JFernly reviewed Cruel beauty by Rosamund Hodge
I really wanted to like this book but...
2 stars
This book was so close to being perfect and then the author shot herself in the foot.
Hodge set up the perfect story about accepting your flaws and seeing your worth and the worth of those you love not just in-spite of but because of those flaws. Then she dropped the ball like she was playing hot potato to moralize at the readers. Hodge leaves us with the message that no one is truly worthy of love, care, or sacrifice but for some inexplicable reason (it is literally never explained) we do these things for each other anyways. Exceptionally Catholic take.
I was actually surprised Lux and Nyx weren't granted forgiveness for their sins at the end but were instead left to live out their wretchedly impious and impure lives.
There was also some lovely conversation around the lesser peasant hedge gods and how these are only for foolish uneducated …
This book was so close to being perfect and then the author shot herself in the foot.
Hodge set up the perfect story about accepting your flaws and seeing your worth and the worth of those you love not just in-spite of but because of those flaws. Then she dropped the ball like she was playing hot potato to moralize at the readers. Hodge leaves us with the message that no one is truly worthy of love, care, or sacrifice but for some inexplicable reason (it is literally never explained) we do these things for each other anyways. Exceptionally Catholic take.
I was actually surprised Lux and Nyx weren't granted forgiveness for their sins at the end but were instead left to live out their wretchedly impious and impure lives.
There was also some lovely conversation around the lesser peasant hedge gods and how these are only for foolish uneducated people. The nobles believe in the True Gods because they are wiser and have science (hermetic teachings). Classism and colonization, who?
