Cruel Beauty Review

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
My rating: 2/5 stars
Date Read: 5/6/17


I heard a lot of mixed reviews about Cruel Beauty and it has been sitting on my TBR shelf forever. I decided to pick it up and have my own opinion.

I loved the beginning. It had a strong and very solid beginning. As the story continued it slowly went downhill and I ended up forcing myself to finish this book and skimmed the last fourth of the book because I could not take it. Some parts are predictable and there was a love triangle that I absolutely hated. The love triangle could of worked if it was executed better.

This book is told in first person and we follow the point of view of Nyx. When Nyx was born she had been betrothed to a evil ruler because of her father's careless bargain he made with the ruler. Now she has become of age, she is to marry him and break the curse he has placed on the people of Arcadia. She finds herself unexpectedly falling for him.

If you couldn't tell this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. The key points in the original are shown and when reading it you could tell it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast which I really liked.

If you like Greek Mythology, there is also a Greek Mythology element to the story. However it is stories of gods or worshiping the gods. It is not a Percy Jackson type of story.

I thought the world building could of been better. I found myself very confused with the world and I didn't understand how the magic system worked or if there even was a magic system. That is how confused I am. I may be confused because I skimmed part of the book or wasn't totally invested in it that I missed important elements. To be honest that may of been the case.

Character development was meh. Some of the characters were decently developed and others had almost no development. I also wanted more background story of the characters.

Overall I wouldn't recommend it, but there are many people who like the story so if you are a fan of Beauty and the Beast, I recommend giving it a try.

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