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The tale of Beauty and the Beast is one we all recognize. It has been told, retold, reworked, and completely reimagined. Rosamund Hodge decided to reimagine a classic in a way that makes a world-known story completely unique in Cruel Beauty.
Nyx was told her purpose at the age of nine. She was to marry the Gentle Lord and then kill him. Killing him would avenge her mother's death and release the curse upon Arcadia. The demons that drive people to madness would retreat, and they could live again. They could be whole again. She should have accepted her sacrifice gracefully, but she always resented her sister for being the protected twin. Meanwhile, Nyx watched her father and aunt grow closer, watched her optimistic sister swear Nyx would be successful and then return to them, and watched her 17th birthday grow closer.
When she is finally wed to the lord, who never leaves his castle, she enters the building ready to follow through with her purpose. Unfortunately, the lord is two steps ahead of her and disarms her. Then he promptly warns her not to start roaming around the castle at will. Certain rooms are permitted, but the remainder of the castle is off-limits. Never one to listen to what people tell her to do, Nyx starts her search to find the four Hermetic Hearts that will help her control the magic. In her journeys, she realizes the lord's servant, Shade, is more than mere shadows and demon, he is trapped in the castle just as she is, and she vows to release him as well when she kills the Gentle Lord. Nyx was raised for this purpose, but there is much she doesn't know about the world she lives in.
Well, this was certainly a different twist on the old Beauty and the Beast story, that's for sure. Unfortunately, I am not sure I really liked it. The connection to the fairy tale is minimal at best, which would have been fine, but the story was incredibly confusing. I just didn't know what was really happening a lot of the time. And the ending totally confused me, on top of the fact it was really rushed. The whole story was just so complex and confusing, I really struggled with it. I don't think I would give this story to many of my students- maybe only those incredibly strong readers who love Lord of the Rings and other complex story lines.
One thing I did love was Nyx. All too often we read those stories about a girl forced into these situations who just accepts her fate, no matter how miserable and outrageous it might be. Not Nyx! She rages against her aunt, her father, even her sister, who she can't seem to reconcile her love for with her jealousy over. I liked the fact that Nyx knew this was bogus and wasn't afraid to play with the emotions of those she felt were responsible for her horribly unjust future. I liked that she was a girl who wasn't afraid to fight back and wanted to find the answer at all costs. I think Nyx is the redeeming factor of this story. Still, it was so incredibly confusing at times (not all the time!) that I just lost interest and had to force myself to keep going. Even my love for Nyx couldn't pull me back in. That made it a tough story for me to finish, let alone like!
Cinder's revelations and efforts to save a world that doesn't even see her as human have made her one of the greatest heroines of the genre. The addition of Scarlet only added to that dynamic. In Marissa Meyer's third book of The Lunar Chronicles, Cress, Crescent (Cress), brings a little Rapunzel and one more amazing character to this story.
Cinder, Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolf escaped from Earth, but all are wanted. With the Earthens after them for "threatening" emperor Kai and the Lunars after them because Queen Levana suspects Cinder isn't just a lowly cyborg: she is the missing Lunar princess who could final dethrone Levana. When they make contact with a hacker imprisoned in a satellite, they realize their luck at remaining hidden in the sky isn't luck after all. Cress has been making sure no one could find them. Even though they can't risk being detected by Levana's soldiers, they also can't live with themselves and leave Cress in her isolated prison in space. Against everyone's better judgement, they attempt to rescue the girl with the long cresses.
The attempt goes horribly wrong, leaving Wolf critically injured, Thorne and Cress hurtling toward space in the satellite, and Scarlet captured by the Queen's most deadly servant, Sybil. While their focus should be on stopping Levana from going through with her blackmail marriage to Kai, instead they are scattered across the universe just trying to survive. With the threat of war (or rather massacre) if Kai doesn't marry Levana and make her empress, he is making a sacrifice for his people he knows will be deadly. Not marrying Levana would keep the antidote for the plague from his people, so Kai will do anything he can to get treatment for the people of Earth, even if it means marrying the one woman he despises the most. Meanwhile, all he can think about is Cinder. While he knows Lunars have the ability to manipulate Earthen minds, he can't stop thinking about her. What he doesn't know is that Cinder is doing everything she can to save Kai and the people of Earth... even if saving the world comes at a great, great cost.
I am not sure how Meyer came up with such a simple concept but managed to create such an incredible and complex story, but boy, am I glad she did. This series just gets better and better as it goes on, and I mourn the day it finally ends (while simultaneously dying to get my hands on the final book!). First, the twist this story took with Cress was truly ingenious. Making the Rapunzel character a girl trapped in a satellite, helping the rebel forces? Brilliant! Cress appeared to be such an innocent, delicate character, but when she was thrust from her safe, but stifling, prison, she truly rose to the occasion to match the other heroines of this tale. Cress does not disappoint! Just like Scarlet and Cinder were very different form one another but still phenomenal heroines, Cress brought a third and unique dynamic to the group but did so in a way that makes you love these women even more! I really love how this story has great and loyal male leads (Thorne being the snarky but charming version, Wolf the loyal to a fault version, and Kai the bravest emperor possible), right next to these amazing female leads. Sometimes when you have strong female characters, the male characters tend to get lost behind their power, but in this story, Meyer matched her heroines with the perfect heroes. There is absolutely nothing I would change about these characters. I think they represent different types of people, but all people we would be proud to call leaders. It is a true testament to the readers that there is no cookie-cutter template for being a good person. There are many ways to do brave, kind, phenomenal things in your life (or in the universe!) and still be you, which is a message I think we all want to infiltrate our next generation!
