Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

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Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Nyx Triskelion is going to marry the Gentle Lord and then she is going to kill him. By killing him she will free her kingdom from the grip of the demons that have been attacking Arcadia, driving the victims insane. Nyx’s father Leonidas had made a bargain with the Gentle Lord before Nyx and her twin sister Astraia were born. Leonidas and his wife Thisbe wanted children but she hadn’t been able to conceive. The Gentle Lord would grant him twin girls as long as he was given one as a bride. Leonidas agreed. Thisbe died while delivering the second of the twins, Astraia. Leonidas chose Nyx as the daughter to marry the Gentle Lord revealing the truth to her at age nine. He then began training her to murder The Gentle Lord, freeing the kingdom. Nyx went into her marriage knowing that she was sacrificing herself for her family and the people of Arcadia. The last thing she ever expected was to fall for the Gentle Lord who asked her to call him Ignifex. There was more to the story of how Arcadia came under Ignifex’s rule. But in finding the truth could she come to love the demon that was her husband.
                Nyx is an interesting character. Put in a perilous a position to sacrifice her life because of a bargain she didn’t even make made her bitter and angry. When the unimaginable truth started to show she was overwhelmed and second guessing everything she had ever known. Her husband was a monster who bargains with people that pay more than they could ever imagine. But who gave Ignifex the power to make these bargains? Who gave him the power to control the demons that ravage as much as they can? The answers to these questions changes how she feels about her mission and how she feels about Ignifex.
                Cruel Beauty is supposed to be based off the classic story of Beauty and the Beast. For that reason alone I was excited to read this novel. There are definitely traces of the Beauty and the Beast to be found within the pages but I’m not sure how much of the same magic I felt throughout the pages. Nyx is no Belle and I mean that in a good way. She has been trained to kill, feels neglected by her father and is jealous of her sister. I wasn’t sure what I wanted from her character or from Ignifex though. This story ended well but the journey was full of mixed emotions and teenage angst, which got tiring. At the very least this story was unpredictable. Hodge in her effort to make a different take on Beauty and the Beast had moments where the story felt forced. It was hard for me to connect with this story even though I breezed through it. All in all, if you like retellings of popular classic tales you may enjoy this one. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. I was glad I read it because I found it interesting. This just wasn’t a novel where I fully connected with the main characters.

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