Cruel Beauty

Cruel Beauty

by Rosamund Hodge

Synopsis: 

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

Betrayed by her family yet bound to obey, Nyx rails against her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, she abandons everything she''s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, disarm him, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not 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. But even if she can bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him?  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.

My thoughts:

An engaging and complex tale that infuses elements of the Greek myth Cupid and Psyche and the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast.  Nyx has been raised to marry and murder the Gentle Lord, the tyrant held responsible for separating her land from the rest of the world and controlling the demons that haunt it.  However, once Nyx meets her new husband, Ignifex, she soon realizes he is not the monster she was brought up to believe.  She must choose between following her heart and fulfilling her duty. The tension and resulting banter between Nyx and Ignifex is lively and sharp.  This is an intricate and arresting read for teens who enjoy mythology and romantic fantasy.