From the Publisher
This novel will captivate readers. Outstanding.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
“An intoxicatingly dark story of love, lust, murder, and redemption.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
“The unusual, intricately woven story and themes make for a worthwhile read.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Plot twists and romance keep the pages turning in this grim and intricate take on the classic tale.” — Booklist
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “A completely engrossing tale.” — Alex Flinn, New York Times bestselling author of Beastly and Towering
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “A dazzling and clever retelling, Cruel Beauty is delightfully dark, lushly romantic, and utterly spellbinding. I adored it, and can’t wait to read Hodge’s next novel!” — Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “What a stunning debut. This is a book you will want to read as fast as you can for the intricate plot and as slowly as you can to savor the gorgeous world-building and the ravishing love story.”- — Sherry Thomas, author of The Burning Sky
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “An intricate and arresting tale.” — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “The push and pull romance between Nyx and Ignifex is pure fairy tale, but the characters themselves are complex and genuinely human as they struggle with their own culpability in a situation that forces them to choose between selfishness and selflessness.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “An entertaining read for teens who enjoy romantic fantasy.” — School Library Journal
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “Hodge has created a rich, complete world in this twist on ‘Beauty and the Beast.’” — Publishers Weekly
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “Will have readers clutching the book and flying through the pages.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “[A] fast-paced romantic fantasy.” — Booklist
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
An intoxicatingly dark story of love, lust, murder, and redemption.
Alex Flinn
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “A completely engrossing tale.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “The push and pull romance between Nyx and Ignifex is pure fairy tale, but the characters themselves are complex and genuinely human as they struggle with their own culpability in a situation that forces them to choose between selfishness and selflessness.
Sarah J. Maas
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “A dazzling and clever retelling, Cruel Beauty is delightfully dark, lushly romantic, and utterly spellbinding. I adored it, and can’t wait to read Hodge’s next novel!
Sherry Thomas
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “What a stunning debut. This is a book you will want to read as fast as you can for the intricate plot and as slowly as you can to savor the gorgeous world-building and the ravishing love story.”-
Booklist
Plot twists and romance keep the pages turning in this grim and intricate take on the classic tale.
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “Will have readers clutching the book and flying through the pages.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Praise for CRUEL BEAUTY: “The push and pull romance between Nyx and Ignifex is pure fairy tale, but the characters themselves are complex and genuinely human as they struggle with their own culpability in a situation that forces them to choose between selfishness and selflessness.
Booklist
Plot twists and romance keep the pages turning in this grim and intricate take on the classic tale.
School Library Journal
★ 03/01/2015
Gr 8 Up—With this romantic mash-up of classic fairy tales that touch on elements from the familiar "Little Red Riding Hood" and the lesser-known "Girl with No Hands," Hodge has created a chilled cocktail of creep and gore shaken, stirred lightly, and poured over villains who fall in love and heroines who commit murder. Featured in this delicate and skillfully written romantic horror is Rachelle Brinon, who has been trained by her aunt to serve as a woodwife. It's her responsibility to protect the village from the dark magic of the forest. While venturing into the forest, Rachelle is eventually tricked by a humanlike wolf creature, to whom she becomes bound to it by a thin crimson thread that only she can see. The connection is filled with passion and also gives her superhuman skills with the possibility of immortality. Now one of the king's assassins, Rachelle has many responsibilities and soon realizes that there are just as many dangers and threats within the kingdom as they are without. Loyalties are stretched when she's assigned the job of protecting Prince Armand, and a romantic triangle develops among Rachelle, the prince, and the captain of the bloodbounds. Teens will gladly join this quest to find out if there's a happy ever after in this intricate web of friendship, fear, loyalty, love, and hate. VERDICT With a thoroughly developed setting and so many shadowed nods to the Brothers Grimm, this novel will captivate readers. Outstanding.—Sabrina Carnesi, Crittenden Middle School, Newport News, VA
JULY 2015 - AudioFile
This lush and dark reimagining of “Little Red Riding Hood” is vibrantly enhanced by Elizabeth Knowelden’s expert narration. With deliberation and a somber tone, she embodies Rachelle’s struggle to resist becoming like the very monsters she fights in a magical medieval France. Marked by a Forest Born and then forced to murder someone she loved, Rachelle struggles to maintain her morality even while she’s aware of the lengths she’ll go to survive. Knowelden teases out the nuances of her emotions as she maintains the flat, even tones of the stern facade Rachelle presents to the court. Fairy-tale fans will be thoroughly entranced by the twisted path Rachelle must take to save humanity. J.M. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-02-03
A high fantasy loosely based on "Little Red Riding Hood" and the less well-known "The Girl with No Hands."Hoping to save the world, 15-year-old Rachelle defiantly leaves the safe forest path to speak with a forestborn—one of those humans who gained supernatural powers by accepting the Devourer as their lord. The forestborn marks Rachelle: In three days' time she must either kill and become a bloodbound—destined to become a forestborn—or be killed. Rachelle kills, and the story of the killing is revealed as she grapples with debilitating guilt. Three years later, Rachelle is one of the king's bloodbound. When she discovers the Devourer will soon return, she redoubles her efforts to find the sword that can defeat him. However, orders to protect the king's illegitimate son, Armand, impede her search. Predictably, Rachelle falls in love with Armand, causing a love triangle to form between the pair and the rakish Erec, captain of the king's bloodbound. Though Armand is likable enough, Rachelle's love feels sudden and unfounded, and thus it's never entirely convincing. A fairy tale that's critical to understanding Rachelle's ultimate task is interspersed throughout, and in a refreshing departure from the norm, the complexity of the conclusion matches the magnitude of the foe faced. Rachelle's flaws make her an incredibly sympathetic character; though her romance is not so compelling, the unusual, intricately woven story and themes make for a worthwhile read. (Fantasy. 14 & up)
