Let's take a moment to marvel at this book being a standalone.. no.. this is not a contemporary book.. and yes.. I'm not tricking you, it really is a standalone *party commences* I know right? such a rare species to witness! I actually went into Cruel Beauty thinking it was part of a series but I am so happy to find out that it is in fact a standalone. Though I must warn you.. I almost labeled this book a disappointment because the beginning wasn't able to capture my interest at all.. however halfway through, I was addicted! 
 I have a bad record with fairytale retellings. There you go, I said it. Till now I have never read a fairytale retelling that I rated higher than three stars. So I was a bit wary when I picked up Cruel Beauty since it is marketed as a Beauty and the Beast retelling. However, I have to say that while reading the book I honestly couldn't really connect it with that fairytale.. so if people are specifically looking for the resemblance, I don't think that should be the reason you pick Cruel Beauty up. The reasons are in fact much cooler, one being this book is set in a completely different world from ours with a historical vibe and is infused with greek mythology and teachings. I found that to be so fascinating and interesting. 
 Another is the character.. she was put in a self sacrificing situation and what I liked about her is her honesty to actually resent the people who put her in this situation, even if it was her own father, aunt, and twin sister. I also loved how snarky and rebellious she was. After she gets married off to the Gentle Lord (i.e.: the demon that is the reason for her mother's death), she didn't cower in front of him. The fact that he looked like an actual, and handsome, man as well as found her rebellious streak amusing helped in her boldness of course. I loved loved the scenes between the main protagonist, Nyx, as well as the Gentle Lord, Ignifex. He was completely different from how she imagined him as well as how us, the readers, imagined him in the initial descriptions of him by the people in her town. We've also got another potential love interest Shadow.. who is an actual Shadow but I don't care about him which was why I was a bit uninterested the first half of the book since he showed up way more than Ignifex. The second half though? adorableness ensued. Kyaa! < that was my attempt at showing you how cute it was 
 Cruel Beauty was such a unique novel, I personally didn't know which direction the author would take throughout the whole time I was reading it. I would definitely recommend it to YA fans and just give them a heads up that even if they couldn't connect with the novel initially, they should stick with it and find out why I enjoyed it so much!