Cruel Beauty

Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

______________________________________________________________________
THOUGHTS:

Hi Everybody,

It has been a while since I last did a review. I am really caught up with work and exams, so unfortunately I have not been updating my blog. In addition, I am trying to catch up on some HOT new YA books that have been coming out like hot cakes. Recently, I have finished reading Cruel Beauty. It is a new book written by Rosamund Hodge, which has some elements of Beauty of the Beast. However, if you are thinking that it is like the Disney version or like Beastly by Alex Pettyfer, which Hollywood made a movie out based on that book starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer

I found this book really interesting and I enjoyed it a lot. At the beginning, I thought it would be very unoriginal where where the Beast and the Beauty meets, the Beautiful looked past the ugly and fell head over heels in love with him. It was actually different, and I was surprised.

Also, I really liked the choice of personality the author came up with. I appreciate how the main character not Belle but Astraia. Astraia brings out such a rich and organic life to the story. I think most of the time in books, the author tries to glamorize the character being only good or bad. Usually, the main female character is always the nice or understanding who does not have any grudge against anyone. We see here in this book the Princess Astraia is different from Disney Princesses. She thinks "cruelly" about people and has a bitter heart. She isn't pure as most people think princess are, which made me like her a lot. She comes across very realistic.

The moral story is not about getting past physical appearances, but to understand who the person is in the inside and learn to accept them for who they are. The beast who is regarded as a monster for killing people. All they see is a monster even Astraia, herself, but they don't know why he is killing.

The character Astraia reminded me of my favorite character, Celestine, in Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I recommend you read this book and Throne of Glass, if you want another book that has similar characteristic.

RATE: 5/5