Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross

* * * *

Available January 27, 2015

An edgy fairy tale retelling of "Snow White" set in the world of Kill Me Softly for fans of Once Upon a Time and Grimm.

Faced with a possible loophole to her "Snow White" curse, Viv goes underground, literally, to find the prince who's fated to rescue her. But is life safe in the Underworld worth the price of sacrificing the love that might kill her?

Tear You Apart is follow up to Kill Me Softly and is the second in the Beau Rivage series. Ever have it happen where you’re done with a book, thought it was good and don’t think about again until months later?  That’s my experience with Kill Me Softly. I thought it was such a creative but frightening spin on those age-old stories, wrote my review and that was it. Months later it popped into my head and I found myself wanting more from this crazy town of Beau Rivage where people live out their fairy tale curses. Some manage to break them. Some find loopholes. Others succumb to them.

It took me a few pages to get back into the rhythm of this bizarre town. It seems like any average modern town except here, everyone is looking over their shoulder for the inevitable to happen.  Viv has the unenviable Snow White curse and has known this forever. It wasn’t so bad at first especially since her boyfriend Henley, who's also been her best friend since childhood, had sworn to protect her from the huntsman who would eventually come for her. So guess who turned out to be that Huntsman? Yep. Talk about ill-fated. Each page seems like another punch to the gut as you see what Viv has to endure – fear of being killed and by whom, her wicked stepmother Regina, who’s had it in for her, her own father who’s about as affectionate as a rock.

It’s easy to get annoyed with Viv at times because she’s not the sweet, innocent Snow White we know from folklore. No, in this rendering she is paranoid, obstinate and confused. And I had to remind myself that I couldn’t blame her for being that way. Worst yet are her unresolved feelings for Henley. They’re so in love but neither can deny that the curse hangs over them. She’s in constant fear that any day now she’ll die at the hands of the huntsman and fate being as cruel as it has so been far, it’d be at the hands of Henley. It’s a tug of war between these two lovers throughout the story as they fight their feelings and one does what they think is right to protect the other.

Viv jumps at a possible solution head first without really thinking it through and you know how that goes. I won’t spoil the rest but she does her best to work out her curse to see if she can find any gaps in it that she can use to her advantage. What I did like to see was her change in attitude – from being victim to having a say in her own fate. 

When you analyze fairy tales closely, they’re freaking disturbing. We don’t see that as kids but as we get older, that realization becomes more apparent. Obviously we need to remember the context they were originally written in. Which is why I have to hand it to Sarah Cross for undertaking this task of reimagining folklore and giving it new life, especially when it comes to giving young girls voice and strength in a medium that has historically been undermining of the female gender. She achieved this in Kill Me Softly, and Tear You Apart is perfect for anyone who wants to experience an even more twisted side of these fairy tales and see how these characters rescue themselves. It's very dark and grim with plenty of dysfunctional relationships happening. But getting lost in this world of Beau Rivage and its people is absolutely magical!

~ Bel

Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy Bennett

* * 1/2


Rapunzel is not your average teenager. 

For one thing, she has a serious illness that keeps her inside the mysterious Gothel Mansion. And for another, her hair is 15 feet long. Not to mention that she’s also the key to ultimately saving the world from certain destruction. But then she meets a boy named Fane, who changes all she has ever known, and she decides to risk everything familiar to find out who she really is. 

Filled with romance, adventure, and mystery, Rapunzel Untangled is one story you won’t want to put down. Discover the true meaning of love and friendship in this modern twist to the classic fairytale.







Review:

I had read Cindy Bennett’s Geek Girl when it came out and I really enjoyed it.  So much so that is was in my Top Ten of 2011.  So when we received a request to read and review her new novel, Rapunzel Untangled, I jumped at the chance.

Fairytale retellings are hit or miss for me.  Even though I had read a book by this author before, Rapunzel Untangled is such a different type of story from Geek Girl that I wasn’t sure what to expect.

