Cruel Beauty

Loved the mystery and the twists and turns that Cruel Beauty takes you on. It was descriptive and dark, but still have a promise of hope. I love Beauty and the Beast troupes, but this was all round unique to me. Enjoyed every page and loved the interaction between Nyx and her 'beast'.

I've been reading YA almost exclusively this year, and unfortunately many titles have been completely forgettable. This one I really enjoyed and would recommend. The writing and storytelling are elegant and interesting. I, personally, liked that Nyx is a somewhat cranky, conflicted, and defiant heroine. Likewise I enjoyed the unfolding story of Ignafex & Shade, and there was just enough mystery to keep me guessing. I'm not sure how this book is similar to Graceling, which I LOVED, but they do share the common elements of beautiful writing and a flawed but sympathetic female protagonist.

Cruel Beauty started off very promisingly. A dystopian-like world, Beauty and the Beast retelling, and relatable main character.I loved the beautiful imagery, and Greek mythology references. This book was mostly a mystery though. The romance, though a bit rushed, was very good. The problem I had was with the ending. Not only did I find it unclear and strange, but very abrupt. My actual rating would be a 3.5 if this book hadn't sucked me in like a vortex...and if the book wasn't so gorgeous.

This brilliant novel has all the otherness of fairy tales but it resonates with searing honesty, betrayal and love. The world building is a mashup of Greco-Roman myth and Tamerlane, but it works. It is neither allegory nor parable, but it is a beautifully written exploration of the heart.

Very well written and intriguing story. There are echoes of Bluebeard and Tam Lin in addition to Beauty and the Beast, but the tone is all its own. I loved that the main character was so conflicted and far from the 'good and beautiful on the inside' persona usually in play with the Beauty character. It allowed the story to develop in a much more interesting fashion, and the love story to be credible and real. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more from this author.

I love Beauty and the Beast and this incarnation a new and exciting take on the classic fairy tale. While it stays true to the basic plot, the characters are fascinating, refreshing and far more complex than the originals. I enjoyed this book so much I read it I in one sitting.

This was a highly addicting, beautifully descriptive and deeply emotional book. It was a fairy tale, darkly twisted but still magical. I loved the intermingling of Greek mythology and the story of "Beauty and the Beast". The language was so vivid, I envisioned this world perfectly in my mind. I was so absorbed with reading that I finished within hours; I couldn't put it down! Just stunning and lovely. I would love to see more from this author!

Originally reviewed at: http://www.shaelit.com/2014/01/review-cruel-beauty-by-rosamund-hodge/

I give you the good, the bad, and the whaaaaaaa?

THE MYTHOLOGY/WORLD-BUILDING

I still haven’t decided how I feel about the world-building as a whole, but I definitely like pieces of it. Nyx’s world is a unique mish-mash of Greek mythology, Beauty and the Beast, elemental practices, a bit of Bluebeard, a story I read once in Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories That Scared Even Me, and some CRAZY alternate history. It’s pretty heady stuff and a fun ride to boot. I just wish the dynamics had been a little clearer. There are still aspects I don’t get, especially as it pertains to Shade’s origins.

However, I think my favorite parts had to do with the alt-hist stuff (completely unexpected and SO COOL) and the actual B&B retelling. Ms. Hodge manages to snag a few key tentpoles from the Beauty and the Beast tale, as well as a few other less-mentioned elements, and retool them in interesting ways.

Bottom line: Crazy-inventive elements that were a bit confusing but fun.

THE CHARACTERS

Let’s start with our main character, Nyx. She wickedly unlikeable in the beginning, and I love it. Her father promised her in marriage to Ignifex in order to give himself an heir, so Nyx has literally spent her entire life with a cloud of doom hanging over her head. She’s been completely detached from everyone (because she’s gonna die, so why should they bother?), and she’s freaking ticked off, and has the right to be! The way she struggles with her hate for her twin sister even as she tries to love her and accept that none of it is her sister’s fault is just… woah. And she gets off some solid zingers at the expense of the other characters, her father and Ignifex especially.

However, she did drive me a little nuts in regards to her entrance at Ignifex’s palace. I get that she wants to kill him. I also get that she’s supposed to act subservient in order to end his reign of terror. But girl, you gotta pick one M.O. or the other. The whole “I stab you! I grovel! I insult you and your mama! I try to seduce you desperately!” back-and-forth literally within the first few minutes was really weird for me.

