YA Fanatic: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication date: January 28th 2014
My rating: 4 stars

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.
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.

Cruel Beauty has been on my wishlist since the moment I read the blurb. You see, I wad one of those kids who had a ton of Beauty and the Beast coloring books, stickers and wore Belle pajamas, so and when my friend Glass offered me a chance to read the ARC with her I just couldn`t pass the opportunity. Gosh! And look at that beautiful cover.

The first thing you need to know about this book is that Rosemund Hodge created her own spin on BatB with weaving a breathtaking fairytale with a splash of Greek mythology thrown in there. This alone should be enough to capture your attention.

Nyx's father has been training her to marry and one day kill a powerful immortal Ignifex who's been striking bargains with mortals for ages. In one of these bargains Nyx's mother died after delivering Nyx and her twin sister into this world. Nyx doesn't have a great relationship with her father because he never cared for her like other fathers do. She's glad to be rid of him even though she's forced to live with a demon until one of them died. She is convinced Ignifex is a devil with the angel's body ans she will do whatever it takes to destroy him. But what if there's something more to this story? What if Ignifex in fact isn't the bad guy?

The best thing about this book is the colorful description of the castle. The never ending staircase leading to Nyx's room, dark bedrooms, the dining hall, the ball room which lights up with water at night, the garden and that field. Just beautiful. Oh I don't think I've ever been in love with the portrayal of a house/castle so much I wanted to move there, but only if Ignifex would be kind enough to proviide me with a wifi connection.

I would recommend it to readers who enjoy exploring fairytales with a mythology variation. Don't miss this incredible debut novel!