Rosamund Hodge - Cruel Beauty

Published : 2014

342 Pages

Reading time : 28 - 30 April 2020

Rating : 5/5

What is your favorite fairy tale? Beauty and the beast is one of my favorite, and this is the first time I've ever read a retelling book.

God, that book was heavy.

When my friend first recommended me this book, I've never imagine it'll be this dark. It is a very good combination of fairy tale and Greek mythology. The first Greek mythology book I've ever read was The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and I was surprised that Greek mythology could grip me. And then Circe. So more or less I got an image of the Greek mythology mentioned here.

Anyway. So as you know Beauty and The Beast is a story of a Beast who lived in a castle because he was cursed and then later saved by Belle, after of course being imprisoned in the castle. Their name in this book are Nyx and Ignifex.

At the age of thirteen, Nyx must marry Ignifex because of a deal made by her father and the beast. But of course, it's not an ordinary marriage because Nyx brought a mission to kill the beast and free her whole village from the beast. At first he was so determined of her mission and started to put it all on action, only to discover the gentle side of Ignifex and a larger secret that hold it all. As you can guess, they then fall in love with each other.

But as I said, it's dark and not to mention the horror and creepy side of this book is scary (I got a nightmare, I swear!). So if you're looking for some dark version of fairy tale, this might be the one.

The writing was beautiful, neat and the story was perfect (also the ending was so perfect!!). You might find it heavy and the writing might not suit you (because it didn't for me, at some part in the beginning). I was getting confused here and there but I'm glad I managed to finished this book because It all somehow being answered in the end. and did I mention that I suspect this book has so many word count??

I love Nyx and Ignifex. Nyx was a very strong girl and her being the neglected one in the family somehow relatable to me. She was just a girl who just has her first love, being loved back and was happy for a while only to fulfill her duty and betrayed her lover. It was so sad when she said that she should have known not to hope for happy ending.

Ignifex. At first I thought he would be a cruel beast. Well, he was at some times, but he has a fun side and I could feel the warmth in my chest when he showed her how he loved her. Not to mention when he trust her with all his heart, giving her the ring that hold his power, only to be betrayed. I was heart broken.

Fortunately, this fairy tale has a happy ending (with a twist before that and I was so heart broken that they might not made it in the end!!). And despite being a heavy one, so packed that I guess it has so many word count, and (again!) the horror side here and there, I loved how it gave me warmth all over me once I reached the last page. They are so happy I could cry for days.

Finishing this book, I was being reminded that everything comes at a price. Most of the time, if not always, you have to sacrificed something in order to get something. And by the end, it wasn't really written, but if you can endure the darkest days, happiness will come and you have to believe it. There will always be hope, as cheesy as it sounds (well it's a fairy tale after all). I was just glad I read this at the brink of my darkest day, lol! But all in all, I'm happy to read other version of my favorite fairy tale and being reminded of some things in life but not being told in a cheesy way.

“But we’ll pretend we know how to love." I smiled at him. "And someday we’ll learn.”