Lovin' los libros

 

 

Being a huge Beauty and the Beast fan, I knew this book was one that I had to read. This book is easily one of my new favorites of the year- it completely enchanted me and I never wanted it to end! I've found the best books are always the most difficult to review, as words are simply not enough to convey all of the emotions I felt while reading.

 

I am a huge Greek mythology fan, so I loved how Hodge weaved elements of that into her story, as well as with the Beauty and the Beast retelling. It was a lot of fun trying to guess and figure out the story based on that, and I love that she kept me guessing.

 

Nyx is one tough heroine, that's for sure. She has spent her life being primed by her father to marry the Gentle Lord, and while she's less than thrilled with the decision, she is bound by duty to do what she must. Of course, she is not going down without a fight. I absolutely loved her insolence and her defiant attitude. Ignifex completely took me by surprise and while he was a cocky, frustrating son of a gun, I ended up falling for him- hook, line, and sinker. I loved him and Nyx together. They butt heads at every turn and there were so many times I thought they were going to kill each other. They certainly have an interesting dynamic, but it boils down to the fact that Ignifex sees her for who she really is. They are both deeply flawed characters and they find a kindred spirit in one another much to Nyx's dismay. She doesn't want this evil creature to SEE her and yet he does and she can't help but be drawn to that brutal honesty. Nyx is impulsive and she makes decisions and mistakes that will leave you tense and frustrated, but you really can't help but admire the girl for trying to do what's right. Her heart is at war with itself and she is forced to choose between the man she has come to love and what she was sent to do all along- free her people from the Gentle Lord's reign.

 

I loved the duplicity that Hodge included with her characters. She certainly keeps you guessing as to who the 'good' and 'bad' guys are, that's for sure. Characters I would initially like, ended up being some of my most hated. By the end, I was a mess because I was so afraid that Hodge would rip me apart. It definitely made for some stressful times, but it was so worth the agony and stress.

 

This book rocked my world and it is definitely one that I will be recommending to fantasy/retelling lovers.

Audio notes: I really enjoyed the narrator for this one. I thought she did a fantastic job with the characters. I also found this to be relatively easy to follow on audio. I sometimes have issues with fantasy on audio because there's SO MUCH to absorb that it makes keeping track difficult. I didn't have this problem too bad here.