I needed to do at least one book review this month since I've been neglecting this blog for so long. I've been in a reading slump more or less, and it doesn't help I'm taking three English classes and a foreign language class, so any free time reading a book for fun isn't annoying but sometimes overwhelming. I have read several books though since my last review, of which this is the only one I wanted to do a review for. So without further ado, this is Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge and the excerpt is provided by Goodreads:
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.
Reference:
One of the young adult book run sites that discuss new young adult books coming out next year, and this one stuck out immediately because of the cover and then the synopsis.
Review:
(safe for those who haven't read this yet)
I waited so long for this book and thankfully it didn't disappoint. While I wouldn't call the characters complex by any means, I did find each of them interesting in their own way and always interested to know what would happen next.
What probably drew me into the story the most was the myths and world-building. The language used made this YA unique to other YA books who I feel rely too much on cliche and a certain structure.
The main character Nyx was more interesting to me in the beginning, as was Ignifex, but as the story continued I felt they were being taken to the typical YA conclusion and it made the story lose some points for me. On that note, I felt the ending was a little off. I felt one of the main plot points was revealed then but at that time I was clueless and I felt that nothing in the story led me to even guess at to what that plot point may be.
I read this about a month or so ago and I can't remember much, but it's a YA that I would rank as one of the best written, dialogue/world-building wise. And the cover is one of my favorite book covers, possibly the top.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Quote:
"There are too many books I haven't read, too many places I haven;t seen, too many memories I haven't kept long enough."
-Irwin Shaw
-Irwin Shaw
My Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7170636-nicole
Next To Read:
TBD
Until Next Time,
Nicole Ciel
