eBook Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Title: Cruel Beauty
Author: Rosamund Hodge
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Edition: I/ eBook English Version
Published: January 2014
Page: 352
ISBN: 978-0-062-22475-0
Genre: Young-Adult Fiction, Romance, Mythology

Synopsis:

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.

***

"There was always a sacrifice; I had known that all my life." (Chapter 21)

Nyx Triskelion was a girl from ancient Greek who lived with his father, his stepmother 'Aunt Telomache', and his twin sister 'Astraia Triskelion'. Being his father's first heir, Nyx had a very special duty. She had to kill the Gentle Lord, known as Lord of Bargains, who was cruelly ruling over Arcadia. Nyx's father supposed to make a deal with him and her mother died because of the bargain. Therefore, Nyx was sent to take revenge of her mother's death and the death of most people in Arcadia who had made such deal with the Gentle Lord.

In order to be able to kill Gentle Lord, she had to marry him and live in his house. There, Nyx should find the four Hearts which can beat him according to the Hermetic Rhyme. After marrying the Gentle Lord, who was known as Ignifex, and lived as his wife, Nyx found something suspicious in his house. She met Shade, the shadow of Ignifex, which came alive at night while Ignifex was sleeping. From Shade, who was the lost prince of Arcadia, Nyx discoverd many secrets about that house and the Gentle Lord.

However, as time goes by, Nyx seemed forgetting her very mission to kill the Gentle Lord and save Arcadia. She accidentally fell in love with that monster. Moreover, Ignifex seemed not dangerous for her at all. In fact, after Nyx found the four hearts which can help her to kill Ignifex she realized that she should not kill him to save Arcadia. Otherwise, she should do a favor by saving him from the Kindly Ones unless she was willing to lose her husband, her people in Arcadia, and even her own life. 

There must be price to pay as the consequence. There must be another harmful bargain Nyx should deal with to save her love and her family. And this bargain was no longer made with the Gentle Lord who rules Arcadia, but it should be made with the Kindly Ones who rule the world. Could she make it?

~o~

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge was a good book to read. Especially if you like Greek myth and legend very much. This book got a beautiful and promising cover, even though I could not think that the cover represents something from ancient Greek. 

The main characters we can find in this book are Nyx, Ignifex, and Shade. Nyx is described as a strong and tough woman. She is very excited to kill the Gentle Lord at the beginning, however, she absolutely find comfort and love with the Gentle Lord instead of with her own family. Aside from Nyx, there is Ignifex who is known as the Gentle Lord. Ignifex appears just like a monster even though his body is purely human, only his eyes don't. In this story, Ignifex is firstly described as a cruel and evil creature. But, according to Nyx he is not that one. Further, there is Shade. Shade is the real Ignifex. He is actually the lost prince of Arcadia who is cursed by the Kindly One due to a bargain.

The setting of this novel is purely in Greek. The mentioned country where the whole characters are living in is Arcadia. Meanwhile, the setting of time is around the ancient era.

The conflict rises in this book is mostly about how Nyx encourages herself to save her family and her people. She is trying to be a selfless heroin who is willing to sacrifice her life for her people's freedom from the Gentle Lord. However, at the end, Nyx faces another conflict which insists herself to choose between her family and her beloved husband.

The plot is easy to follow. But, I should admit that there are some parts which I could not get them. I mean, this book is good and easy to read but there is something which makes me feel 'meh' about this book. Obviously, the ending is quite disappointing for me. It is not because it does not get happy ending, but the ending is weird and too easy to be true (even for fictional story like this). There is no tense in the ending.

In my opinion, Cruel Beauty is worth reading. You guys who like reading Fairy tale retelling should read this book. This book is much more epic than Beauty and the Beast for sure. Besides, since this story takes place in Greek it is going to be very amusing.

The quotations I like the most:

"Duty is bitter to take but sweet to drink." (Chapter 1)

"There was no more time for regrets. It was time to be strong—if only my head would stop aching." (Chapter 2)

"... it’s that knowing the truth is not always a kindness.” (Chapter 14)

"But you know what you are, and what you deserve. You lie to me but not to yourself.
That’s why I love you." (Chapter 16)

""But we’ll pretend we know how to love.” I smiled at him. “And someday we’ll learn."" (Chapter 26)

Rating: 3 out of 5 crowns

~Happy Reading~

xoxoxo