“He’s a monster. Maybe I’m a monster to pity him. But I can’t leave him.”
This was certainly one of the strangest, most original books I’ve read in a while.
Cruel Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast with tons of fantasy and Greek mythology thrown in the batch and mixed up to create something totally bizarre and enticing.
While reading it, I found myself comparing it to other YA retellings I’ve read, such as Scarlet and Cinder. I think Rosamund Hodge’s novel is a few tones darker than either of those examples. There were so many well-written, eerie parts in this book that I never wanted them to stop.
Nyx’s life is a nightmare. Ever since she was a young girl, she’s know her destiny is to grow up to marry the Gentle Lord, a demon who rules over the kingdom. Nyx despises the affixed marriage, but there’s nothing she can do about it—her father struck a bargain with the Gentle Lord years ago, offering his own daughter to be sacrificed on her seventeenth birthday.
But with Nyx’s birthday drawing near, she secretly carries the hope that she can defeat the Gentle Lord once she arrives at his mansion and set her people free from the demon’s tyranny.
The conversations between Nyx and the Gentle Lord, otherwise known as Ignifex, were very tense. Nyx is a strong, stubborn character and Ignifex had a temper of his own, so their meetings were highly entertaining.
Cruel Beauty was a bit strange, but in a good way. I recommend it if you have a taste for awesome, creative, twisted retellings.
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