Book Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Publisher: Balzer + Bray 2014
Length: 346 pages
Source/Format: Bought/Hardcover

From GoodReads:

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.

My Rating:

From the moment I read the plot synopsis for Cruel Beauty, I knew it was a book I absolutely had to get my hands on. I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings and the tale of Beauty and the Beast is my absolute favorite. I'm not sure why exactly--maybe it's my affinity for bad boys who are good at heart, or my love for stories where love overcomes all obstacles. Whatever the reason, I needed this book in my life and, thankfully, it did not disappoint!

Cruel Beauty is such a unique retelling in that it takes the traditional Beauty and the Beast story and turns it on its head. The "Beauty" in this story, Nyx, is not described as the most beautiful, kind-hearted girl in the land; rather, she is outshined by her beloved sister, Astraia, and describes herself as having "poison in her heart." Nyx is not the docile, dutiful daughter happy to sacrifice herself for her father's mistakes. Instead, she intensely resents her father for so callously sacrificing her to the kingdom's evil ruler, the Gentle Lord, and secretly wishes Astraia could take her place. For these reasons, I absolutely loved Nyx. The fact that she was so angry and resentful of her situation and so willing to fight back again the demon that essentially ruined her life made her such an interesting character.

The other element that sets this retelling apart is the combination of a traditional fairy tale with Greek mythology. The land of Arcadia is entrenched in the beliefs of this mythology and it was fascinating to read about. If you're familiar at all with Greek mythology, then you'll know how the gods love to toy with man--and the poor people of Arcadia are not exempt from the gods whims, especially those of the "Kindly Ones," who are somewhat like the Fates, and anything but kind; they revel in striking tricky bargains with mortals and relish their inevitable downfall.

Now, for the bad boy himself, Ignifex. Ignifex, Ignifex, Ignifex. What can I say about him except damn, Rosamund, you know how to write a character who plays with my emotions!

I went from hating the guy to being totally intrigued by him, to hating him even more, and then, finally, to loving him to death. Loving him so much that that last third of the book nearly killed me with heartbreak. What's so great about Ignifex's story is that Hodge never lets you forget the fact that he has done awful things, acting as a broker for the Kindly Ones and tricking humans into entering into foolhardy bargains with horrible consequences. While he does try to redeem himself, his good deeds do not cover up all the wrong he has done--something that becomes harder and harder for Nyx to accept as she falls in love with him. In this story, though, love does not excuse wrongdoing. Hodge talks about this more in a great post over at Ivy Book Bindings, and this particular quote sums it up perfectly: "So you’re in love. That’s wonderful. It doesn’t change the consequences of what your wicked-hot boyfriend once did. How do you deal with the things that love doesn’t fix?"  No matter how much Nyx loves Ignifex, it doesn't change the fact that for the nine hundred years before he met her, he was a bad dude. And the rest of story deals with the consequences of his past and how Nyx must ultimately decide which is more important: loving a monster or saving her people from the man she loves.

In short, I love this book.

I can't wait to read Gilded Ashes and I hope we see more writing from Rosamund Hodge very soon.

Book Review: No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale
Publisher: HarperTeen, 2014
Length: 380 pages

Small towns are nothing if not friendly. Friendship, Wisconsin (population: 689 688) is no different. Around here, everyone wears a smile. And no one ever locks their doors. Until, that is, high school sweetheart Ruth Fried is found murdered. Strung up like a scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield.

Unfortunately, Friendship’s police are more adept at looking for lost pets than catching killers. So Ruth’s best friend, Kippy Bushman, armed with only her tenacious Midwestern spirit and Ruth’s secret diary (which Ruth’s mother had asked her to read in order to redact any, you know, sex parts), sets out to find the murderer. But in a quiet town like Friendship—where no one is a suspect—anyone could be the killer.

My rating:

Ever since reading Gone Girl last winter, I've developed somewhat of a fascination with murder mysteries. So when I read the synopsis for No One Else Can Have You on Goodreads, I immediately requested a copy from my local library. Surprisingly, I didn't have to wait long at all for a copy to come in--a miracle when requesting a new book--and I immediately started reading. The beginning of the book was promising, drawing me in with the mystery of Ruth's brutal murder and her friend Kippy's grief. Before the funeral, Ruth's mother gives Kippy Ruth's diary, hoping that she may use it as inspiration for her eulogy, and then return it with all the "offensive" bits removed. But as Kippy reads through the journal, she discovers Ruth has been keeping all kinds of secrets. First, she's been cheating on her boyfriend, Colt, with a creepy, middle-aged taxidermist/lawyer, Jim Steele. And second, she's not the friend Kippy thought she was. After reading entry after scathing entry that Ruth has written about Kippy, she begins to wonder if Ruth was ever truly her friend at all. Despite this, Kippy is still determined to find out who killed Ruth and why. With the help of Ruth's brother, Davey, Kippy starts up her own murder investigation.