Ignifex was even weirder. I can’t really say too much about him for fear of spoilers, so let’s just say that I’m reeeeally conflicted. He does freaking awful things, so I fought tooth and nail any romance between him and Nyx. Because ew. But then we learn other things that hint that maybe he’s not so bad, and ugh. It’s complicated, okay? On the one hand, horrible, despicable, miserable Ignifex. Burn burn burn destroy destroy destroy. On the other hand, he’s flipping hot and has the whole bad-boy charm on full force. Also, he makes deals with catches like he’s Ursula if she had Jafar’s fashion sense. I can tell you exactly at which point I started to be charmed by him, because I wrote in my notes, “Crap.”

I have even less to say about Shade. As much as I would have preferred him over Ignifex in the beginning, he’s a strange little character. He’s pretty flat, more of a plot device than an actual character. But then, that might have been the point, and I’ll say no more of that.

The only other character worth mentioning (the rest can be summed up in two adjectives or less; try me) is Nyx’s sister, Astraia. She’s just as strange as the rest of them, but decidedly complex in the most delightful way. At first she appeared to be a sister in the vein of Robin McKinley’s Beauty sisters – sweet, caring, supportive. She’s the golden girl to Nyx’s dark cloud, and Nyx hates her for it. However, she takes several twists of her own before the story’s end, despite her limited screen time, and manages to make an appearance as the original Evil Sister of the classic tale before landing on a personality that makes her just a bit of both. Like I said, her character was strange and not wholly consistent, but I’d be interested to see Astraia in a tale of her own.

Bottom line: Nyx was pretty good but could’ve been more understandable; Ignifex gets a side-eye (and a side-hug); Shade… meh; and Astraia rocked it out.

THE ROMANCE

This, I think, is where I have the hardest time. I have NO IDEA what to think of the romance. It’s definitely very passionate and will likely make more than a few people reach for a fan. (I half-expected to learn that Ms. Hodge had previously been a romance writer a la Sherry Thomas.) But it felt dodgy to me. For one, it’ll likely take me at least one reread to unpack the power dynamics at work here. Ignifex and Nyx’s romance isn’t what one might call “healthy.” And two, it was a weird slide from inexplicable lust (that made NO sense given Nyx’s character and background) to redeeming love. There whithertos and the whyfors were all jumbled for me, and while I understand why the answers we were given provoked a response in Nyx, I’m not sure I buy the intensity of that response.

Bottom line: If all of this seems very vague and muddled, good, because that’s exactly how it feels in my head. However, one thing that is completely clear to me is that Rosamund Hodge is a freak of nature in the way she can take a well-known tale and trick it out in such inventive ways. No matter if I agree or disagree with some of her creative choices, I nevertheless remained surprised and enticed by the numerous unique risks she takes. Every time I thought I knew how something would go, I was just a half-step off.

Can I tell Ms. Hodge is a debut author? Yes. But this was a dang fine first effort, and I look forward to seeing how she surprises me next.

Favorite Non-Spoilery Quotes:

[Nyx, entering Ignifex’s home for the first time] “I’m here!” I shouted. “Your bride! Congratulations on your marriage!”

“Well, I’m already hoping there could be a dinner where you don’t try to stab me with your fork,” he said.

“You might need to make peace with disappointment.”

Points Added For: Nyx’s anger, Ignifex’s bargaining skills, the alternate history/mythology elements, Astraia.

Points Subtracted For: Being confusing in places, Shade, aspects of the romance.

Good For Fans Of: Greek mythology, hot romance, alt-history, Beauty and the Beast, strong (if confusing) heroines.

Notes For Parents: Demons, making out, suggestive dialogue, sex (not on-page), language.

Note: I received a review copy of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book had enough going on that I finished it. But It let me down. Too heavy on the Greek / Roman mythology. Interesting, but too much! I found myself skimming pages to get back to the more enjoyable dialogue. Not much character growth and very fast change from hate to love. Nix was resentful and you were reminded of that over and over Ad nauseam. I liked the Shade aspect which was new. However I figured out pretty quickly who he was. As the title says... it was just ok.

I was hoping for a better story after reading the cover. This is ok, I like the interplay between the two main characters but hate the way the ending comes about, sort of like someone putting a memory hex on and the two characters forget everything; like a nuclear ending. Its an ok read, I would say check the book out at the library than you don't feel bad about spending the money on a story that is so-so.

Such a well detailed novel! The reader is so thoroughly engrossed in this version of Beauty and the Beast, yet with it's own evil little twists and graphical poignancy, it's a classic all on it's own. I envisioned this taking place across a cinema screen, that's how detailed and well written, all though at points I believe it would be too hard for even a cinematographer to get this beauty accurate. I simply loved this book and it's story. Nyx was raised knowing she has to marry the evil Gentle Lord, but not everything is as it seems... Thank you Ms. Hodge!

