The Cruel Beauty universe has so much potential. He was an incredibly enigmatic and yet charming “villain” in Cruel Beauty and I was glad to see him again. Despite the fact that Gilded Ashes is only set in the same universe as Cruel Beauty, we get to see the Gentle Lord again, giving us more insight into why he makes his deals. There are always characters in stories that I wish I could know more about.

I didn’t find myself scared or regretting my choice to tackle this story. Those are all things I typically avoid, but I wanted to give it a chance. It was dark, creepy, ghostly, and featured demons. So Gilded Ashes was a bit out of my comfort zone. Despite the fact that this is only an e-book, I think it has tons of shelf appeal.Īs I may have mentioned before, I am not usually a fan of scary or supernatural stories. I thought the teal pop on the stairs was a really pretty use of color pop. As with Cruel Beauty and Crimson Bound, most of the cover is shades of grey and white (with maybe a few pale colors, but nothing flashy), and there is one featured color. Since she does a lot of retellings, her use of them on her covers is very well thought out. Stairs can be so symbolic and so many classic fairy tales feature them. I love the recurring theme of stairs on Rosamund Hodge’s books. I didn’t have many initial thoughts as this is a novella – it was a one hour, short read. I really enjoyed Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, which is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, so I thought a spin-off story had a lot of potential. And it might even be the one thing that can save them both. But when Maia’s and Anax’s paths cross before the royal ball, they discover that love might not be the curse they once thought.

Meanwhile, Anax, heir to the Duke of Sardis, doesn’t believe in love either-not since he discovered that his childhood sweetheart was only using him for his noble title. Maia doesn’t see the point of love when it only brings people pain: Her dead mother haunts anyone who hurts Maia, and her stepsisters are desperate for their mother’s approval, even though she despises them.

Rosamund hodge cruel beauty series