to kill him in their bed. Even though, as the villagers know, without the Gentle Lord their village would fall to ruins. With him, they are safe, they are protected, and they are trapped and mistreated. I guess the villagers would like to take their chances. This is Nyx's destiny; she was born and raised to kill the cruel Gentle Lord. So imagine her surprise when he isn't anything like what she imagined.
The story was good for a while. Well, talking with her sister/dad/aunt before the ceremony was boring. Going back to them to plot with her sister was boring. When she was just walking around and exploring alone it was a little slow too. I didn't like her family at all nor any of the scenes that took place in the village she came from. But then she and Ignifex (the Gentle Lord) fell in love and everything was great! I was loving what was going on minus the village scenes. I was too caught up in what was going down with her and Ignifex to care about all of that other stuff going on. I skimmed, okay?! But then the ending happened and it all exploded out of nowhere and really ruined my enjoyment of the book.
Let's back up to the characters. Nyx was weirdly violent, like constantly throwing things and shouting and overreacting at everything. Maybe this was a tactic to make her seem like a tough bitch? It really just turned me off of her. Ignifex was much better and HE was the one that was supposed to be violent and such! I actually love Ignifex a lot. I thought he had amazing depth to him, and not something that was built up just for the purposes of giving him depth either. He seemed like just another smarmy asshole at first, but you get to know the pain and struggle he feels inside. Getting onto Shade, I liked him fine enough at first, but after he pulled the you-know-what I was absolutely NOT ABOUT IT. While Nyx and Ignifex's romance felt really natural to me, Nyx and Shade's romance (yep, triangle) seemed forced. I felt nothing between them, so I wasn't bothered when he turned out to be evil, but that's just another point on why the ending was that much worse to me.
Everything about the ending will be tagged as a spoiler for maximum ranting.
The ending bothered me so much. First of all, I was very confused by what was even happening. Like Ignifex and Shade recombine into one soul, he looks into the box, and the bargain is undone...but they only go back like 17 years in time? Shouldn't they have gone back like 900 years or however long it's been since the bargain? But I guess then that's a long time for Prince Marcus (Ignifex + Shade) to have been alone in the box. So the Kindly Ones brought back Prince Marcus right when she just happened to be sitting there, which is pretty convenient, so that she can sacrifice herself to be in the box with him a.k.a. the selfless act to get him released. But didn't the prince have to be the one to do the selfless act? Apparently if some random sparrow (who even knows what that had to do with anything) says "keep your deal", you have to I guess. The Kindly Ones got all mad like they've been defeated but they STILL had to put her in the box, just to release them? Why did they even have to put her in the box if they she had done the selfless act?
The other problem is that when he was brought back it seemed like he didn't know her at all. If he didn't know her then the stuff never happened, but she remembers it, so it still did happen somehow? And somehow he also remembers it even though he should either not remember at all because it technically didn't happen OR he would have a weird fractured memory of everything since he experienced it via two different people. But they just act like they're super in love even thought Nyx acknowledges that it's not quite Shade or Ignifex, it's someone new who has pieces of both. How does she know she loves him? To me it seemed like his mannerisms were weirding her out because he seemed more like a stranger, but I guess love conquers all in this story.
The worst part is that near the end Hodge was clearly trying to turn the tide against Shade and make him unlikable. He was all creepy and controlling and scary and FORCED HER INTO A FIRE. So I'm reading and thinking about how much I definitely don't like him and I want her and Ignifex to have babies and be together forever. THEN, Nyx decides to still help Shade out and destroy Ignifex...because why?!? She released gross Shade from his prison even though she seemed very reluctant and uncomfortable the whole time, just so that he could ruin her love's life! You think it's right that the skeevy guy wins?!? Let's just forget all of the stuff he JUST did that landed him in his little prison in the first place!! So pretending it is okay, which it's not, then when Shade joins with Ignifex to create Marcus again, she knows she loves him. She knows this new guy is part creepy guy but she's fine with it. I'd be like "yeah, I know you're part Ignifex but you're also part Shade....I don't know man...." Like NO I could NOT just forgive the way you acted ESPECIALLY since Ignifex was supposed to be the evil part of the prince!
Another thing that bothered me was the integration of Greek mythology. I felt like it was somewhat awkwardly done, so it came off forced and tarnished the story for me. I couldn't even follow the random mentions of Pandora's Box or what that had to do with Beauty and the Beast. Then Prometheus and the gods and Kronos came in and I was pretty much over it. Sometimes simpler is better!
