Kill Me Softly
By Sarah Cross
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
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.
Sarah Cross
Sarah Cross lives in New York and loves fairy tales in all their incarnations. Visit her online at www.sarahcross.com.
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Reviews for Kill Me Softly
111 ratings20 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5**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. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This twist on not just one, but multiple fairy tales, makes for fun reading. I was surprised that Mira, the main character, wasn't more cautious and surprised by what she discovered in Beau Rivage - there were a number of weird things going on before she started asking questions. Over, this was a fun book and the ending made me more than ready to dive into the sequel.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Things I enjoyed about Kill Me Softly
Fairytale Retelling: freaking love them
Includes fairytales that aren’t redone very much.
Bad boy with a good heart
Friends that will help you regardless of their problems
Empowerment of sorts
Characters that don’t want to fate or destiny to determine their lives
Realizing the weight of choices made
The cover! - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I gave this book a 4 star review because I enjoyed reading it and felt it was a fresh and interesting take on the re-telling of fairy tales. While I did enjoy reading it, I did feel there were some issues. For instance, I think that Mira, the main character, should have been older...at least 17 going on 18 rather than 15 going on 16. I felt that a lot of the romantic interplay, especially between her and Felix was inappropriate with their age difference, and she just read as older to me. Also, it just felt wrong to have such a young girl staying in his hotel suite. They barely knew each other and the jump from strangers one minute to this intense romantic love was a bit of a stretch. The other thing was the lack of development in some of the surrounding characters. Blue was okay, but Freddie and Jewel and the others often felt very flat and artificial...like stereotypes of the fairy tale people they were destined to be. I would have liked to have seen them more fleshed out with their thoughts about their curses and some emotion about their destinies instead of it just being shrugged off. Freddie, yeah he's a hero and a good guy, but that doesn't have to mean that he never has an angry thought or might wish he was living a different life. I hope that the author goes into their lives a bit more in future books, and reveals more about them as individuals stuck in a cycle of having to re-live these curses. Surely Viv can't be as superficial and selfish as she seems? And if some of the kids are cursebreakers, how come they can't break the curses of their friends that are ruining their lives? Anyway,I look forward to reading book 2 (which, having just peeked at the author's website) appears to be all about Viv and her curse as her generations Snow White. Hopefully some of the threads left hanging in this book get resolved as we get to know the character of Beau Rivage better and in more depth.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this book. It took me a while to get through it, but that was simply because of everything going on around here, not because the book was slow to get into. The book introduces Mirabelle, or Mira as she is called to friends, who is an orphan and lives with her two godmothers in a small town. All she wants for her upcoming sixteenth birthday is to see her parents graves in the town where she was born. So she decides to run away to this town she has been forbidden to visit by the godmothers. Here she learns exactly who she is and what her destiny entails. This is a retelling of a fairy tale but it is an awesome retelling in a new and different way. I give it 5 stars.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Before Mira's sixteenth birthday, she runs away to try to find her parents' grave. She lands smack into a city of fairy tales and is quickly enraptured with boys. Yes, boys plural.
I enjoyed the plot line and the nods to the Grimm brothers. It's not difficult to love the main characters, Mira and Blue. Except Mira's confused feelings about love were rather eye-rolling inducing. Love triangles are more frustrating than any other kind of romance because there is never enough development to justify the "love" between at least 2 of the characters. Make up your mind, girl. So to be perfectly honest, I only loved the fairy tales woven into the story. In the end, this story is a 100% romance novel - that's the entire plot line. While Blue is sufficiently distracting and the world is intriguing, that the entire plot line centers around romance bothers me because Mira essentially ignores the reason why she goes to the city in the first place to fall madly, deeply in love with boys she knows for a week. .... typical teen romance protagonist, hmm?
Unfortunately the book glosses over secondary character development and also fails to tie up loose ends concerning major plot lines, which demoted the review to 2 stars instead of 3. Secondary characters seemed to be introduced only to show off fairy tales, rather than moving the plot along. Seeing no resolution for their stories simply made their presence in the story worthless besides giving Mira a heads up.
