Beauty and the...Demon?

If anyone out there knows me, they will know that I adore Beauty and the Beast. It's one of my all time favourite stories, so it was no surprise that when I found out about the debut novel from Rosamund Hodge, Cruel Beauty, I jumped to buy it. In fact, I was so excited that I finished the thing within a day. That left me with a £11 deficit in my bank account and a heavy heart when I turned the last page.

Cruel Beauty, by Rosamund Hodge

My own copy (and hedgehog bedding)

Rating: Teen - scenes of moderate violence, gory etc., teeny romance, mystery, classic love tale. 

Post Feels: I've already started to re-read it!

Blurb:

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...

Many people had super-hyped this novel from the get go. Most of the reviews I had read raved about it (which made me even more hungry to get my hands on it) and some were...um...not so favourable. Suffice to say, I ignored them. However, one thing did stick out for me - there's a love triangle. Now, I normally don't care for love triangles within romance novels. I very much a stick-to-the-first-guy-you-read-about kinda girl, as we all know most of the time the first guy (I'm using that in the non-gender binary sense) the protagonist bumps into is normally the love interest. Honestly, give it a shot. Most romance novels have that pattern. Anyhoo, there's two things about love triangles is that 1) it's plain indecisive - pick a person and stick with them. It would save so much more hassle for the reader and wouldn't make them endure the same monologue of 'Do I?' or 'Don't I?'. And 2) it makes me more inclined to skip read certain parts of the story in which I find dull, usually the bits that doesn't have my favourite love interest in. Oops.

And so, this is why I started to skip certain bits of Cruel Beauty... again, oops. Personally, I knew where the story was going and the whole love triangle bit didn't bother me as much, but I think the characterisation of Shade, one of the love interests was slightly...well...dull. He was a bit of a wet blanket. Moping around like the shadow he was and simply being all doom and gloom. To be fair, he was a prisoner in a massive castle for about 900 years, but still my point stands. All in all, I didn't skim read that much, however it was at the beginning and I didn't get the whole 'luurve' vibe from Nyx and Shade. But, Nyx and Ignifex... there was a whole lotta tension going on there. Dayyymmn.

But, I'll leave that for you guys to enjoy on your own time.

As much as I loved the book in the end, it did take me a little while to get into it. I mean the entire world was so fascinating and I would have loved it if we got to explore a little bit more of that universe, however Hodge did a really amazing job a incorporating mythologies into the reality of the book. It was truly a really enjoyable read when it came to certain aspects of the writing. However, the only reason I think the beginning was so difficult for me was because I found some of the relationships, particularly with Shade and Nyx slightly forced. It was around page 70 that Nyx felt she was 'in love' with Shade the shadow and in all honesty, it felt sort of rushed to me and could have been expanded. It wasn't until 150 pages in that things really got going for me. Albeit because of a certain Gentle Lord and his sliver tongue. He was very enjoyable indeed. Nyx too was a very complex character with her own motivations which I really, truly enjoyed. She progressed throughout the book and was flawed to begin with which I often find intriguing in a character. There are so many books in which the female lead is often too perfect or too bad-ass, and in this, Hodge got the balance just right. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the world of Arcadia through Nyx's eyes - of course, there were times when I questioned her actions and felt that the character development was somewhat forced to progress the story and fit it into the classical tale of Beauty and the Beast, but overall I really did enjoy this read. It had been so long since I had read a really good fantasy/romance and I'm really glad I spent my money on this one.

So, go on, splurge a little and buy yourself a hardback version of Cruel Beauty!

Greek Gods, Beauties, and Beasts

Casting!

P.C Cast, taken from her blog

Today's post is going to be all about one author: the amazing P.C Cast. Now, if anyone doesn't know about Ms. Cast, let me enlighten you. Cast is from mid-west American and is a huge fan of horse and mythology - both are a serious components to her novels. She's won a bunch of amazing writing rewards and she definitely deserves each and every shiny one! Not to mention she's one of New York Times Best-Selling authors. She has over 20 million fans world wide. She's wrote several mythological based series, including the House of Night which she co-writes with her daughter Kristin Cast. She's basically a goddess of the Romance genre!

So, which series will I be spamming at you? 

Firstly, it shall be the Divine Series: 

1st in the series

This was the first series I read by P.C Cast and I completely fell in love with it and her world. I wanted to be Shannon and be in the mythological world of Partholon. I mean, who wouldn't want to be married to a hot centaur and ruling your own Ancient Greek-esque realm? Not to mention that the love scenes in this 576 pager is hot-hot-hot. I honestly don't think I breathed through the entire *spoiler* ClanFintan/Shannon bath scene ohmygawedIdied.

