Friday, July 13, 2012

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross


Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Egmont

Pages: 314pgs

The Story

Mirabelle's past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents' tragic deaths to her guardians' half-truths about why she can't return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday - and discovers a world she never could have imagined.

In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems - the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who's a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for a damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren't pretty things, and they don't always end happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy tale curses of their own . . . brothers who share a dark secret. And she'll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns.

The Review

A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!

For those who know me very well in my book tastes, you would know straight off that I love anything to do with a modern twist to some of my favourite classic fairy tales from my childhood and I hoped this book was going to blow me away, especially since the plot sounded awesome and was exactly what I was looking for right now! Unfortunately I wasn't too impressed by the book itself, however it did still offer up something completely unique not to mention original and I can see many readers who love fairy tales - as much as I do - loving this book!

KILL ME SOFTLY is a young adult novel mixed between Grimm Brothers and something along the lines of the popular tv show Once Upon a Time, where fairy tales aren't just old stories anymore in ancient books . . . they're in fact just old curses that are repeatedly placed upon descendents of fairy-human hybrids. For the main heroine, Mira, she's about to turn sixteen and for once in her life she's breaking one of her grandmother's strictest rules . . . to return to her hometown of Beau Rivage, where her parents had died in a fire years ago when she was just a baby. So, one night Mira runs away and upon the arrival to her old town, she encounters many enchantments, curses and teenagers with very mysterious marks . . . one she has too. And in tow, Mira also meets a girl named Vivian, whom has a wicked stepmother and a fetish for apples, and a boy named Blue, whom does his best to run Mira out of town while she still has a chance, but then she meets his brother, Felix, whom is more trouble than he first seems.

With a very different take on fairy tales, what really appealed to me the most was the supporting characters alone. Sure, none were particularly a favourite of mine nor did I care for them deeply in the way I should have as a reader, but they were still very entertaining and had their purpose to make some good progress on the storyline. With that said, I couldn't connect strongly with the main character, Mira, and I really tired to . . . but I just couldn't. She made a lot of poor decisions not to mention wild assumptions of certain things that happened along the way, and she was incredibly easy to manipulate which wasn't fun at all. The only redemption the character had was her feelings for Blue, who was the only character I wanted to know more and more about. He was the reason why I kept reading. He was a whole ball of trouble - and fun if you know what I mean - and he had that badass attitude I love in my hot fictional guys. Oh and he had piercings too . . . yeah they are so likable okay!

Overall, this book wasn't a bad one because I still finished it and I still enjoyed it which is the main point I'm trying to make here. With some surprising twists and a great set of supporting characters that will make you laugh out loud and cry in frustration, KILL ME SOFTLY is highly recommended by me if you love anything to do with fairy tales or merely a book with some originality added to it. If you love either of those two aspects in a book, then you'll definitely love this book right here! So . . . GO FOR IT!

The Rating

3 1/2 / 5 stars

21 comments:

  1. This sounds like a fantastic story especially since I'm enjoying Once Upon A Time lately. Sorry to hear you didn't love it like you originally thought you would but I'm glad to hear you still enjoyed it :) Great review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rebecca! There's still a lot to love about this book, despite some parts I didn't like.

      Delete
  2. I love fairy tail retellings and modern takes too! I'm sorry you couldn't connect to Mira - it's always a shame when the main characters is one of the worst parts of the story. Glad you liked it overall though, and I'm definitely intrigued by the supporting characters! Great review :).

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm pretending you gave this book 5 stars like me because this was my favourite book of the year LOL :') But isn't the world so amazing in this? I don't think I've ever read a book with a premise as cool as the curse tattoos one! It kind of makes me wish I was one of them, but now haha x) (I would be a fail Somnolent -- sleeping for long periods of time? Not my thing!) And I LOVED Blue so much, piercings and all! <3

    Wonderful review, Erin! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh really? haha. In that case, pretend I did give it 5 stars! But yes, the world was pretty amazing and so were those tattoos! And BLUE! I have much love for that boy!

      Delete
  4. Oh hell, you're making me feel all kinds of the feels for Blue! Mmm, he sounds absolutely delicious ;) I think I want to read this book for the sole purpose of meeting him hehe. Shame you didn't connect with Mira though, especially since she's the most important character. But still, this does sound amazing! And I'm crazy excited about all the fairytale retellings lately. Can't wait to get my paws on this! Awesome review!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I haven't read much about this book but Blue sounds like a petty good reason to read it, and it's a shame that you couldn't connect with Mira, that often let's me down too

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sucks about Mira, but when she's with Blue . . . everything is amazeballs. haha.

      Delete
  6. I can't wait to read this book! It sounds good. It was an anticipated read for me. I'm hoping that I'll be able to connect better!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you connect better with it too. It's a great book with a lot of potential.

      Delete
  7. Wow. I don't think I'd actually heard of this book before I stumbled across your review Erin, but I love anything that's a twist on a fairytale too, so I'll definintly be looking this one up. It's too bad you didn't love it, but I'm interested to meet this peirced Blue person ;)
    Awesome review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you'll love Blue. He's a pretty cool and HOT dude. Thanks Rachel!

      Delete
  8. Now I'm excited to know more about this Blue guy. I read a gushing review of this book and ever since then, I had my eyes on this. Too bad you didn't like it that much! Thanks for sharing! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hopefully you'll love Blue. He's a great guy. Thanks for commenting and stopping by! :)

      Delete
  9. I have this book with me here but havent read it yet.. This Blue guy interest me alot. Though im really sorry that you didnt love this book im still glad you atleast enjoyed it. I hope to read this soon. Great review Erin. x

    Ƹ̴Ӂ̴ƷFICBOOKREVIEWSƸ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ

    ReplyDelete
  10. Looks like a great read; thanks for sharing :) I just found your blog and will def be following it from now on! A few days ago I posted some summer reading lists on my new blog if you want to take a look: http://heartisinthewriteplace.blogspot.com/
    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh I love love LOVE fairytales and anything vaguely... fairy-ish, you know? With that fairytale quality? I think kind of the same as you :P

    But damn, I'm dissapointed this wasn't as amazing as it could have been... still... Blue has me VERY intrigued :D

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...