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    Cruel Beauty
    Cruel Beauty
    Cruel Beauty
    Audiobook10 hours

    Cruel Beauty

    Written by Rosamund Hodge

    Narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    If you’re excited about the upcoming Disney film Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson, don’t miss Cruel Beauty.

    The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in this dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

    Perfect for fans of bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away.

    Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known that her fate was to marry him, kill him, and free her people from his tyranny. But on her seventeenth birthday when she moves into his castle high on the kingdom's mountaintop, nothing is what she expected—particularly her charming and beguiling new husband. Nyx knows she must save her homeland at all costs, yet she can't resist the pull of her sworn enemy—who's gotten in her way by stealing her heart.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 28, 2014
    ISBN9780062320032
    Author

    Rosamund Hodge

    Rosamund Hodge grew up as a homeschooler in Los Angeles, where she spent her time reading everything she could lay her hands on, but especially fantasy and mythology. She got a BA in English from the University of Dallas and an MSt in Medieval English from Oxford, and she now lives in Seattle with a mountain of books and the most beautiful dog in the world. Visit her online at rosamundhodge.net.

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    Reviews for Cruel Beauty

    4/5

    811 ratings97 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 1/5
      Cruel Beauty was my second attempt with this author. Once again my weakness for eye catching covers lured me in spite of my previous experience. On one hand I was actually able to make it through the entire book which is more than I can say for [book: bright smoke, cold fire] where within 20 minutes of listening to the audio book I was left wondering baffled as to what the hell I had just listened to without enough curiosity to try and sort it out and continue. I found myself having the same issues with the authors writing as I did that first time I read her work. It felt like she was trying so hard to come up with something "new" while also recycling old tales/mythology but instead somehow ends up a tale that's both bizarre and predictably boring. Imagine beauty & the beast Sophie's choice some Titan/Pandora mythology, & a very literal case of multiple personality disorder. The cherry on to all of is is that everything about the world this story inhabits pretty much sucks. The land is cursed, the main character's family are simply awful and everything is so depressing and miserable that the "happy ending" isn't really enough to counter everything that came before it. I think this story could have been so much more enjoyable of she had gone with a retelling of one tale rather than off this off the wall mashup.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wonderful wonderful wonderful book! And amazing narration! The story flowed through the pages like a river. It was so achingly beautiful. And the narrator did a wonderful job-I absolutely loved it!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      This was a random retelling, loosely based on beauty and the beast. The plot was sometimes shabby and the character development not entirely believable. I liked the premise but it could have been executed better.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Nyx lives in Arcadia, a land that has been taken over by the Gentle Lord. Nyx's father has negotiated that she will marry him to free the people of Arcadia. Nyx has trained all her life for this. She has felt anger toward her dad, her sister, and her aunt. Why has she been chosen to do this, even if it means almost certain death? As her marriage begins, she falls for Ignifex and finds herself torn between love and duty. Can she find a way to make it work where she doesn't have to die, doesn't have to kill Ignifex, and she can still save Arcadia? Lots of confusion and twists and turns.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This is a strange book. A young girl knows that her father has betrothed her to an evil lord and has planned all her life on killing him but finds herself drawn to him partly through her own unhappiness. Sounds like a simple Beauty and the Beast tale, right? But it is a very dark story with odd twists and turns. As far as recommending this book, I would but only to upper class high schoolers. Too dark for anyone else...

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I was very enthralled by this audio-book. I enjoyed the story!
    • 3/5
      Well- this is deeply into old ancient gods/ mythical stories. If you know and like these, then you will like this spin on them! Myself, not ever too interested in Zues, Hades, etc, I was kinda lost through the whole thing because they discussed so many characters & gods and spells, etc. Interesting ending though.
    • 4/5
      The story is deep and steeped with Greek, Grimm, and original myths. Hodge truly has a talent.
    • 1/5
      This story is awful. The main character has good reason to be angry, but the way the character is written I find myself wanting the story to end with her dying.
    • 2/5
      Excellent narrator, but the book is a waste of time.
    • 5/5
      The intrigue and suspense never ended. It was absolutely beautiful.
    • 4/5
      The Writing:
      The author's style is pretty. Sometimes almost poetic, but not so much as to be distracting.

      The World Building
      I really loved the word the author set up. It wasn't the sort of world I'd want to live in--far to cruel--but it was fascinating anyway.

      The Characters
      None of the main characters are pure and innocent cinnamon roles deserving of protection. To be honest, I quiet enjoyed following a somewhat malevolent heroine for once. I usually hate when storybook heroines spout about what dreadful people they are. Their character arcs usually fall quite flat, because they're typically pretty nice to begin with. Their guilt doesn't ring true. In this case, however, Nyx really is rather dreadful, but not irredeemably so. She has a lot of personal issues, and is incredibly bitter, but she's also loyal.

      I did end up liking Ignifex as a character. He's no perfect cinnamon roll either, and as the king of demons, I suppose he's licensed to be pretty rotten at times.