Which speaking of simpler is better, the whole way that the prince not being pure of heart and how that led to the exact scenario Nyx found herself in was so convoluted. Fate would have really had to pull a few doubles to keep that crazy plot on track for 900 YEARS. I mean, why didn't the prince just be like "okay, I'm not pure of heart but I'll try anyways"? The whole situation for 900 years was his fault and everyone just brushed it aside like it's fine. When did the Kindly Ones know it was time for his wives to die? How did they know when they were close to guessing his name? Were they like a few vowels off so they figured they should probably kill her soon? How did they force Ignifex to kill anyone? Why did they let Nyx survive for so long? Why could Nyx remember everything that happened when it actually didn't happen? Aren't the villagers going to be interested in this mysterious handsome stranger that she's married to somehow? I love how her dad and aunt only end up legitimately together in the scenario where an evil demon doesn't rule over them for 900 years. Classic.
Clearly I have a lot of feelings about Cruel Beauty. I really, really wanted to love it. And for a while, I did. But the ending just so completely threw me for a loop that I found it had detracted from everything I enjoyed. It could've been amazing. It WAS amazing for a little bit. Then it all fell apart.
nightingalereads
Written on Jun 2, 2015
paperbackjedi
Written on Feb 12, 2015
Dutiful daughter Nyx has been raised to slay the mysterious, evil ruler of her kingdom since she was little. The only problem is that she’s gotta marry the dude to do it. She grows up resenting her family for bargaining her life away, but is determined to carry out her destiny either way, if only to save her little sister from the same fate. But Ignifex (yes, that’s his name) turns out to be more than she bargained for and she wonders if he’s actually really evil at all as she begins to fall under his spell.
The most interesting part of this book is the mythology. It’s a very cool world she lives in with gods and monsters and various deities. Ignifex himself has a very intriguing title and role to play and I was a fan of his position in the story. Myx lives in Ignifiex’s magical transforming house while trying to unlock its secrets and it’s by far my favorite part of the book. The way the house is described, all the different rooms and parts and magic, is amazing fodder for the imagination. The descriptions are lush and inventive and I thought Hodge did a great job painting a good picture of the world Nyx lives in.
As far as the characters go, I didn’t really fall in love with any of them. As a heroine, Nyx is your standard fare. She’s tough, bitter, and resilient. But she’s also wishy-washy. She spends a lot of time bemoaning her fate and waffling between hating Ignifex and wanting to make out with him, which usually works for me, but in this case comes off as a flaw in her character. She changes her mind a lot over the course of the pages and I got the feeling that she wasn’t fully fleshed out. She was given a relatively complex lot in life, but her character lacks the nuance to make me care about it. This is odd because Hodge does such a good job with the world building, but it doesn’t translate to the characters. Even Ignifex, while charming I suppose, is shrouded in too much mystery and we know very little about how he feels or what he thinks.
I usually love books for their characters and the relationships those characters have. I didn’t really follow the build up of the romance between Ignifex and Nyx. Probably because we knew so little of him and because she seemed to be so poorly constructed. I wanted to connect to them a bit more. However, I found Nyx relationship with her family very interesting and a more compelling angle of the novel. The pull between duty and desire, respect and resentment, and the complicated nature of her family dynamic was very well done. Overall, I loved the idea of this book more than I loved the actual book.
Hodge is going to continue journeying into other fairy tales with Crimson Bound which will take on Red Riding Hood this coming May. Hopefully, I’ll like that one better.
Joséphine
Written on Jan 9, 2015
Feb 4, 2015
Full review is now up on Word Revel.
Jan 6, 2015
Initial thoughts: Now where do I start? With my feelings right now or my general feelings throughout? Generally, I liked Cruel Beauty but in the end, something didn't entirely sit quite right with me. As I sit here staring at the screen, I feel like there was a missing piece I didn't quite grasp. Cruel Beauty was beautifully written and narrated. It truly was a fairy tale retold. The timeless setting was glorious and while the style emulated the fairy tales of olden times, it still felt like a modern story because it was like a fresh and new fairy tale. Yet I felt a sort of emptiness after the closing lines. Regretfully, that wasn't because I was sad the book was over.