Sarah Cross

**I got a free copy of this from Netgalley

Okay, when I first started reading this I thought it was a rip off of that television series Once Upon a Time, but it isn't. And I liked the idea of people being trapped within the limits of fairy tales - whether they like it or not - and either accepting their "fate" or rebelling against it. I also liked the way the stories weren't exactly the same as the fairy tale counterparts and that there were some stories/characters included that I never heard of before. I enjoyed reading about how all this came to be - how these people were "marked" - and, therefore, destined to have certain things befall them, like pricking a finger and falling into a deep sleep until being rescued by the brave knight. Or being turned into a beast or condemned to death by your wicked stepmother at some point over your beauty. I liked the secondary characters - at times I liked them more than the main character, though, I'm afraid.

The main character - easily recognizable from nearly the beginning of the novel as a modern day Sleeping Beauty - doesn't seem to actually possess some of the "gifts" the fairy godmothers bestowed on her at her christening. She suffers from insta-love, which gets on my nerves in general, or maybe it's really more like lust than love - but she calls it love. Immediately. And I get that the guy is handsome and has some magical "romance" ability, but still. She falls for him in a nanosecond and is suddenly out buying sexy lingerie. AND even after something bad happens during one of their make-out sessions - something that would tell any normal human to STAY AWAY, she still goes running back to him like a dope. I wanted to yell at her. THEN she flip-flops between feelings for this guy and his equally magical "romantic" brother - named Blue. I wanted to yell at her again. Only this time I wanted to call her names. But I didn't - because, you know, it's a book. :)

Not all of the loose ends are tied up in the end, so I'm thinking maybe there is a sequel in the works...? If there is one, I might be tempted to check it out. The whole idea of this fairy-tale world existing right alongside - or within - the regular world is pretty interesting. Yeah, I'd probably check it out.… (mais)

I loved Cross' [b:Dull Boy|5895933|Dull Boy|Sarah Cross|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1227650857s/5895933.jpg|6068214] so much, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Kill Me Softly. This was a very different reading experience, but I still enjoyed it. The premise, "cursed" teens destined to live out fairy tale tropes, was intriguing. I found myself reading quickly because I wanted to know how major relationships would resolve themselves in the end, so this was a speedy read.

It was really nice to read a stand alone, but I also found myself wanting more story. I wanted to see how the supplementary characters dealt with their curses, because in some cases I was more interested in them than in Mirabelle. One of the themes running through the book is about how much you determine your fate versus how much your curse affects it, and I wish we got to see more of those issues play out. And while I bet many teens will absolutely love this, Mirabelle got on my nerves just a bit. I'm not a big fan of characters who expect to be told everything and then get pouty when they're kept in the dark about things. I know that's nit-picky, but it's something that pops up fairly frequently in YA. It may just be that I've reached a point in my life where I have less patience for whiny shennanigans, but I rolled my eyes at her complaints more than once.

Definitly will book talk this for summer reading, though I wish the cover was more fairy tale and less romance/murder.… (mais)