      Shade was...I was conflicted about him. I didn't feel like he was as fleshed out as he could have been, but perhaps that was the point.


      The love story:
      Mushy. Far mushier than I like. Lots of mush. So much so that I'd feel a little weird recommending the book to people, for fear of being branded 'that kind of reader', if you know what I mean. Sometimes that can be a deal breaker for me, and that's why I've deducted a star.

      BUT

      The Fairy tales:
      There were a lot. This really ties into the world building, but there were so many fairy-tales and myths and legends woven into this story, and I LOVED it. Some reviews called it messy and tangled, but I think it's supposed to be. It was so much fun going through the book and catching all the little hints and finding all the Easter eggs. (There were nods to some of the well-beloved fantasy books of more modern times as well.) In the end, that's what kept me reading, because I loved how the stories, tales, myths and legends meshed into one story.

      I really enjoyed this book. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, and it is a bit confusing at times if you're not paying attention, but I'm glad I've discovered it.
    • 4/5
      A dangerous, dark romance that had me hating everyone at some point in the book, but loving the twisted story even more.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book so much!!! I would definitely recommend it to anyone above 12! Though I did kind of nearly stop reading it because of the end when Nyx forgot everything but I like how it ended very much!
      ??????????????????????????
    • 2/5
      The flimsiest MC I’ve read in a very long time
    • 4/5
      Rewriting a fairy tale or putting your own spin on it is not easy. There is a lot to think about when it comes to character development, whether or not the new circumstances will work for the characters, and is this storyline just as original to the old one?Hodge gives YA readers and fans a new hero to root for: Nyx. She's not the beauty we've heard from the Disney storybooks. She's flawed, jaded, and resentful of her entire family. She has darkness inside, and even though she at times tries to hide it - eventually it comes out.With a beautiful twist of the classic French tale, where transformation occurs and things are not as quite as they seem, to Incorporated Greek myths and folklore - all of it encompasses a world of magic and mystery. My only complaint with the book is that, although sex was alluded to within the book, I wish it wasn't overlooked as it was in a historical context. In fact, I wish that Nyx originally would have been more upset by it. In these "ancient" times, marriage was a bartering system: a lord gives a man his daughter in exchange for a heir. Women were currency, and I wished that the author could have had Nyx voice her opinion more on it. Also, I wished that Nyx could have displayed her sexuality more positively in the story. The intimate moments are all well and good, but the author could have gone further.But I enjoyed reading about a dark hero who encompasses more complex ideas and schemes, who wants to educate herself and do more with her life despite her fate... who even shows her vulnerability when she is at the lowest point in the story.
    • 3/5
      CRUEL BEAUTY was an interesting reading experience for me. I am not sure what I think about the story. There were parts of the book I found tedious and I found myself putting the book down frequently to go do something - anything - else. But there was something, beyond my commitment to Amazon Vine to read and review all the books I pick, that kept me picking up the book again.This book bears some similarities to Beauty and the Beast. Not in the characters though. Beauty was loving, selfless and honorable while Nyx was angry, resentful, and conflicted. Beauty was raised by a loving father; Nyx's father raised her to be a tool for his vengeance for a mistake that he made. Nyx never felt that he loved her or even saw her as a real person. The Beast was the victim of a curse; Ignifex was the victim of his own bargains. The story takes place in a fairy tale world cut off from the real world. It is ruled by a demon called the Gentle Lord. Because of a bad bargain her father made, Nyx is required to marry the Gentle Lord which is a fate that frightens her. She has been trained to assassinate him which her father and his group believes will free their world to be part of the real world again. When Nyx enters the castle she discovers her new husband who tells her to call him Ignifex and learns that she can be free if she guesses his name but will die if she guesses incorrectly. As they spend time together, Nyx begins to fall in love with him despite her vow to kill him. After all, he is the only one who sees all of her, both the evil and the good, and loves her anyway. But she also meets Shade who is Ignifex's shadow and who only becomes human at night. His kindness and willingness to help her to the limits of his ability makes Nyx fall in love with him too. There were no heroes in this story. Everyone was some shade of villain. While this makes the story more realistic, it does make it harder to know who the reader should root for. Also, no one was quite who they seemed to be. Since the story is told in the first person from Nyx's point of view, we get to know her best. The only problem is that she doesn't know herself very well and she is so conflicted about what she wants to do. She is torn between her vows for vengeance and her love for Ignifex, her concern for the fate of her world and for her own happiness.The story is complex and based on Greco-Roman mythology. Nyx needs to unravel clues and explore the castle to find out if she can keep her vow and kill Ignifex without destroying her whole world. While I resented the infodump that consumed the first two chapters of the book, it did provide necessary information about the world and the characters. I just think it could have been integrated more seamlessly into the story. My favorite parts of the book were the conversations between Ignifex and Nyx as they were sparring and getting to know each other. They were like gold nuggets sprinkled through the story.Readers who are fans of lush language and fantasy will enjoy this debut novel. While I didn't find it completely successful, I know I will be thinking about it for a long time.
    • 3/5
      It's a strange story. Almost like a fable.
      Kind of like a psychological work on the questions of good and bad, guilt and love wrapped in a fantasy/fairy tale.
      But it was kind of boring after a while, this inner monolog of Nyx soI definitely won't read it a second time.
    • 2/5
      This book started out so promising, with a fairly relatable main character as a charming evil lord for her to interact with, it then when downhill very quickly. The plot was confusing and jumped from one storyline to another, and the adding in of Greek mythology just seemed unnecessary. In the end I couldn’t even bring myself to finish it.
    • 4/5
      A nice little twist ending, pay close attention or you will have to reread the last 3 chapters.
    • 3/5
      I feel like Ive been tumbling within a washing machine, this story is like a small twister of mythology, love, hate. I have the same feeling of uncertainty when I finished reading Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones.
      Its a confusing jumble..
      I think I enjoyed reading this book but at the same time I felt I was careering down a roller coaster which quickened at each turn, finally coming to a full stop.
      Nyx seemed like a strong headed person but it didn't seem to sustain with all those kisses. Love makes you blind..or selfish?
    • 4/5
      “Cruel Beauty” really is beautiful, and not at all what I expected. The beginning was confusing but my determination to get it over with was rewarded with a darkly dazzling romance story which (I’m not ashamed to say) left me feeling warm and fuzzy by the end. Filled with suspense and humor, complete with an atypical heroine with a bad attitude and an irresistible demon, this book was unique and entertaining.