Definitely not worth a reread, especially the more I think about the book the more I dislike it. But I had an amusing time brainlessly skimming through this one through. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For older fans of retold fairytales.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Ah, yes. It’s that time of year: the crisp smell of cider…the warm, creamy goodness of caramel…and the god-awful skank costumes that hang in plain sight at the store, most of which not only desecrate the images of candy perfection, but insult the progress of women’s equality.Okay, so I’m a bit slow on posting this review, but I believe it is close enough on the time table that everyone will get my point. Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross is one of the more exasperating tales I’ve read in quite some time. Once again, I saw the title pop up on my book feeds time and again as the next big thing. Trying to purchase a copy also became a trial, making me think, “Wow, this must be a great story. Can’t wait to get my hands on it.” If I would have known the rancid smorgasbord ahead of me, I definitely would have stayed home for dinner.The main character, Mirabelle or Mira, begins the story as a seemingly innocent girl growing up with her godmothers. The scene literally mirrors that of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, with the fairy godmothers making a birthday cake. Mira immediately scams her way out of the house and into a strange town where her parents supposedly died. Although Mira claims she was raised without “dangerous” objects, adhering to strict curfews, yet not resenting her guardians, she dives head-long into questionable behavior without a second thought of remorse or rebellion—she just does it. Her self-proclaimed best feature is her “nice butt.” By the end of chapter 5 she is sleeping with a guy…but just sleeping. Does that really happen? Huh. There must have been a helluva lot of hormonal downturn with the 15-25 age range since I was a kid.The final straw, however, arrived in the form of a little red satin nighty…that she wore clubbing. And yes, she also wore matching whore heels. Mira would fit right in with the rest of the skanky costumes one finds at a frat party, all lacking creativity in the end game of I-just-want-to-get-laid. Do women really have to try that hard? This read belongs right there with the rest of the obscene costumes more evolved females must endure during the Halloween holidays…in the trash.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I do love a good fairy tale re-telling. Although, I'm not sure this qualifies as a re-telling as much as a re-living. The concept is interesting: Certain people are branded as fairytale icons and are, therefore, forced to complete the famous story at some point in their life. There are a myriad of fairy tales at play, but Mira's story is a combination of two. She's in the Sleeping Beauty tale, and the other one...well, to be honest, naming the other story is a TOTAL spoiler. But let's just say it's not a "common" one and it was So. Awesome.
The plot was a bit...wandering at times. Mira snuck out of her house, spent her savings and was prepared for the worst in order to find her parents grave and yet she was very, very distracted from this purpose for most of the book. I can understand this distraction once she figured out what was going on, but this was happening before she even knew what was going on.
I loved how Cross portrayed each of the real life fairy tales and what living with the blessing/curse was like in every day life. I actually found some of the secondary characters more intriguing than Mira because of how they were coping with their predetermined paths.
Like I said, I found the premise and the characters absolutely fascinating, even if I though Mira was a bit wishy-washy. I would certainly be interested in further books in this world, if only because I want to see how some of the secondary characters' curses play out. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
This review can also be found on Reading Between Classes
Cover Impressions: The white rose dipped in blood speaks to innocence lost and is an image that stands out among the plethora of girls in pretty dresses that make up a huge chunk of YA novels today. However, I am not a fan of the title font. It seems a little too weak against such a stark image.
The Gist: Mirabelle has spent her entire life listening to the rules and sanctions set forth by her Godmothers. Now, as her 16th birthday draws near, she is about to break their biggest one: returning to the place of her birth, Beau Rivage. Here, Mira encounters a world where fairy tales take a dark turn and everyone has a role to play, whether they wish to or not.
Review: In Kill Me Softly Sarah Cross creates a fairy tale world that interposes with our own. It lies, just beneath the surface and can be seen by anyone willing to peer through the veil. However, these are not your disneyfied princes and princesses fending off colorful dragons and over-the-top Queens (though, don't get me wrong, Maleficent scared the CRAP out of me as a kid) instead, Cross takes inspiration from the original Fairy Tales which feature evil plot twists, casual murders, the hacking off of limbs and buckets of blood.
