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Cruel Beauty

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Cruel Beauty (2014) is a Young Adult novel by Rosamund Hodge, and a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, blending the traditional fairytale with classical mythology. While I understand why many might not like it, I'd still recommend it if you're looking for an enjoyable retelling loosely based on the Beauty and the Beast. But then again, I'm no expert in this genre since I'm a newbie and all yet, I know that I loved it. I thought this would be a book of action, but it's actually a book of inaction. Nyx spends the majority of time thinking about what she needs to do and her feelings of hate and inadequacy, but almost no time actually doing anything relevant to achieve her goals. The majority of the book is spent with her walking down hallways, opening doors, and entering different rooms, while ruminating about kissing guys and how much she loves/hates her sister. The Characterization: I really liked Nyx. She was frustrating to me at times, but overall, I felt she was a really good, flawed character. Nyx is so, so very angry at the beginning of the novel, and I seethed with anger along with her. She has been dealt a crappy blow by the fates, and who can blame her for her bitterness? Nyx has been doomed since she was born, thanks to her parents' selfishness. I hate you [Mother], I prayed silently. Father only bargained for your sake. If you had not been so weak, so desperate, I would not be doomed. I hate you, Mother, forever and ever.I love a good depiction of sisterly relationships, and Nyx's relationship with her twin sister, Astraia, was so well done. There is absolutely no doubt that Nyx adores her sister while simultaneously hating her as well. Astraia has been adored by everyone since she was born, while her twin sister, Nyx, has been groomed to die. Nyx has lived her life in resentment, and who can blame her for that? Even so, she never, ever shows her bright, innocent sister any hate until she is overwhelmed by her emotions on the day of her wedding...which might as well have been a funeral. I had thought the words so often, they felt like nothing in my mouth, like no more than a breath of air, and as easily as breathing I went on:

Cruel Beauty Book Review | Common Sense Media

So..the story after the strong introduction and good setting, turned fast to feminine dull slow rant...with Love Triangle.., It was as boring as Uprooted, and bit of A Thousand Nights's dryness.. Settle for Sibling: After Thisbe Triskelion's premature death, Leonidas marries her sister, Telomache. Shade had been created when the Kindly Ones had prince Lux split into two beings; Shade was one of them, the creature with all the malice removed and unable to speak about the two halves of a whole. Since then, for nine hundred years, he had been a captive and servant of Ignifex, taking human form only during the night. Trying to undo the Sundering, he had five wives of Ignifex killed in the Heart of Fire, as they could not bear the truth. On two different occasions Nyx and Shade tell each other that they wish they had met in another place. Nyx and Lux are eventually reunited in the altered timeline, where he had never been the Gentle Lord or she his wife. Really Royalty Reveal: Shade and Ignifex are two parts of the soul of prince Marcus, the last rightful heir to the throne of Arcadia.I'm not sure of what to think of this book... I really loved it... but at the same time I didn´t? Let me try to arrange my thoughts...

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge | Goodreads

There's literally like a magical god bird who explains everything, but then MC conveniently forgets so that the story can drag on for a few more chapters Strong characters with hatred in their hearts.. alas how I love anti-hero so much. I enjoy and love Nyx and Ignifex my heart giddy giddy you guys might not understand till reading it. LOL! I liked how Nyx was a gray character. She's flawed. And she knew it and embraced it. She hated her family and it's normal to not like them considering how she was raised. I understand her controversy because it's still her family she can't help loving them but a the same time hating them for giving her sister everything and sealing her own fate to death. stars. Everyone was telling me I would hate this book, and I did not! While it did have its faults, I enjoyed what it was trying to do and the general theme, even if the execution failed at times. It is a Beauty and the Beast/Hades & Persephone hybrid with some folklore mixed in. I cannot hate it.

CRUEL BEAUTY only somewhat improved in the last part, after Ignifex decided to send Nyx home to visit her family and there were suddenly higher stakes in the story (as expected of a traditional Beauty and the Beast retelling, because this is where the heroine makes the inevitable choice whether to return or not). Otherwise here are all the cons: One of the biggest intrigues for me came down to the ‘Cupid and Psyche’ like marriage of Nyx to the monstrous Demon ‘Gentle Lord.’ Initially, “Beauty and the Beast” was partially a metaphor for arranged marriage (the beast being less ‘beastly than other men of the time) without the characters actually being married until later on in the tale. In “Cupid and Psyche,” this wasn’t the case, Psyche married off to a monstrous man (by her own family) before they meet. She hears tales of what a monster he is, so is surprised she enjoys his nightly visits. The story is much more sensual than many other versions of the tale, but still themes of entering the unknown and a sort of sexual awakening are present in most versions (some much less blatant than others). It is these themes of Nyx’s marriage to a monster that really create a fascinating romance, one that surprisingly doesn’t feel stale. Extra points for never giving a romance novel type of vibe either… The dress slid down to land on the ground about my feet. Ignifex touched my cheek very gently, as if I was a bird that might be startled into flight. Finally I met his eyes.

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