Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe #1) by Rosamund Hodge

Publication: January 28, 2014

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Source: Bought/Own

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 is a re-telling of Beauty and Beast. It revolves around Nyx and how she is trained to kill the Gentle Lord (aka Ignifex). Who happens to be the man she is supposed to marry thanks to a deal her father made in order to save her mother. It turns out that when someone makes a deal with Ignifex, there always seems to be a twist to it and things never really work out the way they hope.

Nyx is resentful of having to be the one to make this kind of sacrifice. She knows that she may never come back home. Once she meets Ignifex, she finds him intriguing, but knows that her job is to kill him.

But there is more to Ignifex than she thought. And the castle they live in is ever-changing...literally. So figuring out the answers she needs in order to rid the village of the Gentle Lord is more challenging than she anticipated. And for all of her training, she did not expect to fall for him. So her heart is conflicted….

Nyx was an interesting character to get to know. She is smart and strong, but not without some flaws. When I started the book, I wasn’t sure that I was going to like her even a little bit. I thought she was going to be super whiny, but it turned out that she wasn’t and I ended up liking her character a lot.

I really enjoyed reading this story. Ever since ACOTAR, I have been on a fairy tale retelling kick. Apart from that one, Uprooted is my second favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling. But where that book lacked in the romance I was looking for, Cruel Beauty more than made up for it. Though it would have been nice if there had been a little more plotting, and a little more action in the story. Either way, I did like it. It started off a little slowly for me, but the writing was well done, and I liked the world building. I never got bored with the story and it kept my interest from beginning to end.

“We'll both be foolish," I said, "and vicious and cruel. We will never be safe with each other." "Don't try too hard to be cheerful." His fingers threaded through mine. "But we'll pretend we know how to love." I smiled at him. "And someday we'll learn."

RATING: 4 out of 5.

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Waiting on Wednesday # 33

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine. The goal is to spotlight upcoming books that I am super excited for.

This week I am waiting on Winterspell by Claire Legrand.

Publication: September 30, 2014

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums. New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer. Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes. Her home is destroyed, her father abducted--by beings distinctly nothuman. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they're to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets--and a need she can't define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won't leave Cane unscathed--if she leaves at all. Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

This book sounds really interesting. Not to mention that the cover is totally beautiful. Love it.  I am not very familiar with The Nutcracker, but I am curious to try this one. It sounds like the perfect holiday read.  

What is on your radar for this week???

Cold Spell (Fairytale Retellings #4) by Jackson Pearce

Publication: November 5, 2013

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Kai and Ginny grew up together–best friends since they could toddle around their building’s rooftop rose garden. Now they’re seventeen, and their relationship has developed into something sweeter, complete with stolen kisses and plans to someday run away together. But one night, Kai disappears with a mysterious stranger named Mora–a beautiful girl with a dark past and a heart of ice. Refusing to be cast aside, Ginny goes after them and is thrust into a world she never imagined, one filled with monsters and thieves and the idea that love is not enough. If Ginny and Kai survive the journey, will she still be the girl he loved–and moreover, will she still be the girl who loved him? Jackson Pearce, author of the acclaimed SISTERS RED and FATHOMLESS, has returned with a unique vision of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” one about power and redemption, failure and hope, and the true meaning of strength.

 

Cold Spell is supposed to be a retelling of The Snow Queen. It’s a story that I am not really familiar with, so I cannot say if there were any similarities between the two or not.  It was an enjoyable and fun read.

I liked how committed Ginny and Kai seemed to be with each other. I would classify their relationship as cute.

When Kai is taken, Ginny is super determined to do whatever she has to in order to get him back. This kind of reminded me Prince Charming and Snow White on Once Upon a Time. They have that I will slay a dozen dragons for you type of love and the “I will always find you” mentality. This is perfect in fairy tales.

Even though I thought it was awesome that Ginny was willing to find Kai. I wished she would have developed more along her journey. To me she didn’t really become her own person as much as I would’ve liked. Though she did realize that she could live without Kai, if she needed to.

Cold Spell was a nice break from reality. One step into this fantasy world, and I was curious to see how everything was going to play out. This was the first book of Jackson Pearce’s that I decided to check out. The cover is just awesome. It’s what made me want to see what this story was about. Now I am interested in reading the previous books in this series.  

 

RATING: 3½ out of 5.

 

** I received this book on behalf of the Publisher in exchange for nothing, but my honest opinion. Thank you. **

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