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A review by kaulhilo
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
5.0
This turned out to be a book I’d been putting off for years to a book that quickly became one of my favorite books. (Not sure if that’s because the book is genuinely good, or because of the weird headspace I’m in right now.)
Either way, it’s such a wonderful book. I’d be hard pressed not to give it 6 stars, if there were such an option. The blurb itself was nothing out of the extraordinary- a girl set up to marry someone she’s raised to kill, a demon who she inevitably falls in love with. Beauty and the Beast minus the roses. Sort of.
What surprised me about this book was how I’d always assumed to it to be, well, a terrible book. And yet, it wasn’t. I’d heard about the main character being a bore and unrealistic- but Nyx was probably one of the best written female characters I’ve read about in a while. Poison in her heart, kindness in her heart.
””I love you more than any other creature, because you are cruel, and kind, and alive. Nyx Triskelion, will you be my wife?””
And Ignifex. It was refreshing to read about someone so normal and yet so evil, someone who caused pain and misery simply because it amused him. And I know that sounds ps*ch*tic, but how many times do we have characters that aren’t undeniably good and kind and wonderful, with perfect hair and always ready with 50 quips for every occasion; or characters that aren’t wholly bad and despicable and devious, with bad manners, no sense of personal hygiene and nothing to indulge themselves in besides evil after evil after evil?
Why not have both?
Ignifex. Kind and evil and wonderful and a literal demon, with messy hair and good hair and posh manners and his disability to take anything seriously. We have a character who’s undeniably bad, just because. It’s who he is. And he’s fun and he has a magical house and he sends people off to certain doom and then jokes about it afterwards. He’s terrible and cruel and he’d let himself be eaten alive by darkness to save his morally (somewhat) decent (enemy) wife.
I wished he wouldn’t have a character arc. Let him win. Let the world burn. But this is YA and we all know how that ends.
Still, I’m pretty happy with what happens. I’m terribly and unbelievably satiated and happy with the ending, and everything that took place for Nyx and Ignifex to reach that conclusion.
My only wish? This book should’ve been longer. Filled with lazy mornings in the gardens and Nyx hitting him with water jugs and more, more, more. And also, this book should’ve been NA. No other book, ever, could’ve been as perfect for New Adult as this book.
Shade. Hm. Now here’s a character I wasn’t mad for, and yet. He made me sympathize with him. And the secret about him and Ignifex — wasn’t really much of a secret. I mean, he IS his shadow, for crying out loud.
But I LOVE how this book was written and executed, every small thing and every paragraph, every dialogue. I wish it had been a series or a trilogy because I really would’ve loved having more time with these characters.
Either way, it’s such a wonderful book. I’d be hard pressed not to give it 6 stars, if there were such an option. The blurb itself was nothing out of the extraordinary- a girl set up to marry someone she’s raised to kill, a demon who she inevitably falls in love with. Beauty and the Beast minus the roses. Sort of.
What surprised me about this book was how I’d always assumed to it to be, well, a terrible book. And yet, it wasn’t. I’d heard about the main character being a bore and unrealistic- but Nyx was probably one of the best written female characters I’ve read about in a while. Poison in her heart, kindness in her heart.
””I love you more than any other creature, because you are cruel, and kind, and alive. Nyx Triskelion, will you be my wife?””
And Ignifex. It was refreshing to read about someone so normal and yet so evil, someone who caused pain and misery simply because it amused him. And I know that sounds ps*ch*tic, but how many times do we have characters that aren’t undeniably good and kind and wonderful, with perfect hair and always ready with 50 quips for every occasion; or characters that aren’t wholly bad and despicable and devious, with bad manners, no sense of personal hygiene and nothing to indulge themselves in besides evil after evil after evil?
Why not have both?
Ignifex. Kind and evil and wonderful and a literal demon, with messy hair and good hair and posh manners and his disability to take anything seriously. We have a character who’s undeniably bad, just because. It’s who he is. And he’s fun and he has a magical house and he sends people off to certain doom and then jokes about it afterwards. He’s terrible and cruel and he’d let himself be eaten alive by darkness to save his morally (somewhat) decent (enemy) wife.
I wished he wouldn’t have a character arc. Let him win. Let the world burn. But this is YA and we all know how that ends.
Still, I’m pretty happy with what happens. I’m terribly and unbelievably satiated and happy with the ending, and everything that took place for Nyx and Ignifex to reach that conclusion.
My only wish? This book should’ve been longer. Filled with lazy mornings in the gardens and Nyx hitting him with water jugs and more, more, more. And also, this book should’ve been NA. No other book, ever, could’ve been as perfect for New Adult as this book.
Shade. Hm. Now here’s a character I wasn’t mad for, and yet. He made me sympathize with him. And the secret about him and Ignifex — wasn’t really much of a secret. I mean, he IS his shadow, for crying out loud.
But I LOVE how this book was written and executed, every small thing and every paragraph, every dialogue. I wish it had been a series or a trilogy because I really would’ve loved having more time with these characters.