The following piece from the book is so cool: In some places, it is almost poetic, filled with metaphors and details. The author’s writing style (descriptive writing and dialogue) is something to be admired.

I think it's a Rosamund-Hodge-thing even with Cruel Beauty, my attention was captured with the first sentence. This book had an enthralling first sentence: “In all your life, your only choice… is the path of needles or the path of pins.” It drew me in right away. Within a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night? … ( more) And as the two become unexpected allies, they discover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic. Together, they navigate the opulent world of the courtly elite, where beauty and power reign and no one can be trusted. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand-the man she hates most-Rachelle forces Armand to help her hunt for the legendary sword that might save their world. Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in a vain effort to atone. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat. But she was also reckless-straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. When Rachelle was fifteen she was good-apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. A doomed warrior and the king's most notorious bastard must join forces to defeat a dark evil in this gorgeously intricate fantasy-perfect for fans of An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses. An exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood and the extravagant court of Versailles, from the author of Cruel Beauty.

Crimson bound book