by Sarah Cross
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Release Date: January 27th 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.
If you want to live happily ever after, first you have to stay alive.
Viv knows there’s no escaping her fairy-tale curse. One day her beautiful stepmother will feed her a poison apple or convince her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Henley, to hunt her down and cut out her heart before she breaks his. In the city of Beau Rivage, some princesses are destined to be prey.
But then Viv receives an invitation to the exclusive club where the Twelve Dancing Princesses twirl away their nights. There she meets Jasper, an underworld prince who seems to have everything—but what he really wants is her. He vows to save her from her dark fate if she’ll join him and be his queen.
All Viv has to do is tear herself away from the huntsman boy who still holds her heart. Then she might live to see if happily ever after is a promise the prince can keep. But is life as an underworld queen worth sacrificing the true love that might kill her?
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 sacrficing the love that might kill her?
POP CULTURE CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF TWISTING FAIRY TALES: ABC's Once Upon a Time and NBC's Grimm continue to pull in high ratings. And with the anticipated Angelina Jolie Maleficent (2014), the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods (2014), and Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella (2015), Hollywood is infected with fairy tale fever.
CAMEOS FROM FAVORITE CHARACTERS: Viv, who first appeared in Kill Me Softly trailed by her brooding boy-toy Henley, takes center stage in this new Beau Rivage tale. Other familiar characters including Blue and Jewel are back to help her defy her destiny.
TEENS LOVE THIS FAIRY TALE WORLD: Kill Me Soflty was a 2013 YALSA Teens' Top 10. Readers have been clamoring for a sequel.
A FRESH TAKE ON THE FAMILIAR: Drawing on "Snow White," "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," and "Rumpelstiltskin," Tear You Apart is very conscious of the way these stories have pervaded pop culture, twisting known tropes into an exciting new story that can stand on its own.
OTHER BEAU RIVAGE BOOKS
After The Ball (Short Story)
As far as characters go I really liked Viv. She has a hard shell she wears to protect herself. It’s unfortunate that instead of controlling the curse she lets the curse control her. There is also Henley who even though he is cursed to be the Huntsman, stands by Viv. Blue and Mira pop in occasionally and I liked that Jewel had a bigger role. I wouldn’t mind her having her own book. Also there was the new addition of Jasper and his family.
I love the story of Viv and Henley. Even though their relationship becomes kind of volatile as the curse takes precedence. They are constantly pulling and pushing against eachother. They need to let go because he’s supposed to kill her, they can’t let go because they love one another. Very complicated.
The plot is kind of told with two storylines that intertwine. We do sometimes read in Henley’s perspective but because there are two components to the story. There is the Snow White curse that plays out just like the Fairy Tale and then the Underworld that has a bit more of mix of stories. There were times when I could not put the story down and at times I felt like it was moving a little bit slower. I did enjoy it all the way through, there was definitely enough intrigue to keep me interested.
There are many fairy tales that pop in and out. Most I knew but every once in a while there would be a character that I didn’t remember and would have to look it up. The tales keep the basics of the stories but they have their own spin on them. Predominantly it’s Snow White, The Dancing Princesses and Rumplestiltskin.
I enjoyed Tear You Apart and the stories it represented. I haven’t always been a big Snow White fan but I liked how Sarah Cross changed it up.