Cruel Beauty is the best book I personally have ever read. If you like strong female leads, romance, and fairy tales then you'll most likely enjoy this book. I originally read this book as a library book but I loved it so much that I had to buy it (which I have never done until this point). The beginning of the book is kind of hard to get into, but give it a chance because you will not be sorry.

I really loved this book. Very detailed...creative...
Loved the aura of mystery as well as the somewhat unexpected ending...
Although I would've liked a slight bit more closure it was overall a fantastic spin on the timeless tale of beauty and the beast...
Great writer.
Looking forward to reading more of her books...

This was a slightly confusing take on the classic "Beauty and the Beast" tale. It was good in the beginning, got slow in the middle, and just plain confusing near the end. It was an enjoyable read, but I got confused with some of the plot.

Just OK. Cotton candy for the brain. Some very interesting concepts that were fun for my brain, but her foreshadowing is SOO bad that you KNOW what is going to happen, there are no real surprises, and I am not sure I care about 'what happens next'. At times I was reading it simply to get to the end, which is never a good sign with a book.....

It's very hard to find something positive about this book. The main character is unlikable. Apart from the subtle hints at Beauty and the Beast, the story is poorly conceived and executed. The narrative is very poor. Read the entire book in the futile hope that it would eventually be worth the money I paid for it, it isn't. Avoid!!!

Rating this three stars seems low because there were a lot of things I loved about this book: a heroine you cheer for, a great fantasy world, and fabulous witty banter between the main characters. And for a first book I thought this was a wonderful debut. There were shortcomings as well such as a convoluted back story and a confusing conclusion but as we see more from the author I think those things will improve. As a self proclaimed "picky reader" I can say that I was pleasantly surprised with "Cruel Beauty."

I absolutely loved this book! I loved it from the start and could not put it down! I loved the mix of fairy tales and mythology since I love each one on their own. I have to admit that I did love the romance. What would a fairy tale be without some romance? And I like a little romance in books in general. What really hooked me though was the characters and how well they were developed. Even though it was a fairy tale I felt like I could really relate to Nyx. Most of the time when you read a fictional book the characters seem very fake and I can't relate to them, but this was not one of those times. I would suggest this book to fans of books like Grave Mercy. I wish there was another book with these characters! I want to hear more about them! I wasn't done with them! I'm praying for a sequel!

The take on Beauty and the beast was quite unique and I can't complain cause I flew through this like it was nothing. I loved it so much and I wanted it to keep going. I am a huge Beauty and the Beast fan and this gave me all the feels.

I enjoyed the story line, and the reimagining of beauty and the beast. There are quite a few out right now, and she still managed to make it new and a story all her own. I do enjoy how the author tends to do places contained inside of places.

This was a lovely story. I enjoyed the characters, their strengths and weaknesses. No one was perfect; I hate perfect characters, they annoy me. The plot was interesting and original. I'm not a mythology expert so I didn't get a lot of the references , but that didn't stop me from enjoying the story.

What a range of emotions the author brought me through. I realized at the halfway point that I was rooting for the character I thought was the villain, who became the good guy and then the bad guy and finally the good guy again... Whew... Exhausting, but captivating. I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series.

I'm a sucker for fairytale retellings. This one seems to be Beauty and the Beast but manages to add in everything from Tam Lin to the Little Mermaid, plus several Greek Myths! All of that and still fresh and completely original. Win - win for the reader. A wonderful debut for this author, I will be looking forward to the upcoming novella and any other future books.

Though I felt that some areas needed more development and that parts of this book lagged, I give it five stars because I appreciate the unique characters and plot. I'm interested to see how Rosamund Hodge develops as an author; Cruel Beauty is a promising start!

Wow! This book is incredibly creative re-imagining of this classic Fairy tale. Fantasy, romance, and even somewhat futuristic.
Told from the POV of our bitter heroine, the story unfolds bit by bit, and is totally engrossing. Love how she transforms from being mean and bitter over the course of the story.
Very clever and well done!

My thoughts about this book are all over the place so I am going to attempt to sort them out over the course of this review. I was conflicted even starting this book because A Court of Thorns and Roses comes out next week and I didn't want to compare the two retellings in my mind. They both are based, at least somewhat, on the fairytale of Beauty and the Beast which is one of my favorite tales. Plus it wasn't on my TBR for the readathon I was starting the next day! It didn't work and I was glued to this book for an entire day.