Let me give you the blurb:

I get this bizarre mirror world filled with a horse/guy who I have the serious hots for, creatures who are terrorising civilisation, deodorant-less armpits that probably stink and no toilet paper. This sucks. The only excitement Shannon Parker expected while on holiday was a little shopping. Finding herself flung through fire into the world of Partholon (and left with a massive headache, thank you very much), she’s now being treated like a goddess. Somehow Shannon has stepped into another’s role in another world. And while there’s an upside – who doesn’t love lots of pampering? – it also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and threats against her new people. Can Shannon survive this new world and ever find her way home?

I have no idea why she'd want to go home, but it makes a good premise! The entire world of Partholon made me want to jump into a toga and go on a centaur hunt myself. The way Cast portrays her worlds are just unbelievable in their beauty. Cast always has a certain way with words that just draws the reader in fully and completely willingly into the story that when you turn that last page, it hurts. I think this series consumed my life for a while after reading it, and, I think, that's when you know you've found a good one. Like I said, Cast has a way with words, but if one things certain about Cast, it's that she's going to hit your funny bone and hard. I mean, 21st century girl trying to figure out life in a ancient/mythological land... what's not to laugh at? One of my weaknesses is watching people from another time figure out the complicated machinations of turning on the TV or figuring out how to use a toaster. So to read about a women of my time trying to navigate the ancient world was refreshing!

Suffice to say, I loved it. 

It's not only the writing though: it's the characters. Shannon is hilariously lovely. Her witty and charismatic turn of phrase is always going to make you smile. She's caring, understanding and eventually takes her duties seriously while standing in. Not to mention, she's pretty much a feminist, which makes some of the conversations between her and ClanFintan (stoutly male/horsey man) all the more entertaining. I love strong female characters and the juxtaposition between her and her horsey love interest is always a good thing to read about.
 ClanFintan is also an exceptionally well written character. He's the guy everyone secretly (yes, even you heterosexual males!) fantasies about! He's moody, he's commanding, he's loyal and he has secrets... Shannon and Clan's repartee is always top notch throughout the entire book.  Plus, he's a warrior and if I'm completely honest, there were parts in the book - like the fantastic battle scenes - where I wanted to be him. Charging into the oncoming enemy, my hooves clicking into the mud and the wind in my braids - well, who wouldn't want to do that?


Come on, give the Divine Series a chance... you won't regret it!

Secondly, let's talk about the Goddess Summoning series: 

I'm going to be skipping a few in the series, but you can check the rest of the series here, if you're interested! I really need to talk about number 4 - it's my ultimate favourite and I have to broadcast it to the world (see what I did there?).

Number 4 - Goddess of the Rose

Piatkus Cover

Blurb: 

It's not green fingers that have kept the Empousai family's roses blooming for centuries - it's the drops of blood that their women secretly sacrifice for their gardens. But Mikki would rather forget this family quirk and lead a normal life. Until the day she unwittingly performs a ritual and ends up in the strangely familiar Realm of the Rose. As its goddess, Hecate, reveals to her, Mikki has the blood of a high priestess running through her veins. And the realm has been waiting for her . . .

In a long ago flash of temper, Hecate cursed her Guardian beast with a slumber that only her priestess can undo - and Hecate is counting on Mikki to set things right. At first the beast terrifies Mikki - but soon he intrigues her more than any man ever has. But the only way he and the realm can be saved is for Mikki to sacrifice her life-giving blood - and herself . . .

When I saw the Goddess of the Rose in Waterstones, I knew I had to have it. based of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cast injects some mythological magic into the story and breathes new life into the somewhat over done tale. Cast also injects a sense of intelligence into her writing. She pulls the romance genre out of the bodice rippers I love bodice rippers and channels it into an accessible genre - one that you wouldn't be ashamed to read on the bus. This series is fun, intelligent, sophisticated and of course, raunchy. 

Mikki Empousai has magic in her blood. A gifted gardener, she knows a few things about roses and so when Mikki ends up in the Realm of the Rose and priestess to the goddess Hecate, she feels like she's came home. Not to mention that the realm's beastly guardian intrigues Mikki to no end. 

 In the end, this story is basic in it's principles: girl, beast, gods, priestesses, dinner, love. Simples. The way Cast portrays Mikki and her beastly boyfriend is a great bow to the original story, but also a great spin on it too, bringing it quite literally into another dimension. As always Cast brings it fiercely with the contrast between 21st century girl and the ancient world brilliantly in this book. Her scenes are woven with majesty and have real attention to detail, which should always be expected in a Cast novel. However, there is something about Goddess of the Rose that keeps me coming back. Somehow Cast has made me intimately attached to the characters in the book. It has a permanent place on my bookshelf and it always will!