Against this backdrop of Happily Ever After gone wrong, Mira meets Blue, a boy who does everything to push her away and his brother, Felix who does everything not to. As a character, Mira is a little difficult to like. She is often rude and ungrateful, which seems completely out of character for a person who, up until now, has blindly followed her Godmother's orders. It feels a little unreal that a character who is so quick to anger, did not question these rules or show any sign of rebellion prior to her slipping away in the middle of the night. Blue, on the other hand, is a character who does everything possible to make Mira dislike him but she (and the reader) cannot help but root for this wounded hero. Whenever I hit a section where Mira was spending time falling in love with Felix, I found myself itching to turn each page, hoping that Blue would be waiting on the other side. The "love" that Mirabelle claims to have for Felix, feels forced and wrong but shows it's importance by the end of the story (much like Romeo's "love" for Rosaline).
The plot is interesting but more character based than action based. Because Cross weaves together a number of fairy tales (some of which are less likely to be recognizable to most readers) we have a vague idea of where the story is headed, but are still able to be surprised by plot twists. I do believe that the novel is a stand-alone and I hope that this is the end of Mirabelle's and Blue's story. However, I thoroughly enjoyed my walk through Beau Rivage and would very much like to read the tales of some of the other characters. This world is simply too interesting to let go of so easily.
Teaching/Parental Notes:
Age: 16 and up, this one is NOT for your 12 year old!
Gender: Female, though some males may enjoy the clever re-working of well known fairy tales
Sex: Intimate touching, talk of sex
Violence: Loss of limbs, murders,
Inappropriate Language: Bitch, Shit.
Substance Abuse: Underage drinking. Smoking. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Mirabelle is about to turn 16, and she is ready to learn about her past, including her parents deaths, even if her godmothers don't think she is ready. They have always been so overprotective of her, that Mira has created an elaborate hoax to escape their detection until she can get to Beau Rivage, where she was born and her parents died. However, many dangers lurk in Beau Rivage for an outsider, and many more lurk for an insider removed too soon. Mira must navigate this new world of fairy tales come to life before her curse is activated.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Kill Me Softly by Sarah CrossPages: 336Release Date: April 10th, 2012Date Read: 2012, April 8th-10thReceived: ARC from NetGalleyRating: 3.5/5 starsRecommended to: 16+SUMMARY -Mirabelle has lived a sheltered life since her parents died in a fire - the fire that had interrupted Mira's christening and swallowed them alive. Now Mira lives with her godmothers, Elsa and Bliss. They've protected her from harm - and from every day life, like boyfriends and parties and getting her ears pierced. She's never resented them - she knows they mean well. But if she's going to get answers about her parents and who they were, she's going to have to travel to the one place her godmothers have absolutely forbidden her to go: Beau Rivage, the city where she was born. After nine months of planning, Mira makes her escape...and finds herself lost in a world where storybooks are real, heroes take the stage, villains destroy, fairy tale endings are determined by a special mark, and there is no way of getting out.MY THOUGHTS -This book is a page-turner if I ever saw (read) one! The first chapter or so sets up the story nicely, without an info-dump, and then it's off - mercilessly dragging you along until the ride is over. And by golly, it's a wild one!I enjoyed myself immensely while reading Kill Me Softly. It's an excellent read. However, I did take issue with how carnal it was at times... I know that fairy tales are dark, and sometimes carnal, but this book went further than that. (Read the For the Parents section below for more info.) Besides that, I just adore this book. Sarah Cross's writing delivers clear and crisp images. It didn't blow me away, but at times it really stood out to me the way she worded things. I plan on reading whatever else she publishes!CHARACTER NOTES -This book proves everything I believe about good looks and falling in love. Admittedly, when I first read Blue's description, all I could think was, "...Seriously?" But my my my... By the end of the book, I had decided that blue hair, blue eyebrows and facial piercings are the hottest things ever!Blue. Is. AWESOME! I totally fell for him, loved his character SO MUCH. And because of that, looks don't matter. I'm quite sure a few other Kill Me Softly fans can attest to this same exact thing.The mystery that is Blue... Ahhh... He was a breath of fresh air. As his character, his past, and what lies in his future slowly become apparent, I could not help falling for him with every