      17-year-old Nyx Triskelion is about to get married, but what would normally be a joyous occasion is cause for dread and barely concealed rage in her case. Because of a foolish bargain her father made before she and her fraternal twin sister Astraia were born, Nyx is to be married to the demon ruler of Arcadia, the Gentle Lord. Her only consolation is that she’s been trained since childhood to kill him. In doing this she will both avenge her dead mother and free Arcadia from the rule of the Gentle Lord and his pestilential demons. Before long her mission of revenge/deliverance, her jealousy of Astraia, and her longing for her unapologetic father’s love all take a back seat as Nyx finds herself falling for a near stranger who knows her well.

      This book was not what I was expecting considering the Beauty and the Beast theme. Had I not been told about it, I don’t think I would have immediately made the connection. The characters are very different and everything is flipped around, making for a new and captivating tale. The main character, Nyx, has a terrible attitude, which is completely understandable considering the fact that from a young age she’s been told that she will be sacrificed to a demon while her sister will be spared. Her father Leonidas, far from the chubby, short, and lovably dopey dad of Beauty an the Beast, is a quietly despicable character and I found myself wanting to see Nyx get back at him. The Gentle Lord, aka Ignifex, is undoubtedly a monster but he’s also a lust-worthy specimen of a man from day one.

      While reading “Cruel Beauty” I kept wishing I had paid better attention in class while learning Greek mythology. There’s a heavy dose of Greek mythology in this book so it helps if you’re well versed with that. Otherwise, like me, you may feel like you need to read it all over again to fully grasp everything. Nonetheless, I’m glad to see that it was included because it gave the story greater dimension.

      "Cruel Beauty" was fun to read; I loved the clever world-building. I was looking for a different ending but it’s still a good one and not entirely predictable. 4/5 stars.
    • 5/5
      I loved it ❤
    • 5/5
      This is my new favorite.
    • 4/5
      Solid 4.5 Stars! This felt somewhere in between a Beauty and The Beast and Pershophne and hades Retelling to me. I did enjoy it quite a lot as I kept guessing what on earth is happening until the end. I would say that the end was confusing and I had to Google to figure out what happened, but still, this was good! Pick it up!
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book, the characters are written in such a way that they seam more like real people with flaws and personality than fictional, characters. The world building and detail that goes into the lore of this books is amazing. It sucked me in and left me breathless.
    • 5/5
      One of the best books I have read in a while I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I seriously loved this it took about a chapter to get into it but I read the first 100 pages in one night couldn't stop reading it until it was well into the morning.
    • 4/5
      Want your Beauty and the Beast retellings to skew more old school (Psyche and Eros) and reference Bluebeard too? Then read this book. It's Til We Have Faces meets Pandora's Box meets Howl's Moving Castle meets Rose Daughter. I LOVED THIS WOW
    • 5/5
      Man, this was a great book! Beauty and the Beast is my favourite fairytale and the author did such a great job retelling it. I loved the take on it, and the magic and everything. It was so good that even though the romance was basically the main story line to the book (and to Beauty and the Beast), I didn't mind because it was written so well and the background was just amazing. Truly a great read :)

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I haven’t had a book this good in a long time. She is definitely one of my favourite authors now and I will go ahead and read every book she has on here

      1 person found this helpful