Kill Me Softly

by Sarah Cross

When sixteen-year-old Mira runs away to discover her secret past, she finds a place where Grimm's fairy tales come to life, and she cannot avoid her accursed fate.

• ISBN10: 1299570240
• ISBN13: 9781299570245
• Publish Date: 1 January 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 1 April 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Egmontusa
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Kill Me Softly is one of those books that has me torn. The first two-thirds or so are terrible, but the ending was fantastic! The romance is completely awful, as are the characters, but the world building is awesome! It's very all over the place, which overall, kept me from liking it too much, but it had enough greatness to keep me from hating it. I don't know. I guess it's just a better idea than was executed.

At the start of Kill Me Softly, Mira is one week from turning sixteen and has decided to run away. She's heading to the city where she was born to find her parents' graves. Her two godmothers have forbidden Mira to ever go there (among other random things) which just makes her more determined to do so. But upon arrival, things aren't exactly what they seem. Mira is picked up by a group of odd teenagers who talk about curses, and she learns that she might not be normal either.

Let's start with what I loved about Kill Me Softly: the world. I loved this town where people are forced to live out fairy tale curses. It's a genetic thing, since the fairies are mad that some of their own mated with humans, so now those bloodlines are cursed. Of course, the terms of each kind of curse have changed over time. For instance, Sleeping Beauty doesn't have to prick her finger on a spindle. It can be anything. Also, even after the curses have played out, and the cursed are saved, not everything is rainbows and sunshine. One of the previous Snow Whites had a particularly disturbing end.

While the basis of Kill Me Softly was spectacular, the actual plot (aka romance) was not. This is seriously one of the worst cases of insta-love I have ever run across. When Mira arrives in town and has no where to go, the sons of the owner of the hotel, of course, offer her a free room. Somehow Mira decides that she wants to stay in Felix's room and make out. He's totally feeling her up on the first night! She also goes out and buys sexy lingerie to seduce him. Did I mention that they JUST met and she's 15 and he's 21? Yeah. It's weird. But they're in love which is confirmed because of reasons. But she's also in love with his brother, Blue, who has been nothing but a jerk since the moment she arrived, which is also confirmed because of reasons. But Mira's prince (according to the curse) is a guy name Freddie and she can't stand him. Sooo....I don't even know. This whole book takes place over a week, and Mira finds true love twice with creepy guys.

Kill Me Softly appeared to be doomed until that amazing ending. I can't say why it was amazing, but it was. Felix's curse is revealed and I was like holy crap! Because that is creepy and I did not see it coming, at all! If only the entire book had been like that.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Kill Me Softly is a thoughtful, romantic book that looks the darkness of fairy tales in the face and combats it with all their hope. The story follows fifteen-year-old Mira as she attempts to track down the secrets of her past—and discovers they are far more implausible than she ever dreamed. She, and many of the inhabitants of the city where she was born, are “cursed” to live fairy tale lives, following in the footsteps of princesses, heroes, or villains.

Those who follow Pages Unbound will notice I reviewed Shannon Hale’s Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends last Monday and complained about a similar story premise, explaining it did not make sense. Be relieved to know that Sarah Cross handles the “born to fill a fairy tale role” plot much more skillfully. It actually works in Kill Me Softly because the roles are random, not handed down from parent to child, and each character is only cursed to do something similar to their fairy tale predecessor, not relive their story verbatim. For instance, a “Snow White” will probably eat a poisoned apply and fall into an enchanted sleep, but she may be able to skip the part where she lives in an adorable woodland cottage with a bunch of dwarves. Or the Huntsman might decide to actually kill her. Oops.

Kill Me Softly, being YA, is also able to confront the darkness of the original Grimm fairy tales head-on. Cross discusses, not just the gruesomeness or violence that characterize many stories (like Cinderella’s stepsisters chopping up their feet to fit into the glass slipper) but also the dark mentality that being cursed into a role can bring. There are characters who are proud to be villains, or who use their curses as excuses to be terrible people. There are characters who are simply twisted, who want to kiss sleeping girls not because they are in love or just want to save them from an enchanted sleep but because, well, they want to take advantage. Fairy tales are not always pretty, and Cross makes sure Mira learns that—and then tackles it.

After learning she is cursed, Mira has a lot to think about: destiny vs. free will, true love vs. playacting, the bad parts of fairy tales vs. the good. Mira is spunky, and immediately enters militant mode, struggling against the idea that the most important parts of her fate, like whom she falls in love with, are predetermined. Some other reviewers have found Mira’s attitude disagreeable, which is understandable. Personally, I found it plausible, considering her situation. And when she butts heads, not just with the idea of pre-destiny, but with a certain irritating young man, I even found it funny. (And, again, believable. I don’t think I would take his consistent attitude without eventually giving back a bit of my own!)

Of course, Mr. Obnoxious turns out to be a potential love interest. The weird part: two other guys do, as well. We don’t have a love triangle in Kill Me Softly; we have a love square. All three guys are given an explanation for being suitors, and they are mostly good ones (not just some ridiculous excuse that Mira is just such a great catch that guys are always fawning over her!) There is no explanation, however, for why Mira falls hardest , in instalove, for the one guy who is clearly the worst pick. Fortunately, readers have the rest of the book, and two other guys, to encourage their hopes that Mira will change her mind.

Overall, Kill Me Softly is a stellar fairy tale retelling. It is original and modern, while maintaining the romance, magic, and darkness of its source tales. Cross will draw readers in with her fast –paced writing and biting dialogue, and then they will stay for the unforeseeable plot twists and the hope that Myra will find her happily ever after, in both romance and free will. Recommended.

[Kelsenator]

Originally posted on my blog Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf

(4.5)

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher EgmontUSA for letting me borrow a copy!

I haven’t read many fairy-tale retellings, but after reading this, I definitely want to read many more!

This is the story of Mirabelle (Mira), who runs away from her strict godmothers, to find her parents’ grave in the city of Beau Rivage. They have forbidden her to go, so she makes a fake story for them to believe before she sneaks away at night. Upon arriving, she is hassled by Blue to leave, becomes interested in Felix (his brother), and meets a bunch of Blue’s friends who just seem a bit weird. But it’s not just them, certain people in the city don’t seem quite right.

She starts to learn that some people in the city are cursed, but she doesn’t know what with until she finds someone who has the same birthmark as her, a big red wheel on her lower back. She is told that she is linked to the old fairy-tales, set on by faeries, and that she is following the story of Cinderella. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know what her trigger is, what will set off her long sleep. While still trying to find her parents graves and deal with this curse, she starts falling for Felix even though she keeps getting told he’s dangerous, but no one can tell her why exactly.

This book was full of fairy tales we love, but not the Disney versions, the real dark ones. It was so much fun trying to figure out who was part of which story before being told. I also loved the characters of Blue and Mira, Freddie was too cute, and Viv and Layla were awesome.

One thing I will say, I hope there is another book that follows it, told through the eye of the others who still have to live out their curses. I especially want to read the Beauty and the Beast story.

I highly recommend this to anyone wanting a good solid fairy-tale story, full of romance and secrets.

Although I didn't like all of the characters (I'm looking at you Prince Charming), I enjoyed most of them (how ya doing Blue?) and the creepy weirdness of the book (really creepy o_O ) kept me more than interested. A truly intriguing story that I really ended up enjoying.
Review coming soon.