Book Review: Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

Title: Kill Me Softly

Author: Sarah Cross

Genre: Fantasy YA, Fairy Tale Retelling

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Release date: April 10, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Source: NetGalley

Summary: 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.

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Waiting on Wednesday (10): Kill Me Softly

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Kill Me Softly

by Sarah Cross

 True love’s kiss just may prove deadly….

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.

I can’t help it, guys. I’m really, REALLY feeling the fairy tale retellings right now. I promise next week will be something completely different. But lately I keep thinking of this book–with its story that sounds like ALL THE FAIRY TALES EVER and the striking red cover with lots of ominous-looking blood-like spatter–and I just couldn’t keep myself from sharing my anticipation with you guys. Because seriously: ALL THE FAIRY TALES.

This book sounds like reading Once Upon a Time, my new favorite TV show. I’m not sure anyone could convince me that this ISN’T awesome. Snow White, the Beast, Prince Charming, and what seems to be the Brothers Grimm, maybe? KILL ME SOFTLY sounds like it’s going to be dramatic and dark and intense with lots of shout outs to my favorite old stories. Plus I’m intrigued by Mira: Is she a fairy tale character? Which one? (I swear, this is exactly like OUaT). What happened to her parents? Why can’t she return to her home? This book is SCREAMING my name, and I can’t wait to read it. Three cheers for fairy tales, friends!!

(PS. I’m ignoring the fact that the title reminds me of Roberta Flack. And The Fugees. Ignoring it.)

KILL ME SOFTLY is coming out April 10, 2012 from EgmontUSA.

Waiting on Wednesday (9): Enchanted

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Enchanted

by Alethea Kontis

 It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?

I love the sound of ENCHANTED. It reminds me a little bit of Juliet Marillier’s WILDWOOD DANCING with the frog and the princess (or, in this case, it appears to just be a girl from a powerful family?) angle, which is excellent. BUT THEN! Business takes a turn into ROMEO & JULIET-ville (hopefully without the whole “Let’s both die together” part) when the newly de-frogged prince and the girl turn out to be from two families who hate each other’s guts. DRAMA!

Seriously though. ENCHANTED sounds fantastic. I LOVE this spin on The Frog Prince story, which, like all fairy tales, usually ends with the frog returned to his princely form whereupon the princess is immediately in love with him. I’m excited to read a version of events that requires a little more effort and creates more tension. PLUS. What about those “twisted secrets,” huh? What’s THAT about?? Can’t wait for this one, guys.

ENCHANTED is coming out May 8, 2012 from Harcourt Children’s.

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Series: Lunar Chronicles, book 1

Genre: Dystopian YA, Science Fiction YA, Fairy Tale Retelling

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Published: January 3, 2012

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Source: NetGalley

Summary: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Book Review: Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

Click on the book cover for this title's Goodreads page!

Title: Wildwood Dancing

Author: Juliet Marillier

Series: Wildwood, book 1

Genre: Fantasy YA, Fairy Tale Retelling

Publisher: Knopf

Published: January 23, 2007

Summary: High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father. It’s an idyllic life for Jena, the second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her constant companion, a most unusual frog. But best by far is the castle’s hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm.

But their peace is shattered when Father falls ill and must go to the southern parts to recover, for that is when cousin Cezar arrives. Though he’s there to help the girls survive the brutal winter, Jena suspects he has darker motives in store. Meanwhile, Jena’s sister has fallen in love with a dangerous creature of the Other Kingdom–an impossible union it’s up to Jena to stop.

When Cezar’s grip of power begins to tighten, at stake is everything Jena loves: her home, her family, and the Other Kingdom she has come to cherish. To save her world, Jena will be tested in ways she can’t imagine–tests of trust, strength, and true love.