Reviews

Kegyetlen szépség by Rosamund Hodge

erinricks's review against another edition

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5.0

This was a really good book! I am going to go start Crimson Bound now. Wait, I already have three other books that I'm reading. Oh well!

jenhurst's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed this retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The world building was good, the main character likeable and the story felt original enough. It took a lot of Greek mythology and made it feel at home in the world. It gives me hope in YA fairy tale retellings again.

adhdemon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

3.5

WOW

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hjalte's review against another edition

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DNF 2017

allyreadsromance's review against another edition

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5.0

Each time I read this book I love it all over again! It's a fun retelling of beauty and the beast but with danger and more magic and intrigue.

stuckinafictionaluniverse's review against another edition

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1.0

1 1/2 stars
One of my most anticipated releases of the year, and it fell completely flat.
Cruel Beauty is a book destined for greatness. It’s a fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast with Greek mythology, for crying out loud!
So how do you take an amazing concept and turn it into a bad book?

* The plot fell into an extremely repetitive and boring pattern, which made it tiresome to read the book. The MC spends 75% of the book exploring a goddamn castle.
Nyx would wake up, eat something, explore the castle, banter with the Gentle lord and then go to bed. It was an evil circle for 200 pages. Time stood still.

* The Greek mythology started out good, and then spun into a confusing spiral. It’s strange how small of a part it played in this book, since there was an excessive amount of information about it.
There’s an info dump at the beginning of the book, as if the author just wanted to get the world-building over with. Parts of the Greek mythology was sprinkled here and there, just to make sure the info-dump wasn't for nothing.
Here’s the world, deal with it!

* The insta-love. Oh no. Man, it was just strange. unrealistic and bad. The romance was flat, although we have a love interest who was intriguing at first, with his similarities to The Darkling from [b:Shadow and Bone|10194157|Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1339533695l/10194157._SX50_.jpg|15093325]. Later he turned out to be of the same quality as the other character; dull as dishwater.

* MAJOR ANTICLIMAX. The whole book you're sensing a buildup, and then it's just over, although the ending was my favorite part. With that said, the conclusion was only okay and left a few unanswered questions.
I waited for a 'wow' to escape my mouth, for my opinion to change; because maybe, maybe there was some hope left.
There wasn't.

I didn’t look at this as a tragic love story nor an intricate fantasy novel. There was a boring and unnecessary love triangle, too many disappointments and wasted potential.
I saw many things coming from a mile away, and felt nothing but let down when I finished Cruel Beauty.
Oh, and sad. Sad because I spent money on a hardback, no matter how gorgeous that cover is. Sad because I did my research, read the glowing reviews and immediately added it to my cart. I should've listened to the two negative ones, since I'm often a minority when it comes to popular books.

I guess there are some pros, even though it’s hard to find some in a book I really disliked (you may think I hated it because of the single star rating, but I didn't. I've actually read worse novels this year). The writing is quite nice and poetic sometimes, and draws you in.
Rosamund Hodge has created a very imaginative story, and set up one great foundation for a spectacular book. Sadly, it all crumbled to pieces.

cutenanya's review against another edition

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3.0

I am at a loss as to how to rate this book. It is typical gothic romance loosely based on Beauty and the Beast. Hodge attempted in world building, but quickly gave up the effort and focused entirely on the romantic plot, which is really a shame. This book has all the potential but Hodge obviously lacked the skills to turn it into a piece of art. As such, this book remains a cheap version of a gothic romance book. I really love Igifex and those crimson catlike eyes and I miss them very much. The conclusion is satisfactory but I find the ending too rushed and I don't understand the concept of "time" here.

Spoilers below:
Spoiler I don't understand if time has been reset to the point when the price opened the box, why then would Lux retain the memory of his time as Ignifex and shade? And why would Nyx remember too? That doesn't make sense.


Still, the whole story is a little too romantic for my taste. A fitting read on Valentine's Day I guess but overall a mediocre read for a girl who enjoys action more than pure love.

katie_l21's review against another edition

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5.0

One of the best books I have ever read. Truly amazing! ❤️❤️❤️

mothercrow's review against another edition

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4.0

This stand alone novel, had a rocky start for me, but it picked up and became quite interesting. It was a bit trippy and dreamscape-y, but I pushed through, because the story was interesting.

I got a lot of howl’s moving castle vibes, and could easily picture this as an animated film.

The world they lived in was very hard to imagine, I kept wanting to give it a time stamp, but this world was unique to itself, so clothing or technology was sort of all over the place.

I loved the characters, and I loved how she finished the novel. So I give this a 4/5 but be warned if you just start the book you may be tempted to quit early.. but... overall I enjoyed it a lot.