new word he spoke, every action he made. True love? Yes, please!Mira is the kind of girl who is determined, not rebellious. I love and respect this about her. She didn't run away to spite her godmothers or get drunk or sleep around. She ran away because of the calling she felt in Beau Rivage. I heard that some readers were annoyed by her, but I definitely wasn't. She didn't always make the right decisions and often couldn't see what was RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. But that leads to the great part about her - she comes around, sees for cryin' out loud, and doubly makes up for her bad decisions with her bravery, love, and selfless nature.Felix - ach! He had me wondering from the moment he was introduced. I guessed some of his story before but honestly I had no idea I was right so I didn't really hold onto it... But holy gracious it was intense!!The others are also amazing. I love this cast and still think about it to this day. Every individual was unique and pulled his or her own weight in the story. And they made me laugh, which is always a bonus.STORY NOTES -So, you always hear of love triangles... Every heard of a love "square"? 1 girl, 3 guys? Haha! Cheesy, I know. Well, in this book, you will experience this, possibly (probably?) for the first time. I was so skeptical at first of the love triangle, and then the third guy was introduced and I was like, "Hey, this actually works!" Sarah Cross mastered it! I can't said who the three guys are but...trust me, you'll love them all. Also trust me in that you'll have your favorite from the moment he's introduced!My my, what an intense story-line we have here! Dark and sinister, like any good Grimm, but also with a touch of Sarah Cross. She rocked these stories, lemme tell you. She made the world of Wilhelm and Jacob Grim her own. The interwoven stories and intense scene sequences....WOW.The climax was really really great, although I felt it could have been drawn out a bit longer. A little more detail, maybe in the actual event, maybe in the rescue, I don't know. But the point is - it was awesome no matter what. And the end...the end!!! Blue!! *faints*SUMMING IT UP -Grimmly beautiful! ;) I truly enjoyed this story and hope to see more of Sarah Cross in the realm of literature!For the Parents -Some scattered language (briefly strong). Some sexual content. The details were what bothered me. Mira is an innocent girl who decides randomly she doesn't mind sleeping with men she just met- and even buys lingerie for he occasion. They don't actually have sex, but there are 3 or 4 very steamy kisses, and 2 almost lead to sex - and Cross goes into too much detail for me to just let it pass by. Later in the story, two girls kiss. (If I remember correctly, one girl spits diamonds out of her mouth after the kiss as payment for letting her use a facility for a concert.)So, no, not happy with the content. That's the reason for the lower rating.Recommended 16+
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mirabelle has lived with her godmothers since her parents were killed in a fire in their hometown of Beau Rivage. He godmothers love her but are very protective with all sorts of strange rules Mira has to follow. One of the rules is that Mira never go to Beau Rivage. As her 16th birthday approaches, Mira hatches a plot to run away and discover why her family is so opposed to her going there. It does not take long for her to discover that Beau Rivage and everyone there, are very special indeed. Fairy Tales are real and Mira has her own curse to deal with.I enjoyed this book. It is fun and romantic. The weaving of very real teens into fariy tales is pretty fun. But as a librarian, I have to bump it down a bit because like so many of the YA books I have read lately, the romance is SO intense. Ok, there is magic there and that has something to do with it but Mira seems all to willing to die for love. It did not stop my enjoying the book but it did give me pause. Get a grip, he is just a boy. A boy with evil magical powers, but still just a boy.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Mira is first are introduced , she seems sweet but once she gets to Beau Rivage, her attitude changes. She seems lost and angry.That is until she meets Felix, who instantly bedazzles her and she becomes attached to him. Now, here is where I have issues with this book because Mira is fifteen and Felix is in his 20s, and he is coming on to her in a very sexually intoxicating manner. The poor girl is dizzy, literally from the lustiness(I am quite sure this is not a word, but I'm using it). Felix has a brother Blue, who Mira initially met when she arrived and he tried his best to get her to leave. I think the chemistry between Mira and Blue is so funny and the most interesting. She meets others just like her in this town and Mira feels like her new friends are keeping her in the dark, as they won't tell her anything, except stay away from Felix. Torn between her supposed love for Felix and the possible danger, she believes that she knows him better than they do, after a matter of days. Seriously!The story is great and completely not what I expected. One of the cool things I really liked about this book are the marks that identify what story that the characters belong.Beau Rivage is full of fairy tale tragedies, and everyone knows their fate. The thing is no matter how hard they may try to change their path, destiny gets in the way. Mira wants to be the exception to this rule, that's if she survives her curse, and finds out what her trigger is before it is too late. Dark, witty and original this is a great book about love and destiny.