Unfortunately, while I read this read this book very quickly, I didn't like this it as much as I was hoping. The fairytale of Beauty and the Beast was woven into this story nicely. It wasn't overt and there was a lot of original content, but you could tell it was an underlying thread of the story. I especially appreciated the touch of adding the ring! Overall though, the whole story felt shallow and underdeveloped. I just wanted more! There was a really interesting dynamic of Greek gods and fairytales. I liked all the elements but it just did not work as a whole for me.

There is a lot going on in this book. The main character is very conflicted about her family, her duty and her husband. We touch on her struggles with these things, but I felt like they were never fully explored. Nyx felt set up to be a strong main character, but it never panned out. She has skills and knowledge but cannot make up her mind about who to use them against. The love triangle didn't convince me about either choice Nyx had as a love interest. Nyx also constantly changes her mind about who to trust which is understandable to some degree. However, her fickleness was excessive and frustrating.

So at this point I know things sound terrible. It wasn't all terrible. I did have fun reading this book, but things just did not work for me. Personally, I think the author tried to fit too many storylines into the book and they all suffered for it. Towards the end especially there was so much going on without a lot of explanation or detail. I was very confused about what was going on. Honestly I've been thinking about rereading this story to see if my opinion changes, but right now I'm just not impressed.

From my Goodreads review...

Actually, I think this is a 3.5/5, but I'm being generous because I am a long time Beauty and the Beast fan.

This book takes a lot of liberties with the paralleling, and while I'm actually okay with that, it wasn't so much the plot, the characters, or the world Hodge tried to build, but it was her writing that just wasn't enough for me.

The entire time I read this, I felt like I was reading an excellently written outline. As an outline it would be amazing, and I would beg the author to finish their final copy as quickly as possible just so I could read the story in it's entirety. Descriptions felt so weak, and I never felt myself pulled into the story. I didn't actually care about the story and that made me full of sadness since Beauty and the Beast is my Inner Little Girl's dream story.

Hodge successfully drew a romantic tension between Nyx and Ignifex. And I'm going to be super real... those names. I had a really hard time with those names. It was as if they were huge speed bumps throughout the story, as anything might begin to flow, suddenly I'd have to read "Nyx..." or "...Ignifex" and it was a harsh reminder that this author just couldn't write this in a gripping way for me.

So why then do I even bother to give it 3.5 stars? Because I'm a fan of the original tale and I felt like the bones of this story were pretty stellar. I'd really have loved to see Hodge spend some more time and love on this and I think this story could have been easily a favorite on my shelf. It's also got an extra point because it was such a fast/easy read for me that I read it in one afternoon.

I'm hearing this compared to the Sarah J. Maas series A Court of Thorns and Roses and I definitely 500% prefer Maas' story to this one. Sorry, Hodge.

I loved the book, and personally I think it surpassed Beauty and the Beast in some aspects. I loved that the characters were far from perfect. I'm also glad I took Mythology on high school, it helped me comprehend and appreciate the book more. I read this book in one sitting because I could not put it down.

When I first started the book I was disappointed and thought I would not like it because it seemed to drag for me. It took a few chapters for me to get interested, pretty much when Nyx got to her wonderful husband's home, the evil Ignifex.

She is supposed to be killed by her husband at some point in time, how is that for a honeymoon! But, and there is always a but, Ignifex is not what he seems. Yes, he has the corpses of his eight other brides in a dungeon all laid out, but I digress. He seems to be under some kind of evil spell and he's not like I said what he seems to be.

MY REVIEWS:
www.melissa413readsalot.blogspot.com
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1319946217
I love the hell out of Nyx snarky attitude, she is great and doesn't take any lip from Ignifex, which he finds divine and doesn't seem to want to kill her. They have this wonderful banter together, he kisses her, she threatens his life, that kind of stuff :)

I do not know why, BUT, I didn't like her sister Astraia at all. Why? I don't know, I just said that, she just rubbed me the wrong way throughout the book. She can suck it and go on down the road.

So, Nyx has to find out all of these clues to try to save her world. I'm not going to go into all of that, you can read the book, or read another review. :) She is finding... that she wants to save Ignifex because she knows he's really good inside. How does she know? She just does!

There are creepy demon shades roaming around in the book along with some other weirdness. Nyx gives her all to save Ignifex and in the end it all pays off.

