Cruel Beauty

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With an announcement for an action version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in the works, I would love to see a film adaptation that has nothing to do with Disney. Cruel Beauty would be the perfect vehicle because it is more than just a retelling, it is an epic fantasy with a unique enough of a bent to be different than prior versions. Visually, this could be quite fun on the big screen, especially if they cast Aidan Turner as the Gentle Lord… Photo: BBC

Cruel Beauty Series in Order by Rosamund Hodge - FictionDB Cruel Beauty Series in Order by Rosamund Hodge - FictionDB

CRUEL BEAUTY only somewhat improved in the last part, after Ignifex decided to send Nyx home to visit her family and there were suddenly higher stakes in the story (as expected of a traditional Beauty and the Beast retelling, because this is where the heroine makes the inevitable choice whether to return or not). Otherwise here are all the cons: So, she’s supposed to be this bada*s princess, nobelwoman kinda thing but the only thing im getting from her is a big NOPE. I honestly expected to hate Cruel Beauty. I don't read many books with an average rating of under 4 on GR because so far, I only ended up liking 3 or so. So you can only imagine my surprise when I found myself enjoying this book. I heard many negative things about Cruel Beauty and I was waiting for something terrible. I decided to read it because I was in this fairy tale retelling mood and I'm glad I did! The setting is fascinating. Based on Greek mythology, this world is in many ways a creation all its own. Almost every fantasy element has some place in mythology, so they might not all make sense to those going in with no knowledge of them. But those who do may enjoy catching the references. I know I missed some but I enjoyed the ones I caught because it gave the story added layers. The island of Arcadia resides within what, from the inside, looks like a parchment paper dome, protected from the outside world but also separate from it. No one knows exactly what happened 900 years ago when the Sundering began, but Nyx's father believes that she can break it when she destroys the Gentle Lord. Of course as is the case in all stories, nothing is as simple as it seems, and that's when the wonder of this book unfolds.

The Cruel Beauty Series in Order (2 Books)

I liked how Nyx was a gray character. She's flawed. And she knew it and embraced it. She hated her family and it's normal to not like them considering how she was raised. I understand her controversy because it's still her family she can't help loving them but a the same time hating them for giving her sister everything and sealing her own fate to death. Anti-Hero: Nyx may be her peoples' hope of breaking free of the Gentle Lord, but that does not stop her from resenting the fact that she is essentially doomed to die in the process or worse, be trapped in the castle forever with her husband and his demons.

Cruel Beauty also enjoyed - Goodreads Readers who enjoyed Cruel Beauty also enjoyed - Goodreads

The truth is, Mother died because of you, and now I have to die for your sake too. And neither one of us will ever forgive you.” I love the hell out of Nyx snarky attitude, she is great and doesn't take any lip from Ignifex, which he finds divine and doesn't seem to want to kill her. They have this wonderful banter together, he kisses her, she threatens his life, that kind of stuff :) This book has some of the coolest worldbuilding I've seen in a YA novel. Originally, I thought the book was going to be high fantasy, but now I'm not so sure. It almost feels like "low," or "second world" fantasy, as the setting is a world that was settled by the Greeks and then cut off from the rest of the world. For that reason, the people believe in Greek gods, and the demons that the blurb refers to are supposed to have originated in Tartarus.Last night I got a bee up my ass and decided to count and see how many unread physical books I have on my home library shelves...and let’s just say the number was pretty shameful. Central Theme: Nothing is what it seems. The Gentle Lord's castle is a crumbling ruin from outside and a lavish residence from the inside. Ignifex is revealed to be less cruel or malicious than he initially appears despite embodying the dark side of prince Marcus's soul. Shade, while having had all malice purged from him and appearing as Nyx's apparent ally, has caused the deaths of eight women due to his deceit and cares more about destroying the Gentle Lord than her wellbeing. We'll both be foolish," I said, "and vicious and cruel. We will never be safe with each other. But we'll pretend we know how to love." I smiled at him. "And someday we'll learn." Cruel Beauty (2014) is a Young Adult novel by Rosamund Hodge, and a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, blending the traditional fairytale with classical mythology. An Aesop: Nyx saves Arcadia not through destroying her nemesis, the Gentle Lord, but through saving the man she loves - prince Marcus.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge | Waterstones

I loved the complexity of the story, the twists, and surprises. This is a slow burn kind of story; it develops slowly, but still manages to hold your interests. The mythology aspect was pretty cool. I’ll admit that. I enjoyed that more than the characters, the nonexistent plot, and the weird as hell ending. The world-building was SO badly done. It was sketchy and had huge gaps and I completely couldn't connect to the characters. I had to skim parts of the book because the transitions were disjointed and abrupt or the story was simply yawn-worthy and confusing. I wish there had been more information about the Resurgandi and the Hermetic workings they invented. How do these workings or sigils relate to the Kindly Ones? How can a user channel their power? It's like Rosamund Hodge tried to incorporate so many elements of Greek mythology that she stymied her own story, because everything when thrown together barely makes any sense.

Publication Order of Fairy Tales Books

Not to mention, the insta-love, the love triangle, the my-determined-will-is-broken-by-a-single-kiss, the exhausting amount of lust, it’s all M E S S.

Cruel Beauty – Rosamund Hodge

Astraia who is considerably more innocent and carefree, has a name delivered from the Greek "aster" - "star". I love twisted fairy tale retellings, and “Cruel Beauty” definitely hits the mark for me. This is more than a retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” though. It is a story on its own, with hints of a familiar tale yet completely new.

But the concept of the myth of "Kindly One", and the wishes, the barging of the Gentle lord is amazing.. The first novel that Rosamund Hodge published is Cruel Beauty and it is a novel where Greek mythology 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. This dazzling romantic story is about our innermost desires, which have the power of changing our destiny. The main character in the story is called Nyx. Ever since she was born, she’s been engaged to marry an evil ruler just because her father had been foolish enough to strike a bargain. And since she was born, she’s been training to kill the evil ruler. Shade had been created when the Kindly Ones had prince Lux split into two beings; Shade was one of them, the creature with all the malice removed and unable to speak about the two halves of a whole. Since then, for nine hundred years, he had been a captive and servant of Ignifex, taking human form only during the night. Trying to undo the Sundering, he had five wives of Ignifex killed in the Heart of Fire, as they could not bear the truth. 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.