Nyx lives in a world ruled by a demon who likes to make bargains, in which he always comes out on top. Nyx's father foolishly bargained her away in marriage to the demon on her 17th birthday. She's been trained her whole life to be the sacrificial lamb but one that takes down the demon before she dies. But all is not as Nyx expects. When the family who are supposed to love you, send you away as a sacrifice, and the monster that is supposed to murder you protects you from harm, what do you do then? This is a highly entertaining mix of Greek mythology, Beauty & the Beast, Rumplestiltskin, etc. Actual rating: 3.5. I decided to round up to 4 mainly because the writing was so solid. It didn't jump out at you like it was pretending to be poetry, but her descriptions were so unique and clear, and that is so rare to find in fantasy, that I rounded it up.The plot was pretty predictable, but it left you with enough to discover that it wasn't too bad. And I liked the idea of having a "cruel" heroine, but I felt like in order to make sure the reader did like her, Nyx was a little soft for the idea that the book was going for.The main thing that bothered me, though, was that the first half of the book is a lot of introspection and not a lot of action. And what bothered me even more was that Nyx flip-flops so much with her thoughts, to an excess. It got tiring at the beginning. But then halfway through the plot picks up and more happens, and Nyx's introspection dies down, which is nice.A pretty solid read, though not amazing.
What do You think about Cruel Beauty (2014)?
What an amazing book! I will recommend this everytime, I rate it a solid 10/10. Loved it!'
—Carol
Overall the book was okay. Yet the last page was really adorable.
—Smalleygo
