Abstract

Reviewed by: Kill Me Softly Kate Quealy-Gainer Cross, Sarah . Kill Me Softly. Egmont, 2012. [320p]. Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-60684-323-9 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-60684-324-6 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 8-10. At fifteen, Mirabelle commits her first act of rebellion by running away to Beau Rivage, the hometown of her late parents and a place expressly forbidden by her strict, overprotective godmothers. Among the fairy-tale themed casinos and skeevy hotels, Mira meets a host of teens with strange characteristics (a girl whose mouth [End Page 450] " drips jewels, a boy who can seemingly enchant animals), each bearing a birthmark that curses them to fulfill a role in a particular fairy tale; Mira shares a similar mark, in the vague shape of a spinning wheel. Before she can play out her fate as Sleeping Beauty, however, she falls in love with Felix, a boy marked as a villain whose role would inevitably cost Mira her life, unless she can change both their destinies. Like the superhero teens of Cross' debut, Dull Boy (BCCB 9/09), Mira and her friends are an entertainingly motley group forced to deal with extraordinary circumstances. The author throws them together in a way that emphasizes the heartbreak of each fairy tale: the Huntsman, for example, is hopelessly in love with Snow White even as he knows he will be asked to kill her, while Blue, Felix's brother, actively resists Mira's friendship (despite his affection for her) for fear that it would lead to her becoming another victim of Bluebeard's curse. Unfortunately, many of these more dark, subversive elements are left behind as the story increasingly focuses on Mira's relationship with Felix and then Blue, leading to a conclusion where the happiness is forced and the loose ends are multiple, with the fates of both Felix and Mira's parents remaining undisclosed. A paranormal romance that has the girl choosing the nice guy over the broody bad boy, however, is a rare gem these days, and readers may find that enough to be enchanted by Beau Rivage and its residents. Copyright © 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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