For about the first fifty pages, I was really interested in where this story was going. So much so that I was able to forgive the oddball behavior that seemed to afflict every character in the fictional town of Friendship. But the further I read, the more the strangeness of it all started to wear on me. For starters, when Ruth's murder is first reported in the newspaper, there is more talk about what is to be done with the crops in the field where her body was found than about the poor girl herself! Then there's Sheriff Staake, whose personal vendetta against Ruth's boyfriend Colt renders him completely blind to all the obvious evidence that shows Colt can't  be the killer. The ineptitude of the sheriff and the mob mentality taken on by the whole town was so frustrating to read that at times I wanted to throw the book at the wall.

Then there's our main character, Kippy, who I could not for the life of me connect to. Oftentimes I felt her behavior was more appropriate for a character in a children's or middle grade novel; she was very awkward and immature and sometimes just downright idiotic. At one point, she reveals to Jim Steele the incriminating information she has found in Ruth's journal and is going to use against him, and then hands it over to him so he can read it. 

Now I'm no detective, but I'm pretty sure that one of the things you definitely should not do is hand your evidence over to a potential suspect.

On her investigations, Kippy wears rainbow or animal-print turtlenecks and a utility belt, which she uses to carry a Dictaphone and Ruth's diary around with her as she investigates. This created such a ridiculous mental image that all I could picture in my head when I thought about Kippy was Sue Heck from The Middle. I honestly could not figure out if Hale was trying to write a character that we were supposed to laugh at, or if she was trying too hard to make Kippy a quirky, original character. 

Sue Heck

To be honest, I found myself asking that same question about the book as a whole. Was it meant to be over-the-top ridiculous satire of small-town Midwestern life that was just poorly executed? Or was I as a reader supposed to take the whole thing seriously? In the end, all the problematic elements of this book made it too frustrating for me to continue reading. I admit that I ended up skimming through the last third of the book because, despite all the things I didn't like about the book, I still wanted to know who Ruth's killer was (and it turned out that the prediction I made at the beginning of the book was right! So at least I had that to make me feel a little bit better about the whole reading experience).

Now I want to know: have any of you read No One Else Can Have You? What did you think of it? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2013

Although I didn't read nearly as much as I had hoped to in 2013, I did discover some pretty great authors. Here are my favorite "new-to-me" authors of the year:

Author: Patrick Ness
Books I Read: Chaos Walking trilogy, More Than This
Why I Love His Writing: Patrick Ness's writing style is so unique, especially in Chaos Walking. I'd never read anything like it before.

Author: Markus Zusak

Book I Read: The Book Thief

Why I Love His Writing:  The Book Thief is truly one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. 

Author: Rainbow Rowell
Books I Read: Fangirl, Eleanor & Park
Why I Love Her Writing: Her characters are so realistic and the stories she tells are so relatable.

Author: Gillian Flynn

Book I Read: Gone Girl

Why I Love Her Writing:  She keeps you guessing until the very end. Just when I would think I had the story all figured out, she throw in another twist that would totally shock me!

Author: Amy Plum
Book I Read: Until I Die
Why I Love Her Writing: Until I Die is the first YA paranormal romance in a long time that I've just absolutely adored. I loved the fluffy romance between Vincent and Kate.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This week's topic is "Books on my Winter TBR List."

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

My first pick I've chosen because I recently watched the 1994 movie version of Little Women with Winona Ryder and I loved it. It's about time I get around to reading this classic. And it's set (partially) at Christmastime, so what better time of the year to read it!

2. From Notting Hill With Love...Actually by Ali McNamara

Love Actually is one of my favorite Christmas movies, so when I saw this book sitting on the shelf at B&N, I had to get it. I'm hoping it's good but I'm a bit skeptical though; I haven't read much adult chick lit before.

3. Angelfall by Susan Ee

Everyone seems to be talking about Angelfall! I figured it's about time I give it a try.

4. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I've been meaning to reread Shiver ever since Linger came out but to no avail. But now that's it's cold and snowy outside, it's put me in the mood to pick it up again.