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross follows Mira as she struggles to find the truth about her past, her parents, and just where she comes from. She’s forbidden to go to the town of Beau Rivage, so like any good teenager, what does she do? She runs into a motley crew of other teens, all of whom—similar to her—bear a strange birthmark. Turns out Beau Rivage is a gathering place of fairy tales, (somewhat) normal people. Some want to simply live their lives, others revel in their romantic, adventurous, honourable or sordid fates. When Mira runs into the brothers Blue and Felix, the fun really begins. I can’t say very much about the plot without spoilers, as the reader discovers secrets about Mira, Beau Rivage, and its inhabitants as Mira herself does.Kill Me Softly cam to be highly recommended, and I greatly enjoyed it. I love fairy tales, and it was a very interesting take to see them so… well, human. The fairy tales are treated almost as different species. For example (minor spoiler): Mira learns her category is a Somnolent, her role is princess, and her tale is Sleeping Beauty. It was fantastic reading about these teens just tossing such terms around, like how one is an Honour Bound from this tale, while another is a Princess from that tale.The characterization was excellent. Mira, Blue, and Felix are great characters in their own rights, but the crowd of secondary characters are what makes it a joy to read. Got to say, Henley the Huntsman is my favourite in all his pissy, brooding glory. At some points I had to wonder why Mira was taking certain paths, but Cross wrote her in a believable way. She came across as an occasionally confused, often stubborn girl, a typical teenager. I really like how she twisted her fate, using it rather than becoming a victim to it.My favourite part thought has got to be the humour. Cross writes it brilliantly, enough to make you snicker to yourself without descending into farce. The twitterpated animals fawning after Viv and Freddie always cracked me up.Overall, loved it, an excellent read. Good plot, great characters, excellent humour. I also quite liked the ending… Just enough of a twist to keep you happy and wondering if there’s more books coming for Beau Rivage!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mirabelle Lively is just about to turn 16 years old and all her life she has been, told what to do and been overly protected by her fairy godmothers. All she wants is to see her parents graves, find out where they had lived, and to know them. Whenever she has asked about her parents or wanted to visit the town she was born in Beau Rivage, they refuse. So, if they won't let her go, she was determined to go on her own. In the middle of the night, with the help of a couple friends, Mira runs away from home and to the one place her godmother's never wanted her to go. Where she meets a cast of fairy tale characters. First, two brothers, one of them is charming and eager to help her and the other a rude and mean guy who is determined to get her to stay as far away from him and his brother as he can.So, I didn't know what to expect when I got this book from netgalley but, I was really excited because I enjoy watching the show Once Upon a Time and it seemed like the book would be similar. It was, in a few ways except these are the happy and fun filled Disney fairy tales that we grew up watching. They are the dark Grimm's fairytales. Now, I personally was not super familiar with most of these darker ones, but Sarah Cross does a good job of explaining a few and I enjoyed that aspect very much. I really liked Mira as a character, in the beginning of the story she was sheltered and had no idea what she was getting herself into by the time she arrived in the town of Beau Rivage and by the end of it, she has a home there and friends who mean the world to her. While reading this book I was torn, I don't know about you guys but I usually get so mad when I start a book and the main character (usually a girl) meets a guy and automatically fall in love with him, without knowing anything about him or what love really means. So, at first I was mad and I hate it when that happens but, the more I thought about it (and trust me I thought about it a lot while reading this book) It did make sense for her to fall in love without knowing much about the guy because to me at least in some of the fairytales that is what happens. Boy meets girl or, girl meets boy and they fall madly in love and live happily ever after. Overall, I really did enjoy this book, I felt like it was something new and different that I haven't normally read and I couldn't put the book down, I love it when two characters have a witty banter together that can make me smile and enjoy the book even more ( I always wish that I could be witty) It was fun picturing all the different fairytale characters in the different people she met throughout the story and learning about the darker versions of the fairytales. I had so many thoughts and feelings going through my mind and that is what makes me really enjoy a book. