Review: Kill Me Softly

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



GoodReads Synopsis: 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 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 in 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.

My Thoughts: I thought this was an incredibly clever book. Cross was able to create a world where fairy tales are played out in each generation…and we aren’t talking the Disney sanitized version of the fairy tales, and they are grim. As these tales are played out in each generation they are tweaked enough to accommodate the fact that it’s the 21st century. For example, Mira is walking through Beau Rivage with her friends when she notices two girls and as something catches her eye she sees both these girls have bandaged feet. She deduces that these are Cinderella’s step-sisters because in the original version of the story the sisters cut toes off their feet to try and fit into the glass slipper. I’ve never read the original Grimm’s tales, and this book, more than any other I have read, makes me want to do just that.

There was the usual bit of “instant love”…but in this case, I think it helped the storyline with Felix. Felix’s curse is as a romantic, in other words women are supposed to fall head over heels in love with him. Maybe Mirabelle did it a little faster than most, but it helped the story along. And let’s be honest…the fairy tales is where I think the whole “instant love” thing originates from.

The other characters are just fun. Did you ever wonder what Beast was like before he was cursed and became Beast? What about Prince Charming? I loved Cross’s interpretation of these characters before their curses kick in. As much as I complain about stories becoming series…I would love to see more from Cross along this line or with these characters. This book, “Kill Me Softly”, easily ranks as a new favorite of mine!




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