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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
4.5
I know retold fairy tales are like, the thing today, but unless I’m mistaken, I haven’t actually read one until now (kay, I guess Cinder would technically count, but that’s so different that I barely count it as a fairy tale). So I can’t speak for the retold fairy tales as a whole, but I can say that I really liked Kill Me Softly. Remember my #10pagetrial thing? (Me neither, really.) Well this another one of the very few that not only ended up coming off of death row, but went to get a high rating on my Goodreads.
What drew me in so strongly was the idea of it. Mira running away to a creepy town and learns that certain people are “marked” to have fairy tale lives. So a girl could be a Snow White and will have a wicked stepmother who will curse her asleep and will need for her Prince to kiss her to wake her up. And Beau Rivage is kind of a center for these fairy tale cursed folk, so there’s all of these strange people with strange pasts and strange futures all floating around each other. I picture it like Las Vegas, but with fairy tale folk. Oh, and these aren’t the kind of sweet, innocent fairy tales Disney sold you at an early age. There is some dark stuff going on, all Hans Christian Andersen-dark. And then (not to spoil anything) it gets way, way darker with a delicious twist I totally didn’t see coming.
And there’s Blue. Yes, a boy named Blue and he is angsty and snarky and totally awesome. Yeah, he starts off typical ass-y boy character, but it is (thankfully) not an insta-love situation. He’s just heart-wrenching. I can’t say too much without giving quite a lot away, but, yes, heart-wrenching is about perfect for him. But if you don’t go for mysterious snark, there’s Blue’s best friend, Freddie, who could be seen as a secondary character at best, but cracks me up to no end. Picture Snow White or Cinderella with all the adoring wildlife flocking about. Now picture that person a boy. Yes. Freddie. Marvelous.
After much perusing of The Goodreads, I see no information in regards to a sequel. This makes me sad. There needs to be a sequel! I want more Blue. And more of this world For serious.
I know retold fairy tales are like, the thing today, but unless I’m mistaken, I haven’t actually read one until now (kay, I guess Cinder would technically count, but that’s so different that I barely count it as a fairy tale). So I can’t speak for the retold fairy tales as a whole, but I can say that I really liked Kill Me Softly. Remember my #10pagetrial thing? (Me neither, really.) Well this another one of the very few that not only ended up coming off of death row, but went to get a high rating on my Goodreads.
What drew me in so strongly was the idea of it. Mira running away to a creepy town and learns that certain people are “marked” to have fairy tale lives. So a girl could be a Snow White and will have a wicked stepmother who will curse her asleep and will need for her Prince to kiss her to wake her up. And Beau Rivage is kind of a center for these fairy tale cursed folk, so there’s all of these strange people with strange pasts and strange futures all floating around each other. I picture it like Las Vegas, but with fairy tale folk. Oh, and these aren’t the kind of sweet, innocent fairy tales Disney sold you at an early age. There is some dark stuff going on, all Hans Christian Andersen-dark. And then (not to spoil anything) it gets way, way darker with a delicious twist I totally didn’t see coming.
And there’s Blue. Yes, a boy named Blue and he is angsty and snarky and totally awesome. Yeah, he starts off typical ass-y boy character, but it is (thankfully) not an insta-love situation. He’s just heart-wrenching. I can’t say too much without giving quite a lot away, but, yes, heart-wrenching is about perfect for him. But if you don’t go for mysterious snark, there’s Blue’s best friend, Freddie, who could be seen as a secondary character at best, but cracks me up to no end. Picture Snow White or Cinderella with all the adoring wildlife flocking about. Now picture that person a boy. Yes. Freddie. Marvelous.
After much perusing of The Goodreads, I see no information in regards to a sequel. This makes me sad. There needs to be a sequel! I want more Blue. And more of this world For serious.
One of the reasons I think I love retellings of fairytales so much has to do with the way I view them. People have a tendency to think of Grimm's versions as being the 'original' or the 'accurate' or the 'real' version--but that isn't really true at all. Fairytales didn't start out as something that people read and wrote, but something that people listened to or were told. Fairytales are part of our oral history. The same tale could change in details from storyteller to storyteller, or with the same storyteller from night to night. The stories we have written down in Grimm's collection, then, can be looked at as a sort of blueprint of essentials--the skeleton of the story remains the same, but what makes them important, vital, or intriguing is in what way the next storyteller will chose to flesh it out and bring it to life. Sadly, in our often Disney-fied society, we get so caught up in the beauty, the romance, the magic, and the adventure that the darker parts inherent in the often cautionary tales get glossed over, downplayed, or completely removed. That doesn't mean, however, that the Disney versions have not become part of our collective consciousness of fairytales--they are just as legitimate a contribution as the versions set down by Grimm.
Sarah Cross is one of the first authors I have read who seems to agree with that assessment. She is definitely trying to bring the dark bits back--and she does so in horrifyingly beautiful and original ways. (Gwen, my soul cries for you.) However, she is just as quick to toss out references to the Disney versions of fairytales as she is the Grimm versions, treating them like different but equal parts of the same oral history. Fairies fighting over pink and blue frosting meet stepsisters with chopped off toes. Cross recognizes and accepts that Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are as much a part of our cultural baggage as the blood-filled glass slipper.
The thing that fascinates me most about how Cross approaches fairytales, though, is how she chooses to let them play out for different characters. We very rarely find versions--even the dark, old versions--where the prince and princess don't end up living happily ever after. However, Cross shows us that just because the blueprint is followed does not mean that what comes of it will be pretty or good. We usually try to color in it in with happy things, but the details could be ugly and still fill the requirements.