This is a supreme example of science fiction, supernatural, and fairy tale literature all woven into one. While the premise sounds strange, I find myself daring people (skeptics) to read the first book and not get hooked. I know that is how I got over my own initial skepticism! And I think that is what this story requires of its readers- a little leap of faith. It is so new and unfamiliar, that some readers would hesitate before giving it a chance (I know I did!). But once they do, they will be as blown away as the rest of the world has been. So convince your adult or young adult readers to give this story a try, and if your powers of persuasion are good enough, you will find them as hooked as we have all become. It isn't easy to weave together so many different elements into one book, but Meyer makes it look effortless!
Little Red Riding Hood has to be one of the most iconic fairy tale characters we know. In Sisters Red, Jackson Pearce explores Red from a different perspective. And if you like fairy tales, you are going to want to check this one out!
Scarlett saw her grandmother devoured by a Fenris (werewolf doesn't even come close to describing the terror they bring). At such a young age, she was able to kill the wolf and save her younger sister, but not before the wolf scarred her forever and took her eye. Now, a scarred shell of the carefree girl she used to be, Scarlett throws herself into hunting with everything she has. And beyond her sister Rosie and their childhood friend Silas, hunting pretty much is the only thing happening in her life.
Rosie knows she owes Scarlett her life, and she intends to pay that debt. Even though she dreams of things beyond hunting like a life and boys, she knows she owes everything to Scarlett and would never leave her. But when Silas returns, he is more than the boy next door to her, and she is more than little Rosie to him. When the wolves begin to congregate and multiple packs arrive in Ellison, the three realize what they are after: a Potential. A wolf can only be made through a potential, so all packs have an invested interested in finding him before the moon phase is over. Scarlett, Silas, and Rosie head to Atlanta to research and hunt in bulk, but they learn far more than they ever expected, both about the wolves, and about themselves.
I love retold fairy tales. Cinder was one of my all time favorites. This is a really fun new imagining of Little Red Riding Hood. I didn't think it was the same caliber or complexity of Cinder, but I legitimately thought it was an exciting and fun story! I liked having the two personalities between Rosie and Scarlett, but I really loved Silas. And when Silas fell for Rosie, it was so clear that Scarlett had just a hint of jealousy, as Silas was always the only man who ever really saw her scars... and more importantly, they didn't disgust him. Scarlett's connection to Silas was never romantic, but the idea of him with Rosie hurts more than she would have expected it to. It was interesting watching her struggle with the idea of being the third wheel to the only people who mattered to her.
But that is not how Rosie and Silas see Scarlett. There is no real love triangle here, just a really special and unique relationship between three people who would all die for one another. It was a beautiful touch to this long lived fairy tale, and I wanted more! I think this would be great for any middle reader. There is a smidge of violence, but it is all behind the curtain or "fade to black" kind of violence. I also think I could see a young adult who really loved fairy tales getting into this series. I am looking forward to the next Retelling!
I had the same thoughts you did... Cyborg Cinderella? Really? But Cinder by Marissa Meyer was phenomenal, so Scarlet, the sequel, had a lot to live up to! The complex but riveting Lunar Chronicles continue, but you won't be able to predict what happens next!
Cinder learned more about her origins than she can fully process, even though she should have plenty of time to think in prison. Instead, she has to find a way to escape. Using her new-found Lunar abilities to tap into people's minds combined with her cyborg technical abilities, Cinder finds a way out, but she has to take an unwitting felon with her. Together, Cinder and Thorne make it to Thorne's ship, but with little power on the ship, they must find a way to get back to Earth undetected. More importantly, they must find answers about who brought Cinder, also known as the long-lost Princess Selene, to Earth and how she is supposed to stop Lunar Queen Levana from marrying the Emperor and taking over Earth.
Scarlet is content with her simple life gardening and taking care of her grandmother, but when her grandmother goes missing, she refuses to believe the case is closed like the police tell her it is. She is going to find her grandmother even if it means trusting Wolf, a strange newcomer who fights for a living and doesn't seem fully human. But when Scarlet finds out Wolf's former pack might be the very ones who kidnapped her grandmother, she isn't sure who to trust.
The world is in danger, and while Scarlet and Cinder haven't met, their lives are about to become entwined. Both have different missions, but the people behind their lives may be too similar to be any kind of coincidence. But will they find each other? And who can they trust at this point?
This seems like such an oxymoron, but this is a simple yet complex series. With the fairy tale connections, you feel a sense of connection to the characters you think you know. But then Meyer takes them, refashions them, and all of a sudden you have a character whose name is familiar and situation is vaguely familiar, but who is so different from anything you have seen before that you can't put the book down! I admit I was skeptical of a cyborg Cinderella, but after reading Cinder, I knew this series was pure genius and I couldn't wait for Scarlet to come out. Now, having read the sequel, I am desperate for the next two books!
The beauty of this series is the combination of the familiar and the novel in one fell swoop. I think that is comforting and intriguing to students. They like the familiar connection, but they want something new and interesting, and this series is all of those with a dystopian/science fiction background! It is brilliant and great for a variety of students, including those who don't often read science fiction. And if you haven't read them yet, even if you usually don't read YA, pick this series up- it is phenomenal!