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who loves fairy tales, enjoys the show Once Upon a Time, or just wants to read something out of the ordinary. It was a pretty quick and enjoyable read and I really hope that Sarah Cross continues to write books from this fairytale world she has created!!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5GoodReads Synopsis: 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 a week before her sixteenth birthday—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.My Thoughts: I thought this was an incredibly clever book. Cross was able to create a world where fairy tales are played out in each generation…and we aren’t talking the Disney sanitized version of the fairy tales, and they are grim. As these tales are played out in each generation they are tweaked enough to accommodate the fact that it’s the 21st century. For example, Mira is walking through Beau Rivage with her friends when she notices two girls and as something catches her eye she sees both these girls have bandaged feet. She deduces that these are Cinderella’s step-sisters because in the original version of the story the sisters cut toes off their feet to try and fit into the glass slipper. I’ve never read the original Grimm’s tales, and this book, more than any other I have read, makes me want to do just that.There was the usual bit of “instant love”…but in this case, I think it helped the storyline with Felix. Felix’s curse is as a romantic, in other words women are supposed to fall head over heels in love with him. Maybe Mirabelle did it a little faster than most, but it helped the story along. And let’s be honest…the fairy tales is where I think the whole “instant love” thing originates from.The other characters are just fun. Did you ever wonder what Beast was like before he was cursed and became Beast? What about Prince Charming? I loved Cross’s interpretation of these characters before their curses kick in. As much as I complain about stories becoming series…I would love to see more from Cross along this line or with these characters. This book, “Kill Me Softly”, easily ranks as a new favorite of mine!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kill Me Softlyby Sarah CrossEgmont USAavailable April 10 2012received from NetGalley for reviewWhen I was a kid, I used to watch a Saturday morning cartoon called "Fractured Fairy Tales" where a funny dog explained to a small boy the true stories behind some of the fairy tales we read as children.This book puts an entirely new spin on the 'fractured fairy tale' idea. All I can say is WOW. I really, really liked this book. The main character is a 15 year old girl who was raised by her godmothers (get it?) far away from her homeland. She is protected from everything. She can't even use a pair of scissors because the godmothers are afraid she may get hurt. Sound familiar? Well, this isn't a Disney story. She goes to a town called Beau Rivage to look for the gravestones of her deceased parents. She meets all sorts 'cursed' individuals who also lead not so fairy tale lives. A beautiful girl whose stepmom wants her dead, a 'prince' who must wait for his princess and wake her with a kiss, and several other bizarre characters. Not really a spoiler, but I have to add this part. I must have a warped sense of humor because I found this just hilarious. Two sisters who tried to 'make the shoe fit'. One cut off her big toe, and the other chopped off a piece of her heel. They limp around town with bandages of their feet. By the way, forgot to mention, the main character's name is Mirabelle. How's that for a fairy tale name?The one part of this book that truly bothered me, Mirabelle, at 15 years of age contemplates having a relationship with an older man. He is Felix, the manager of a local casino. He is also a strange fairy tale character in this bizarre group of characters.. I know, I'm probably just a prude, but the idea of a 15 year old girl sleeping with a 21 year old guy just bothered me. Anyways, I loved this story. Loved the characters. They were colorful and downright fun. I had to laugh at Beauty and Snow White, while cringing at the character of the beast. I loved the prince who comes to the rescue, but.....my favorite character? Blue. Wait till you read his story. He's a funny, wise mouthed, snarky kid who tries hard to keep everyone at arms length. Overall, this is an incredible book. A wonderful story with an idea so different from