This book was great! Captivating and jept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Every time I thought I was close to knowing what was going on, something was thrown at me taking me to a whole other path. It was truly amazing! Wish it wasn't a stand alone book wish I could have gotten more

It was different. I would recommend. It kept my interest and actually read it In a day. But I like sci fy horror and historical romance so I'm not your normal reader. It covered a lot of these bases and was very entertaining

The moment Cruel Beauty begins we are immersed in a world which has been ripped out of time, suffering a curse which Nyx has been pledged from birth to try to break by marriage to the demon lord Ignifex. When she finds Ignifex is not simply what he seems on the surface, she is torn between her vow to her people and her love for a complex person. And in this world the Greek gods punish vow-breaking with a vengeance, so this is a serious problem.

I read this book faster and faster so that by the end I knew I was heedlessly missing details. But the plot was the thing that kept me reading until midnight two nights in a row. This is a romance and it's a good one. After all it is based on Beauty and the Beast, albeit very loosely. However, the author tells it with a freshness and immediacy that makes me think of Robin Mckinley's The Blue Sword, which is some of my highest praise.

I am amazed this is a first book. Hodge took the Beauty and the Beast story and mixed it up with Greek mythology and a few other classics that I won't mention here for fear of spoilers. The result is a completely new soup* that doesn't seem derivative in any way. It is complex, compelling, and Tolkien-esque in the way big themes and truths are woven seamlessly into the story. It is C.S. Lewis-ian (is that a term?) in the way that source materials are woven seamlessly into a completely new story a la Til We Had Faces (yet so much more understandable to a schmoe like me.).

It is not without flaws, but they are few and forgivable as quirks. They are fairly minor and annoy no more than a few gnats so I'll not go into detail about them.

Above all I was struck by the underlying themes of the masks we hide behind, the real meaning of love, the many forms selfishness can take, the value of intention in sacrifice, the price of trying to control fate, and the fact everyone has more layers than you can see at first glance.

Cruel Beauty is being marketed as a YA novel and it fulfills those requirements in that I'd let my 9th grader read it if I still had one around the house. However, I miss the days when there was no YA designation and one could pick it up, as I did The Blue Sword long ago, without the preconceptions of a label. This is a story that adults can definitely enjoy. Be not afraid.

This book is a masterpiece and should become a classic. Certainly it is one I will be rereading more than once. I want to shove it into everyone's hands and force them to read it so we can talk about it.

In the young adult genre market there is an overwhelming and disappointing amount of "special" protagonists who never earn the merit of being THAT special and beautiful and most unique thing in this entire world. They are empty shells waiting to be filled with readers own image. I never cared for such characters. They never jump off page and the overall worship of them bores me. This book completely strays away from that and introduces a heroine who is unlikeable and dark, but as REAL as character can get. She is a true product of the challenges the author has set up for her. Nyx is a complicated girl filled with rage and hatred because her life is not her own. Being groomed for sacrifice and sent into her death like a pig for slaughter has made her bitter and angry because there is NO glory in such death. I'm sick and tired of sacrificial lambs who think of life and living as a commodity, as if it doesn't matter (Bella from Twilight and Tris from Divergent comes to mind. What a terrible message Roth has sent across to her young readers. But moving on.)

I loved this book because it gave me a strange sense of hope, despite the darkness and sinister undertones. Its BEAUTIFULLY written. Rosamund Hodge has a way with words and sentences. Her writing is smooth like flowing vanilla milk and refreshing like a cold glass of water on a hot summer day. I felt drunk with it. To put this book under one single genre oversimplifies its beauty, complexity and clarity at the same time. It has elements of magic, dystopia (domed, isolated kingdom) ancient greek mythology and fantasy but it all works in a unison to tell a story of a damaged young girl looking for ways to feel ALIVE in a world that NEEDS her death.

Yes, there is a love triangle and maybe some insta-love which are automatic deal breakers for me personally, but somehow it all worked well and didn't cause me to eye roll ONCE. The only way a love triangle works in ANY work of fiction is by having the hero or heroine connect fully with all the points. Shade and Ignifex are the mirrors through which Nyx sees herself through. They don't define her personality but give her glimpse of what's inside her. One represents her duty and doing the right thing, the other is pit of darkness we all have deep within us that can make us feel so alive. Shade is the possibility to end darkness and bring back life into this demon ravaged kingdom. Ignifex is the one that makes her feel actually alive in all its selfish and passionate glory. Its that conflict that makes Nyx tragic, flawed, frustrating and passionate at the same time. I took a star away because the romance felt overwhelming at times and some of the mythology felt confusing due to an excessive amount of information and name dropping. I found myself going back to re-read some of it in order to understand what was actually going on, but do not let that turn you off from reading this wonderful book.