The story started out interestingly enough.  We read from Gothel’s point of view when she first sees Rapunzel and decides that the baby with the long beautiful hair must be hers.  It was creepy enough to me.  Probably because I am a mother and just the thought of someone taking my children makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.

After that, the story is told in Rapunzel’s point of view.  I felt like Rapunzel was not socially awkward enough for someone that has only had communication with one person and that has never seen the outside world.  Sure, there were moments where she was confused by phrases, words and ideas.  But I guess I expected more awkwardness to go along with that ignorance and innocence.  I think maybe I was a little spoiled by the book Room by Emma Donoghue.  Her depiction of someone growing up isolated was done with such intensity and thoroughness that my expectations are pretty high.

Then there was Fane.  He was likeable enough.  He was kind of a tool but nice.  And he had good intentions.  The problem I had was the romance.  Boy saves the girl scenarios don’t usually bother me too much.  They aren’t my favorite but at the same time I can separate the fantasy from the reality enough to enjoy it.  But the story of Rapunzel?  A girl locked in a tower who then falls in love with the first person she ever meets?    It just seems so predatory of the hero.  This isn’t Cindy Bennett’s fault.  This is a problem I have with the story of Rapunzel.  The romance is just as creepy as the girl being held hostage.   I think I would really like to read a retelling of Rapunzel where another girl saves the girl in the tower and they become life long friends.  

The middle of this book was great.  When Rapunzel and Fane started exploring the house things began to happen.  There was plenty of suspense and mystery.  It was pretty dark.  But then how could it not when a girl has been kidnapped and kept locked in a tower by a crazy person?  This was the strong part of the story and I really enjoyed it.  So much that I hated to put it down.  I felt that the ending played out a little too easy and was a little too romantic - see my above noted issues with the Rapunzel romance - but it fit well with the rest of the story.

All in all, if you enjoy the story of Rapunzel you will probably enjoy Rapunzel Untangled.

Thank you to Cindy Bennett and Sweetwater (imprint of Cedar Fort Publishing) for giving us the opportunity to read and review this story.

Nat

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

* * * 1/2

 

Mira has never known her parents or much about her secretly shrouded past. When she runs away to Beau Rivage, the town of her birth, on the cusp of her sixteenth birthday, she’s hoping to find her parents’ graves and not much more. But she's stumbled into – or been drawn to the place where the Märchen, the Marked, play out to try to resist their roles. Here, Grimm fairytales come to life, curses and gifts are awakened, and Mira is destined to meet her fate, whatever it is.

Kill Me Softly is simply delightful! From the moment I started reading, I was glued to every page especially because the first few chapters provided some “what the heck?” moments. That's what makes this book so enchanting because you’re just following the breadcrumbs to get to the bottom of the story.

As describe above, Mira finds herself in Beau Rivage a few days before she turns 16. Since her past is a complete mystery to her, she decides that she will discover the truth on her own. Once in Beau Rivage, she encounters some pretty interesting personalities like Blue, an abrasive rocker and his best friend, Freddie. Blue insists that she yleave and never come back, convinced it's for her own safety. But when she meets Felix, Blue’s nicer, older brother, she plans on sticking around. Felix not only offers to help her find her parents’ graves, he also offers to put her up at the hotel casino that he runs – much to Blue's chagrin.

Over the next few days she comes to realize that many people in this town are fairytale characters, living out their fairytale in various forms. It's like the TV show Once Upon A Time except in Beau Rivage, these people know that they’re fairytale characters and are waiting for the transformation to take place when they are fated to live out their roles in whatever tale they’re in.

I was surprised that for someone so sheltered Mira didn’t seem too unfazed by all the people she was meeting and disturbing things she was learning. Her interaction with both Blue and Freddie are tense, fun and downright ridiculous. Her instant attraction to Felix will have some readers swooning. The focus of the story does change from looking for her parents’ graves to unraveling secrets and discovering the truth about these fairytales. And there are times when her stubbornness gets in the way of her seeing the big picture which honestly can be quite maddening. I mean, when someone tells you so many times that something isn’t good for you, don’t you think you should at least take them seriously, even if for a little bit?

