Tear You Apart

by Sarah Cross

"Teenager Viv, who is constantly escaping her "Snow White" fairy-tale curse, meets the prince who is supposed to save her, but can not fall out of love with the young man destined to kill her."--

• ISBN10: 1606845918
• ISBN13: 9781606845912
• Publish Date: 27 January 2015 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 31 August 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Carolrhoda Lab (R)
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 378
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

3.5 stars

I have incredibly mixed feelings about Tear You Apart. I think that you have to really KNOW your fairy tales to fully appreciate this book - and I do not. However, the last 30% was so incredibly gripping and grim (pun intended) that I almost would give the book 4 stars. It is book 2 in the series, but (at least as far as I can tell) reads completely as a stand alone.

So the struggle in the first 70% of the book was two-fold. One, as I already mentioned, the references to really obscure fairy tales confused me. There's the familiar Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk... but then there's also the 12 dancing princesses and the diamonds and toads (I think?). It took me out of the story because I don't know what they're based off of. And even the familiar fairy tales - Snow White particularly, since that's Vivian's curse - is getting into the less commonly known details. So if you're a fairy tale buff, you will probably love the hell out of this, but for me it was just confusing.

The second struggle was just that I didn't like this predestined feeling of being defined by your curse. This struggle though, is sort of the point of the book I think (at least in part). The way it really screws with Vivian's decisions about who she loves - her huntsman or her prince? - made the first part a struggle and made me frustrated with her, but as she grows to realize she has to take her life into her own hands (the last 30%) makes that first part kind of worth it.

I read past midnight, knowing I had to get up at 6 am because I couldn't put it down in the last bit. Things are brutal and very much use the Grimm fairy tales for inspiration. The weaving of multiple fairy tales together is fascinating and Sarah Cross definitely has done her research. That being said, I probably won't be in a hurry to pick up the other books in the series... because I haven't done mine and I think I'm missing out on some of the potential greatness of the book by not knowing my fairy tales better. I am glad I finally got around to reading this though and recommend it for fairy tale buffs for sure!

[Angie]

Tear You Apart was certainly dark and twisted like the fairy tales it's based on. Viv has the Snow White curse. Her curse is especially cruel because she's in love with the Huntsman who is destined to either cut out her heart or lose her to her prince. I was very excited about this, because it had the potential for an "if I can't have you, no one can" twist, since Henley can either kill Viv and keep her heart for always (literally) or spare her and lose her.

I definitely liked Tear You Apart more than the first book. There's no insta-love or nonsense love rhombus. Viv and Henley have this intense, on and off again relationship. She's terrified that he'll kill her, but she's also terrified to lose him. On top of that, she's always worrying about her stepmother poisoning her. But then, she's summoned to the Underworld by her prince. Jasper was sick of waiting to meet her, so he took matters into his own hands. The Underworld might also be the only place she's safe from being murdered. At least until she learns about his father's curse.

Tear You Apart was pretty great, but it also felt really long in places. The Underworld was interesting the first time, but after that I got kind of bored with it. Jasper wasn't a very interesting character. He's totally under his father's thumb, so he doesn't make his own decisions about anything. There was one moment where he shows a flicker of something, but I couldn't wait for Viv to get away from him. Not just because he's not the one for her despite being the one to break her curse, he was just dull. His father on the other hand, is a total creep! His parts were the most entertaining and at times made me squirm.

In the end, I did like Tear You Apart a lot. It was an exciting and twisted take on Snow White and The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Plus one other tale, which might be spoilery so I won't mention it. I was also very happy with the inclusion of two lesbian couples! They're not a huge part of the story, but it was still nice.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[bookishzelda]

It’s been a long time since Kill Me Softly (a couple years actually) but I still remember the basics and the characters. So even though you don’t need to read it in order to read Tear You Apart, it did lay the groundwork of the fairy tale town of Beau Rivage. Sarah Cross returns to the town but takes on another story with Viv and Henley. Unlike Blue and Mira they share the same Fairy Tale but are still separated by their curse.

As far as characters go I really liked Viv. She has a hard shell she wears to protect herself. It’s unfortunate that instead of controlling the curse she lets the curse control her. There is also Henley who even though he is cursed to be the Huntsman, stands by Viv. Blue and Mira pop in occasionally and I liked that Jewel had a bigger role. I wouldn’t mind her having her own book. Also there was the new addition of Jasper and his family.

I love the story of Viv and Henley. Even though their relationship becomes kind of volatile as the curse takes precedence. They are constantly pulling and pushing against eachother. They need to let go because he’s supposed to kill her, they can’t let go because they love one another. Very complicated.

The plot is kind of told with two storylines that intertwine. We do sometimes read in Henley’s perspective but because there are two components to the story. There is the Snow White curse that plays out just like the Fairy Tale and then the Underworld that has a bit more of mix of stories. There were times when I could not put the story down and at times I felt like it was moving a little bit slower. I did enjoy it all the way through, there was definitely enough intrigue to keep me interested.

There are many fairy tales that pop in and out. Most I knew but every once in a while there would be a character that I didn’t remember and would have to look it up. The tales keep the basics of the stories but they have their own spin on them. Predominantly it’s Snow White, The Dancing Princesses and Rumplestiltskin.

I enjoyed Tear You Apart and the stories it represented. I haven’t always been a big Snow White fan but I liked how Sarah Cross changed it up.