Same Book, Second Look - Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Published: January 2014

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Pages: 342

Copy Provided by: Library

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

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.

Review:

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite stories.  I mean sure, I wasn't expecting inanimate objects in this castle to break out into song but I was still hoping for more than what I got.  I'm sorry, I hate to do this but Cruel Beauty was not a hit for me. I feel terrible whenever I read a book and walk away feeling "meh" about it but that's exactly how I felt.  

The most interesting part of the story was how Nyx had keys to all of these different rooms to discover all around the house.  It was confusing how Nyx's father was having an affair with her aunt and I was surprised at how awful Nyx's life seemed to be.  I did feel sorry for her character and her hardships but in the end, the only character I REALLY seemed to like was Ignifex.  He seemed the most genuine and sincere.  More so than Shade (maybe he was just a shady kind a guy...haha...sorry, bad joke).  

So here is my take.  I truly like fairy tale re-tellings but it has been awhile since I've found one that I've REALLY enjoyed.  If you like Alex Flinn and Jackson Pearce, you might really like this one.  Just because I didn't, doesn't mean you won't.  But you aren't hooked by page 25, get outta there and try a new read.