everything else on the bookshelves right now!I think most YA and teens would love this book. The characters are wonderful, and the writing is just amazing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kill Me Softly is a bit predictable, but it is still a good read. I enjoyed the world that Cross created, and I hope to revisit it again soon in the future. I have no idea if there is a sequel to this book or not, but I feel that some loose ends weren't tied up as neatly as they could have been had this been a standalone novel. However, the ending was satisfying enough that if there is no sequel, I won't feel like the story is lacking an ending. The characters are likable and well-developed, and the plot is intriguing. I'd recommend Kill Me Softly to anyone who likes fantasy novels or would love to read a retelling of fairy tales. Mirabelle is a sweet character, and I liked her. She was immature sometimes. Also she was a bit too naive, , and I really wanted to smack her part of the time. Furthermore, every mistake she made was extremely predictable. I knew what she was going to do before she did, I think. Maybe that's because she was so sheltered growing up, but that was a bit annoying at times. Blue and Felix, the two love interests, were both very interesting. They weren't stock characters at all. At first, they seemed like they may be, but as with everything else in Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems. I don't want to go into more detail because I don't want to spoil the story for anyone. My favorite part of the book was the world that Cross created within Beau Rivage. This world is unique and mysterious. The world-building in this novel was fantastic. It wasn't overdone, but I understood everything that was going on. I felt like I'd stepped into the book and entered this strange universe that Cross has created. The plot was intriguing, but it was predictable. I had everything figured out long before Mira did. Also, there is a bit of insta-love, and I really hate insta-love. I just feel that the female leads need to be a little more independent and a little less boy crazy in most YA books anymore. This novel focuses a lot on the instant romance, and the plot almost revolves around it. I'm assuming that's the reason for the swoony female, and I'm not sure how it could have been done better. I just wish that the relationship had progressed some. The mysterious parts of the story were well done, but as I stated, I did have them figured out long before the big reveals. That's okay though because I do that with most books. The fairy tales stuck more to the original Grimm's Fairy Tales, which I loved. Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy, romance, or fairy-retelling. Cross has created a unique and enthralling world that you'll want to see more of.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales Quick & Dirty: Love, trust, and friendship are put to the test in this darkly beautiful modern take on fairy tales.Opening Sentence: Birthdays were wretched, delicious things when you lived in Beau Rivage.The Review:Sarah Cross blends fairy tales with reality, and illustrates what that means for cursed teens as they learn about themselves and those around them. Mira, the protagonist, is an orphan who lives with her two strict, but loving godmothers. Mira is not allowed to do lots of things, including visit her parent’s hometown of Beau Rivage. Mira accepts her godmother’s rules as caring eccentricities except for the ban on Beau Rivage. A few days before her sixteenth birthday, Mira runs away and heads to the one place that she knows her parents were before they died.Mira is stubborn and defensive, but just wants to feel like she belongs somewhere in the world. I think she uses scathing remarks to protect herself from getting close to someone who may one day leave and hurt her. She is also impulsive, and takes risks that might cause her harm. When she arrives in Beau Rivage with little money and no plan for what she intended to do once she got there, Mira hangs out in a casino until she can figure out what to do next. There she meets Blue and Freddie, two guys her age who warn her away from the casino that Blue’s family owns because he has a brother, Felix, who will take advantage of her situation as an orphan in an unfamiliar town. Mira scornfully rejects Blue’s pleas to leave, and hides out in the casino.Blue is named so for his blue hair, and comes across as a rebellious teenager who has friends, but keeps them at a distance. He jokes around to hide his emotions, and does what he can to make girls, especially Mira, hate him. We find out later that this has to do with what type of curse he has. Freddie, on the other hand, is sweet, innocent, and and fiercely devoted. His personality also fits in with what type of curse he has. It turns out that many of the citizens in Beau Rivage have some sort of curse tied to familiar fairy tales.There are all sorts of classifications of curses that play out over and over throughout history that Mira is confronted with. At first