Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

“Where you go, I shall go; where you die, I shall die, and there will I be buried.”

Blurb:
"Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart."

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

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.

Genre: Young-adult, fantasy, fairy tale retelling
Series: Cruel Beauty Universe 
Rating: 4.5 ☆s

First thing's first. Judging by the reviews on Goodreads, this book is either a hit-or-miss with most people. In this case, I lahhh-veed it. I noticed that this book is featured on some of Goodread's top list YA debut of 2014, plus my sister recommended this bad boy to me when I was on of my reading stumps. 

You know it's one of those really good books when you can finish it in one sitting.This is one hell of a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The author has done a phenomenal job of providing her own twist to this timeless classic. When I first really got into novel, I was like," demon lord, creepy shadows, and shifting mazes, oh my!" I see little resemblance of this novel to the actual classic though. It has the basic backbone of the fairytale about a girl being locked into a castle and falling in love with a once beautiful and cursed prince.  There are so many twists to the storyline, It isn't your typical story of assassination-gone-wrong love story. There are many dimensions to the story building and complications that arises. Nyx must figure out Ignifex's true name and find all four hearts in the mansion through a maze of magical rooms.

Nyx is lovable heroine. I can definitely relate to her anguish and said "hatred" towards her father for favoring her sister more. Talk about family favoritism, I would feel the same about the unfairness/helplessness of the situation. Ignifex is the perfect match for Nyx. They are my new OTP. *fangirl squeals* Maybe I am sick-minded but I LOVE it when the story's love interest is also the villain of the story. So if you have any recommendation where the heroine falls in love with the villain, PLEASE comment below. Ignifex- demon lord by day and gentle husband by night. 

Long story short, I like it. You should read it. :)