Book talk: Before Nyx was born her father made a deal with the ruler of their cursed kingdom. He has many names such as the Gentle Lord or the Sweet Faced Calamity, but despite his handsome face he is centuries old and rules the kingdom through terror and tricks. Only the desperate or the foolish bargain with him because it always ends in tragedy. Nyx knows this all too well. The price of her father's deal was that one day Nyx would marry the Gentle Lord. While Nyx's sister grew up coddled and loved Nyx was raised as a weapon crafted to destroy the Gentle Lord when her wedding day finally came. So Nyx steeled her heart to her purpose and prepared to marry a monster. But when she finally comes to live in his enchanted castle killing him proves harder than she expected and the Gentle Lord is not the monster she anticipated.
Rocks my socks: I love a good Beauty and the Beast story and have long been a fan of Greek Mythology so I was glad to see them combined in such a creative way. The tension between the Gentle Lord and Nyx is palpable and their banter all I could hope for. Speaking of the Gentle Lord is it just me or is he basically Benedict Cumberbatch? ("Sharp nose and high cheekbones framed with tousled, ink-black hair and stamped all over with the arrogant softness of a man just out of boyhood who had never been defied.") The twists of the enchanted castle and the plot provide an interesting puzzle to solve while the characters struggle to overcome their pasts and see the world complexly.
Rocks in my socks: Sometimes I wanted to shake Nyx by the shoulders and say "We know! Move on already!" Her life growing up was legitimately messed up but after a while I grew tired of hearing about it and the constant mention of the word 'monster' and how she's bound to a monster or married to a monster or eating breakfast with a monster grated on my nerves.
Every book its reader: I'd give this to fans of fantasy, romance, greek mythology, and fairy tales retold. Fans of Beauty and the Beast will particularly enjoy the dynamic between Ignifex and Nyx.
Extras:
The author has a website and the publisher has made a trailer for the book:
Bonus Quotes:
"No honest people ever bargained with the Kindly Ones...Only the foolish. The proud. The ones who believed they deserved the world at no price."
"I had been the bride of the Gentle Lord for half a day already, and there had been strikingly little torment."
"They avenge the wronged, when it suits them. Strike bargains with the desperate, when it suits them. They love to mock. To leave answers at the edges, where anyone could see them but nobody does. To tell the truth when it is too late to save anyone. And they are always fair."
Source: ebook from public library
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge: buy it or check it out today!
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