CRUEL BEAUTY
Author(s): Rosamund Hodge
Stand-alone or Series: stand-alone
Rating: 2/5 stars
Image from Goodreads
Beauty and the Beast retellings are fruitful in YA and this is one of the more popular ones that I’ve always seen around. I’ve read many great reviews about this, and it was available at the public library so I thought it would be time to finally read it.
Well, I wish I didn’t.
I was confused for a good eighty percent of the book. That could be due to my sluggish brain or the book itself, but I knew I wasn’t following the story that well. I still don’t know what that ending was.
The romance? Awful. Insta-love and love triangles are the worst romance tropes for me and this book had both. Even though technically it wasn’t a love triangle, it felt like that at the beginning and was not enjoyable at all. I hoped for more banter, more getting to know each other, and just more before they’re professing their love for each other.
I did like the whole idea and where the author was trying to take the story but it just really lacked for me. I couldn’t really care for the characters and it didn’t make a difference to me whether they succeeded in their mission or not.
Also, the whole betrayal thing? It was horrible. I would have liked a bit more angst and fight before Nyx was ready to sacrifice her love for a sister she hated just a few pages ago!
There were a lot of inconsistencies and the characters’ feelings went back and forth and it was a mess trying to keep up with it.
All in all, this book was not for me. The only reason why I didn’t give it one stars is because I liked some of the plot twists (when I could understand them) and the author is talented in writing love scenes.
Thank you for reading and see you next time ❤
booksandpurls 