Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Title: Cruel Beauty

Author: Rosamund Hodge

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Retellings

Reviewed by Cassie

Summary (from goodreads.com)

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.

For some reason, I was INSANELY CONFUSED the majority of the book. Like, my mind was being molested and I tried to comprehend what the heck was going on . . . But I COULDN'T.

UGHHHHHHHH I can't describe my dissatisfaction and grumpiness and crankiness and general unhappiness with you right now. I read conflicting reviews- some loved it, some hated it, BUT NO ONE WAS AS CONFUSED AS I AM.

I think it takes a lot for me to be muddled whilst reading a story, and perhaps even a certain kind of writing style, so I don't know what that says about Cruel Beauty. Unique writing? I . . . I DON'T KNOW!

I wanted to like this. I DID!! I just couldn't. It was like eating ice cream and being assaulted (yes, ASSAULTED) by so many different flavors, leading to you being lost in the midst and mix and you are so unsettled and unhappy that you can't enjoy the ice cream before you.
Are you confused right now? Because that was me, THE ENTIRE BOOK.
Sigh. Let's move on.

The characters?
Besides being confusing . . . I found them all annoying and conflicting. They didn't make sense, and a lot of the romance felt forced and artificial.

The plot?
ANNOYED ME TO NO END. I'm keeping it tame and refraining from swearing because I'm trying to stay appropriate, but.
But.
You know how readers are promised Graceling mixed with Beauty and the Beast? Henceforth implying that not only will there be adorable slow-build romance, but ALSO badass female strength (and ninja-assassin action).
We get neither.
Instead, we are presented with insta-lust/ insta-lurrrv and NO BADASS FEMALES.

YOU TELL 'EM ADAM!!! PREACH.

The world: CONFUSING
The story: PERPLEXING
The ending: BAFFLING (just kidding. it was really only melodramatic and completely understandable)

This book has thrown me off my A-game I'm sad to say, so if I go all crazy during the next reviews, BLAME CRUEL BEAUTY.

Hugs and kisses~~~
Cassie