Kill Me Softly is a darker take on some of the more famous fairytales. It may be a little twisted but it’s imaginative, and I had fun putting together the pieces to guess which fairytale was being played out that Mira had unwittingly immersed herself in ... oh and I guessed right!

~ Bel

Cinder And Ella by Melissa Lemon

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley.  The book releases November 8, 2011.

From Benneville Books (Cedar Fort, Inc.):

After their father’s disappearance, Cinder leaves home for a servant job at the castle. But it isn’t long before her sister Ella is brought to the castle herself—the most dangerous place in all the kingdom for both her and Cinder. Cinder and Ella is a Cinderella story like no other and one you'll never forget.

This book is a slow starter.  So much so that I put the book down for a week or so before going back to finish it.  This is definitely not your childhood version of Cinderella.  There are a few parallels drawn between the tales, but Cinder and Ella in this book bear very little resemblance to the Disney or Grimm version.  For one thing, this tale is much darker.  The Prince may be handsome, but he is not good.  In fact, he is quite evil (and not in a good evil Jace or Patch way either).  This Prince uses his dark magic to bring his subjects under his control, convincing them that there is no hope, no reason to go on and this darkness is spreading throughout the Kingdom.  Cinder and Ella are sisters who live a miserable life in which their father became influenced by the darkness, and one day, just wandered off.  Cinder and Ella then take over the household as their mother has a mental breakdown and their two sisters become spoiled brats.

One day, Cinder applies for a job in the King’s castle as a servant to help provide for the family.  With her new job, she will have to reside in the castle most of the week and will return home on her one day off.  She leaves the care of the family to Ella.  Unfortunately, Ella has little patience for the tantrums and antics of her family and she too, wanders off.  Ella finds a new place with a family far away, helping to take care of the family's children.  This family is warm, bright and loving.  Exactly as Ella wishes her family was.  Ella finds a sense of peace and happiness, until one day a Knight and two of the Prince’s aids come to return Ella to the Castle. 

The Knight worked in the Castle and each night during his rounds, he would hear Cinder crying and talking in her sleep from the hallway.  One day the Knight, Tanner, approaches Cinder to ask her about the sister she speaks of during her sleep.  Cinder confides in the knight that her sister has disappeared and she fears that Ella may be in danger.  Tanner, being a brave and honorable Knight, seeks permission from the Castle advisors to go on a quest to find Ella.  The advisors go to the Prince, who agrees for his own nefarious reasons and insists that Tanner take along two of his aids, the lecherous William and the stoic Flescher.  Tanner does not trust the Prince or his aids, but must take them on the quest.

During the journey to return Ella to the Castle, Tanner begins to care for Ella, and in true fashion, then becomes a clumsy fool.  Tanner soon discovers that the Prince may want to harm Ella and after an encounter with the drunken William, Tanner and Ella break from the aids and devise a plan to find out what the Prince wants without turning Ella over to him.  The rest of the book covers the attempts of the good Knight and the sisters to thwart the evil plans of the Prince and the darkness that spreads throughout the Kingdom.  I won’t get all spoilery, because truly, this book does not follow the fairytale path.  You get the main points though, love, danger, intrigue, magic and a very stubborn horse. 

As I said, it takes a while to get into the meat of this book.  I kept going because I had never read a book told in the manner of a fairytale; therefore was intrigued and curious to find out where Ms. Lemon was going with the plot.  Ms. Lemon kept me guessing until the end.  I give the author credit, she kept to the fairytale style of writing and storytelling.  She wove the different plot lines and points of view flawlessly.  I am giving the book 3 stars.  If you enjoy fairytales and want to see a different and darker version of Cinderella, I recommend you pick up Cinder And Ella in November.    

~ Shel