Kill Me Softly
by Sarah Cross
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. (description from Amazon.com)
I loved the idea of this book. I loved it a lot...and while the world-building was wonderful, and the secondary characters were great, I was somewhat disappointed in the main character, Mira.
Beau Rivage was a decadent, dark, and dangerous place. Full of everything I love in a dark fairy tale. The inhabitants of Beau Rivage were also fascinatingly dark. I loved the "evil" fairy who ran the seedy nightclub, the girl cursed to spit up jewels and flowers who sang as the headliner in a band, and I really loved the blue haired boy who fought so hard to keep from killing even one more girl with his kisses...
...and then there was Mira. The sad little girl who seemed so spunky and headstrong, but fell like the weakest little doe straight into the arms of the big bad wolf. It was a horrific case of "Bella-itis" and I wanted to strangle her right through my car stereo. I even found myself rolling my eyes so badly I was afraid they would roll right into the back of my head and never come out again at some points during her pining...
I loved the way the book ended. The right people found each other and curses, though not necessarily lifted, were lifted just enough for a potentially happy, yet realistically tough, ending. I would happily read another book set in the world of Beau Rivage. In fact, I would LOVE to delve back into this world to explore the remaining stories of some of the other characters.