She allows this extra layer of darkness in by frankly exploring the idea of free will. Here in the real world, the idea of everything being part of a bigger picture or plan is often comforting. It is easier to accept loss, pain, or suffering if we think that it is all for a good cause. However, there is never a real way for us to know what that plan may be. We have the feeling of freely making choices to go with that comfort. No such luck for Cross' characters. For them, their future is there for all to see. Everyone knows what will happen next, and, even if they try to fight it, fate steps in and pushes them back where they are supposed to be. Cross does an excellent job of showing how truly terrifying that would be, how helpless that could make you feel.
I also think Cross does an excellent job of subverting fairytale ideals in favor of the richer nuance of reality. Jillian discusses this much better than I in her review, but I like that Cross often uses exaggerated tropes in order to highlight the difference between them and something better. Yes, there is Instalove with Felix, and meant-to-be with Freddie, but no one but Mira (and poor Freddie) ever sees them as something good or right or viable--certainly not the reader! As a reader, I always felt uncomfortable when Mira was with Felix, and felt...well, nothing when she was with Freddie. These relationships pale when compared to Mira's relationship with Blue; they serve to show how much better is the love that grows between two characters who first get to know each other, then like each other, before finally falling in love with each other. I also like how, through these relationships, Cross shows that tradional fairytale roles can be just as unfair to the men as women.
Kill Me Softly is beautiful, dark, mysterious, funny, familiar, and disarming. It is a fascinating blend of the subtle and the obvious. I think it would be equally rewarding for the fairytale enthusiast (ticking off references like an English Major reading The Wasteland) as it would be for the Disney aficionado.
Sarah Cross is one of the first authors I have read who seems to agree with that assessment. She is definitely trying to bring the dark bits back--and she does so in horrifyingly beautiful and original ways. (Gwen, my soul cries for you.) However, she is just as quick to toss out references to the Disney versions of fairytales as she is the Grimm versions, treating them like different but equal parts of the same oral history. Fairies fighting over pink and blue frosting meet stepsisters with chopped off toes. Cross recognizes and accepts that Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are as much a part of our cultural baggage as the blood-filled glass slipper.
The thing that fascinates me most about how Cross approaches fairytales, though, is how she chooses to let them play out for different characters. We very rarely find versions--even the dark, old versions--where the prince and princess don't end up living happily ever after. However, Cross shows us that just because the blueprint is followed does not mean that what comes of it will be pretty or good. We usually try to color in it in with happy things, but the details could be ugly and still fill the requirements.
She allows this extra layer of darkness in by frankly exploring the idea of free will. Here in the real world, the idea of everything being part of a bigger picture or plan is often comforting. It is easier to accept loss, pain, or suffering if we think that it is all for a good cause. However, there is never a real way for us to know what that plan may be. We have the feeling of freely making choices to go with that comfort. No such luck for Cross' characters. For them, their future is there for all to see. Everyone knows what will happen next, and, even if they try to fight it, fate steps in and pushes them back where they are supposed to be. Cross does an excellent job of showing how truly terrifying that would be, how helpless that could make you feel.
I also think Cross does an excellent job of subverting fairytale ideals in favor of the richer nuance of reality. Jillian discusses this much better than I in her review, but I like that Cross often uses exaggerated tropes in order to highlight the difference between them and something better. Yes, there is Instalove with Felix, and meant-to-be with Freddie, but no one but Mira (and poor Freddie) ever sees them as something good or right or viable--certainly not the reader! As a reader, I always felt uncomfortable when Mira was with Felix, and felt...well, nothing when she was with Freddie. These relationships pale when compared to Mira's relationship with Blue; they serve to show how much better is the love that grows between two characters who first get to know each other, then like each other, before finally falling in love with each other. I also like how, through these relationships, Cross shows that tradional fairytale roles can be just as unfair to the men as women.
Kill Me Softly is beautiful, dark, mysterious, funny, familiar, and disarming. It is a fascinating blend of the subtle and the obvious. I think it would be equally rewarding for the fairytale enthusiast (ticking off references like an English Major reading The Wasteland) as it would be for the Disney aficionado.
I really liked the concept of the book, a modern twist on all the fairy tale characters that we have grown up with. I liked that the fairy tales were more closer to the Grimm version rather than Disney.
The book itself was ok, I enjoyed the other characters and their backstory/curses more than the main character of Mira. I thought that she was too young to be acting and doing the things she was doing. Not a bad book but not a page turner either.
The book itself was ok, I enjoyed the other characters and their backstory/curses more than the main character of Mira. I thought that she was too young to be acting and doing the things she was doing. Not a bad book but not a page turner either.
Yeah, no thanks.
You lost me with the 20 year old and the 15 year old having a relationship.
You lost me even more with the idiotic jerk of an mc, the constant sexism, and the cheesy love triangle between *gasp* two brOtHeRS.
You lost me with the 20 year old and the 15 year old having a relationship.
You lost me even more with the idiotic jerk of an mc, the constant sexism, and the cheesy love triangle between *gasp* two brOtHeRS.
A deeply fascinating retelling of "Bluebeard" mixed with "Sleeping Beauty". I really enjoyed the character's different levels of acceptance to their marks and the roles it put them in. I wasn't put off by the "Bluebeard" elements like other reviewers; I'm in the middle of a folktale class and we had read several tales of that type, so it was easy for me to identify.
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes