Cruel Beauty

By: Rosamund Hodge

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden

If you’re excited about the upcoming Disney film Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson, don’t miss Cruel Beauty.

The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in this dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Perfect for fans of bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away.

Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known that her fate was to marry him, kill him, and free her people from his tyranny. But on her seventeenth birthday when she moves into his castle high on the kingdom's mountaintop, nothing is what she expected—particularly her charming and beguiling new husband. Nyx knows she must save her homeland at all costs, yet she can't resist the pull of her sworn enemy—who's gotten in her way by stealing her heart.

It had potential but fell short

Any additional comments?

I agree with another reviewer who said it was hollow. The set up was great, the characters were great, but it lacked so much depth. I wish it would have developed the characters a lot more. To me it just seemed to abruptly move from scene to scene without much explanation and a lot of the time I was very confused as to what in the world was going on. Maybe I just wasn't able to pay full attention though because the narrator really seemed like she was reading the book to put me to sleep! She has such a soft, lovely voice that it would be perfect to lull anyone to sleep, but to tell a story, it wasn't good. There was hardly any emotion or inflection in her voice and it almost seemed like she read the whole book in a half whisper.

Beauty and the Beast takes a dark turn

What three words best describe Elizabeth Knowelden’s voice?

Lulling, Eloquent, but not as varying as I would have liked. She reads beautifully but there are only very subtle changes in inflection for the different characters and there are times when the main character of Nyx seems lacking in emotion. I think it was, in fact, part of the character but - not realizing that for a great deal of the beginning of the story - I did not enjoy the character as much.

Any additional comments?

I am a lover of Fairytale retellings and twisted versions and this dark, demonic retelling of Beauty and the Beast hit the mark for me. Both Nyx and her Demon Husband have been forced to live lives not of their own choosing and both have become bitter and resentful. Though they are enemies and their role is to destroy one another, their flawed, lonely lives are fulfilled by one another. I loved how this story came together. They were not the lovely, perfect, and incredibly-kind-despite-it-all couple but they matched each other in anger and passion. A deftly told story and an unlikely but beautiful love story.

Might be better reading it yourself

I think I would have liked the book a little more if I read it instead of listening to the audiobook. The reader has a beautiful soothing voice but does not give a lot of personality to the characters. Each one sounds the same with a soft soothing monotone voice so I did not much care for the characters. I found myself zoning out because it was so relaxing. Gorgeous voice but needs more variations.

where was the editor?

although I finally got caught up in the story..it was a struggle for the first third of the book. it seemed like endless repetitions of "I was born to save my country, I was raised for this task, oh I don't want my sister to hate me". it started to feel like the author was filibustering her own book, or trying to beat the reader over the head. fortunately the writing smoothed out and the plot moved on. throughout it all, with the description, phrasing and plot, it was apparent that this writer would become a good writer and her capability for interesting plots and twists would only get better

Dark and Charming

I felt the story was unique. Though inspired by beauty and the beast, both of the characters were “beasts” in their hearts, but able to find love because of it. The only thing that made me not “love” this story, was the time line. It got kind of confusing near the end as to if it went back in time or forward. Maybe I need to re-listen to that part, but it was hard to follow where they were in time.