There is nothing I love more in these romance books than a well written bad guy. Ignifex is the villain, responsible for many deaths and sufferings, but he is never cruel or abusive towards Nyx. He does not belittle or humiliate her. He grows to care for her in the same way the reader does, despite her often frustrating and dark thoughts. They bicker and banter in a way that draws the perfect and very THIN line between love and hate. The entire idea of this demon lord and what he does terrifies her but at the same time, he stirs up passions in her she never knew existed due to an unloved childhood. She's not traditionally beautiful. And I don't mean that in a way that most heroines in YA books do. "Oh look at me, i'm so plain with my long, blond hair, tall stature, round mouth and insert non existent eye color" and the world screams at them "you are the most beautiful, special girl in the world"

Ignifex doesn't manipulate her on those mundane levels. He's had women and wives before, more beautiful than Nyx but its her spirit that he grows to love.

Cruel Beauty begs the question of moral ethics: do you sacrifice your life to save the world that rejected you or do you say "screw it" and live a LIFE full of darkness, beauty and passion? Is it ok to be selfish and tell the same world "I reject you too". If you don't want me, why would I want you back? These are hard questions to answer especially when there are family members and innocent people involved. But yet, those same people put the pressure on Nyx to chose and in any case, her life is the ultimate price to pay. The best part of the book? She goes back and forth, questions everything and CHOSES. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to read about a heroine that makes tough decisions and deals with consequences because life is not perfect and sometimes we are dealt tough cards.

Nyx says: "Why wasn't my hatred simple anymore?"

Exactly, Nyx. Humans are complex creatures and ALL of us are riddled with gray areas that guide us through this thing called life.

Beauty and the Beast started off as fairy tale in French called "La Belle et la Bête", was published by French author Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740, and the story caught the world's imagination. An abridged version for children came out, again in French, 15 or 16 years later, and in 1889 a translation was included by Andrew Lang in the "Blue Fairy Book"-- one of 25 books of fairy tales he produced each named for a color. [As a child, I owned half a dozen of them, retrieved from my grandparents' attic.]

It has since been a classic of children's literature, appearing in everything from fairy tale collections to Golden Books. It has been retold as a fantastic theme in some 20 fantasy novels, by authors such as Mercedes Lackey (whose beast in one story was a werewolf!), Tanith Lee, Robin McKinley, and Catherine Asaro. It has been the theme of multiple TV shows, both an opera and a ballet, and has been made into movies a dozen times since 1946, both 'live' and animated-- including one from Disney starring Emma Watson (Hermione), which will premiere a week after I submit this review.

All of which puts Rosamund Hodge in some pretty powerful company. She lives up to the challenge.

Cruel Beauty, the first of Ms. Hodge's riffs on classic tales, came out early in 2014. It's protagonist, Nyx Triskelion, has been promised from birth to the 'Gentle Lord', the Demon King who rules (and terrorizes) the Britain-like island nation. The whole country is cut off not merely from the Continent (Ms. Hodge anticipated Brexit by a few years), but from nature itself-- the sun appears to be painted on a parchment sky.

Nyx's nuptials were promised when her magician father bargained with the Gentle Lord for his wife to be able to bear him an heir. He failed to remember the adage, "Be careful what you ask for...", though; his beloved wife bore him twin girls, and died in childbirth. The younger daughter was the spitting image of her mother, while the elder, Nyx, took after her father.

Nyx was raised without love, only duty. Her sole role in life was to marry the Gentle Lord (as so many young women had been forced to in the past, only to die), but then to kill him, and free their nation. She was raised by her aunt, her mother's sister, who shared her bed with Nyx's father, and her love only with Nyx's sister. It was with this harsh background, and the knowledge that she was destined to live for duty-- to kill the Gentle Lord-- that Nyx entered into marriage and the demon's household.

What happens after follows the pattern of the original tale, with Nyx coming eventually to see the truth about her beastly husband. It is her telling of it, though, that Ms. Hodge excels. This is not Disney's prettified Beauty and the Beast; this is a far more powerful, and more moral, tale. Rosamund Hodge is not merely a good writer-- she writes powerfully enough that the story stays with you long after the final page is turned.

Highly recommended.

Pulls beautifully from the original myths of Cupid and Psyche and (to a degree) Hades and Persephone as well as Pandora's Box - and then turns them into a unique and intricate tale. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.