
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--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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Add NoticesOther: Not much inappropriate scenes, but a few suggestive comments and a dude looks down a girls top. Warning- Some heated make-out sessions.
Summary
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All Mira wants for her 16th birthday is to learn more about her parents. Her god-mothers who took her in after her parents died in a fire at her christening party are very overprotective and have never let Mira go into the city to find her parent’s graves. But now, on the cusp of adulthood, Mira isn’t going to let them hold her back any more. She concocts a plan to run away from home, but Beau Rivage, isn’t as glamorous as it seemed. Without money or friends Mira is having a tough time tracking down her parent’s resting place when she stumbles into a casino owned by the Valentine brothers. Felix, the handsome older brother, offers to help Mira in her search and give her a place to stay. Blue, the hostile younger brother, seems determined to run her out of town. But when Mira discovers the truth, that her parents, herself and almost everyone in Beau Rivage have been cursed with fairy tale fates, she can’t leave without trying to break her curse.

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Add a CommentThe first ~5 chapters were truly funny and full of promise, but the novel then descended into almost strictly romance--the magical aspect of the book was minimized, with what was supposed to be the climax a disappointment. I wish Kill Me Softly was longer and more complex.
Kill Me Softly is a contemporary fairy tale retelling that, frankly, rocks. It follows Mirabelle, but interweaves multiple (Grimm's-style, not Disney-style) fairy tale tropes and characters. It's bittersweet, with some clever moments of language and self-aware references. It's one of those rare YA coming-of-age stories that is incredibly spot on.
There are parallels, even with the magic in the story, to real world abusive relationships, to the hard choices we make as adults, and to the nature of sacrifice. It's almost difficult to call it YA, because it's got much more depth than most YA stories that I've read.
This book actually emotionally affected me, which is always a bonus. And I'll be reading any of Sarah Cross' future books. Also, it bears saying that the audiobook version, narrated by Kim Mai Guest, is excellent.
I highly recommend this book to fans of fairytale retellings, true coming-of-age stories, tales of romance and magic, folks who enjoy teenage characters who act like actual teenagers, deliciously flawed but courageous female protagonists, and basically everyone.
*Mild spoilers ahead!*
This would've been an extraordinary book, except for the fact that our princess wasn't exactly a likeable MC. In fact, I pretty much wanted to slap her every time she insulted/raged on Freddie (c'mon, you can't just hurt the poor puppy like that!). And yes, I do understand where she's coming from when she ignores her friends' advice and has her rebellious tendencies (i.e "Well, since literally everyone thinks he's so dangerous I might as well sleep in his room, and on the same bed. Like, he'd TOTALLY tell me if he was a murderer"), but let's be real: she plays the hormonal raged teenage girl a little too well. Plus, the fact that she spent way too much time cuddling with our baddie doesn't exactly give her any brownie points. And it's not like I didn't try to like her, but her poor decisions made it hard. It's one of those books that has a great plot and concept, but poor execution in the main character department.
One of the nominations for the 2013 Teen's Top Ten. Voting will take place Aug. 15 – Sept. 15 via YALSA’s brand new Teens’ Top Ten site for teens at www.ala.org/yalsa/reads4teens, and the winners will be announced during Teen Read Week in October.
This novel is great even for readers who don't like romance it is great I especially like the character named Blue!!!!!!!!!!!
Great for fans of Mortal Instruments!
This book has a highly original plot and characters that make you laugh from the beginning, I have to give Sarah Cross that.
And that is where my 'likes' of this book end. This novel tries to loudly proclaim a feminist narrator - choosing to fight with her fairy tale curse while being sucked into a relationship with a guy that treats her like a puppy and buys her everything. It sets the feminist movement back about 40 years, and the whole touching at her legs without consent? Yuck.
A good idea in theory, but executed poorly.
Can books get better than this? Great book for people who like fairy tales and romance.
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!! I love how they mixed real life with fairy tales together. It is also a good romance novel!
I LOVED this book! I really liked how Cross incorporated fairy tales (REAL fairy tales, not the sugar-coated ones from Disney) into a book, and made it seem realistic enough. While I was reading this book I actually discovered a lot about the fairy tales I thought I was familiar with. I recommend this book to any die-hard fairy tale lover, and even if you aren't, you should read this book!!!