5. Hild by Nicola Griffith

Due to my current obsession with Reign, I've kind of been obsessing over finding good historical fiction lately. I happened to come across this one by chance on Goodreads and, even though it's set a good, oh, eight centuries before Mary Stuart was even born, I'm still really excited to read this one. 

6. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

This one doesn't come out until late January but it's definitely one of my most anticipated winter TBR releases!

7. The Diviners by Libba Bray

I've heard so many good things about The Diviners! I originally meant to read it around Halloween, but (surprise!) I didn't get around to it.

8. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Oh, look, another book that was on my autumn TBR list that I didn't make it to! I've been needing a vampire fix, though, so maybe that will force me to finally start this one.

9. Until I Die & 10. If I Should Die by Amy Plum

Over the weekend I devoured Die For Me by Amy Plum and now I'm obsessed with finishing the Revenants series.

Top Ten 2014 Releases I'm Dying To Read

It's hard to believe but 2013 is quickly coming to a close and soon we'll be ushering in a new year and, along with it, a whole new selection of books to look forward to. Here are some of the YA releases I'm most excited for in 2014:

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (April 8, 2014)

The final book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. I've got to hurry up and read Days of Blood and Starlight before April rolls around.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (Jan. 28, 2014) 

I'm always up for a fairy tale retelling, especially if that fairy tale happens to be Beauty and the Beast (my favorite!).

Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel (May 13, 2014)

A modern-day retelling of Peter Pan in which the Lost Boys and Peter are a "tribe of young renegade surfers"?! This one sounds so crazy (in a good way) that I have to see how Sheinmel pulls it off.

White Space by Isla J. Bick  (Feb. 11, 2014)

I can't think of a better story for a bookworm than one where the main character literally gets lost in a book...and may actually be a fictional character herself.

The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare & Holly Black
How did I not know of this book until today?! I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw that Cassandra Clare was co-authoring a brand new series. And about magicians, too! So excited!

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton (March 25, 2014)
I love stories that have a fairy tale-esque vibe, so this book about a girl who is born with wings seemed right up my alley. And it doesn't hurt that the cover art is gorgeous.

 The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski (March 4, 2014)

When I first saw the cover of The Winner's Curse, I thought it had a very Hunger Gamesian/Capitol-ish look to it. Like The Hunger Games, Rutkoski's book is a story of haves and have-nots in a dystopian society and I'm really looking forward to reading it!

Elusion by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam (March 18, 2014)

When I was reading the summary for Elusion, which is about a virtual world experienced through the use of a visor and wristband, all I could think was that it doesn't seem too far from the realm of possibility (am I the only one creeped out by Google Glass?). It seems like this will be a timely sci-fi/dystopian novel.













City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (May 27, 2014)
I had to look at the Goodreads page for the final Mortal Instruments book with half-shielded eyes to avoid being spoiled in any way. I'm so far behind in the TMI series; I've only made it to City of Glass so far, even though the entire series, including the Infernal Devices and the Shadowhunter's Codex, are all lined up neatly on my shelf.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Can't Wait September: Vampires, Fangirls, and Assassins, Oh My!

Hello all! I'm starting a new feature on Life in the Pages called "Can't Wait," in which I start off each new month with a list of upcoming releases I'm most excited to read. I've cheated a little bit on this first post (the first two books came out Tuesday) but since their release is so late in the month I've decided to include them. So, without further ado, here are the new releases I'm most excited to read this September:

• Black Spring by Alison Croggon (August 27, 2013 - Candlewick Press)

• The summary on Goodreads claims this book is "[i]nspired by the gothic classic Wuthering Heights," which immediately made me want to run out and get a copy. Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite classic books and the idea of a story that combines it with a fantasy element is too good to pass up! 

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• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (August 27, 2013 - Bloomsbury USA Childrens)

• The sequel to Throne of Glass has been number one on my wanted list since I finished the first book in July. I'm SO happy that the release date is finally here! Now I just have to wait a few more days for some birthday gift cards so I can add this one to my shelf ;)

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• The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (September 3, 2013 - Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

What can I say? I'm a sucker for all things vampire-related. And after reading a short excerpt of The Coldest Girl, I can't wait to see how this story unfolds.

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• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (September 10, 2013 - St. Martin's Press)

• I have been excited all year for Fangirl. As a self-confessed fangirl of many YA series, I cannot wait to read a book in which the main character is involved in fandom. 

Now it's your turn - what books are you looking forward to reading in September? Feel free to answer in the comments or link back with your own post!