Are You Pure of Heart? {Review} Cruel Beauty by @rosamundhodge {Giveaway} thanks to @harperteen

Title: Cruel Beauty                                              
Author: Rosamund Hodge                                            Publisher: Balzer & Bray                                                    Release Date: Jan 28, 2014                                    
Pages: 352                                                              
Format: Print ARC/eARC                                              
Source: Edelweiss                                                
Rating: 5 Stars                                                             
Age Recommendation: Upper Teen                                                                                                                   Description: 
Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.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.

About The Author

@rosamundhodge

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I love mythology, Hello Kitty, and T. S. Eliot. My debut novel, CRUEL BEAUTY (a YA fairytale fantasy, where Greek mythology meets Beauty and the Beast), is due out from Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins in Winter 2014.

Rating: 5 Stars   

This book wins our Beautiful Cover Award!

I thought Cruel Beauty was just a retelling of Beauty and the Beast but it is so much more. This one has subtle and not so subtle hints at the Beauty and the Beast correlation. The author did an amazing job weaving in Greek Mythology, Demons, Magic and more in this twisting stand alone that I wish was a series.  This has got to be one of the best and weirdest books that I have read this year. Now don't worry there is no insta love here folks. But, there is one of the weirdest love triangles that I have ever read.  But, don't let that scare you off.  I think fans of Warren from the Shatter Me series will love Ingifex (very odd name) in this one! The only thing that I would like to add to this one is that the age group for this one I would put at older teen. But, to wrap this one up Cruel Beauty is a haunting tale of what you would sacrifice to save those you love, what you would give up and what you would fight for. And it leaves you with the question of Are You Pure of Heart?

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

So why not leave one or two

From the Back Cover

From the Back Cover 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.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Goodreads and Amazon for the book cover, about the book, and author information. a Rafflecopter giveaway