she doesn’t believe it, but she has a role to play like the others in town. Many of their curses are intertwined with each other. For example, one girl’s curse is to be hated and envied by her stepmother, and their gardener/general errand boy who loves and hates her will one day be ordered by the stepmother to cut out the girl’s heart. This is the classic Snow White tale for the modern age. The girl, Viv, treats the gardener, Henley with either disgust or admiration, causing mixed signals between them that may one day lead to her death. Mira learns that there are deadly consequences for choices she can make.While Mira is learning more about the hidden part of her past and the other cursed teens in Beau Rivage, Blue’s brother Felix has been successfully romancing her despite everyone’s warnings about him. Mira has never felt like she was wanted romantically before, which is why she falls head over heels for Felix. It is only near the end of the novel and when her life is in serious danger that Mira finally confronts the truth behind the rumors about Felix. Mira learns a lesson in humility as she realizes that she doesn’t have to go through life alone, and should realize that there are more people out there who care about her than she ever realized.Mira thinks that she can find out who she is by visiting her parent’s hometown, but instead is handed a new life that she never could have dreamed of, and it turns out for the better. I would recommend this novel for anyone who likes modern twisted fairy tales and vibrant, emerging romance.Notable Scene:“I want to show Mira.”“Show me what?” Mira asked.“Things you didn’t see before. Look between the cracks.”Mira studied the crowd before her,not sure what she was looking for. A band played at one end of the street, and little kids danced to the music, waving balloon animals and toy swords. There were couples out on dates, hands creeping up the backs of T-shirts to fondle bare skin. Vendors hawked nylon fairy wings, funnel cakes, lemonade, art. Men and women lingered on the thresholds of bars, calling to friends, cozying up to strangers.It seemed like any other place.But then a pair of twenty-something girls caught her eye. Sister, maybe? They walked with the same awkward gait–a kind of limping sashay–and had the same pert noses and cascading dark curls. They limped along in a open-toed sandals, perfect pedicures marred by the white bandages they wore.One girl’s heel was wrapped–and oddly shaped, like part of it was missing. The other girl wore a thick bandage where her big toe should have been.They were Cinderella’s stepsisters, Mira realized–and this was the aftermath of their curse. In the tale, the stepsisters each cut off part of her foot in hopes of fitting into Cinderella’s tiny slipper. Mira hadn’t thought anyone would actually do that–but the sisters flaunted their injured feet like they were proud of them.The sisters sensed her staring and glanced over, their eyes narrowing in unison. Blue waved hello, but instead of acknowledging him, they turned up her noses and hobbled away.“They’re still so snobby!” Layla exclaimed. “You’d think that amputation would have humbled them a bit.”“They thing they’re special because they avoided getting their eyes pecked out,” Blue said. “But really, it was just their stepsister being nice to them. She let them wear goggles to the wedding. It’s not that the birds didn’t try.”“Of course not,” Layla sniffed. “Birds are diligent.”FTC Advisory: EgmontUSA provided me with a copy of Kill Me Softly. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Book preview
Kill Me Softly - Sarah Cross
CHAPTER ONE
SWEET SIXTEEN COMING UP, MIRA,
Elsa said with a grin, licking a stripe of sky blue frosting from her finger. I’m taking your cake for a test run.
Great,
Mira said, forcing a smile. Her godmother had been wreaking havoc on the kitchen for the last hour or so, scattering measuring cups and batter-sticky bowls across every inch of counter space. Flour powdered Elsa’s cheeks, and rainbow splotches of food dye stained her jeans. The kitchen was a disaster area—definitely not the place to sit at the table reading a nerve-wracking play like Wait Until Dark—but Mira had managed to block out the baking chaos going on around her. She had other things on her mind.
Mira’s shoulders were hunched, as if to hide her guilt. Her hair kept spilling onto the book in front of her, obscuring the words. But it hardly mattered; she was too distracted by her plan—the culmination of eight months of deception—to concentrate on the story. The open book was her decoy. She could mumble one-word answers, and no one would worry that something was wrong—so long as she remembered to turn the pages once in a while.
Mira’s other godmother, Bliss, darted in, her wide skirt swaying like a bell. Bliss was Mira’s girly godmother: always dressed in frills, her hair in perfect blond ringlets touched with a few strands of silver. "Elsa, you’re ruining the surprise! Bliss scolded.
You can’t make Mira’s cake right in front of her! Besides—we agreed on pink frosting."
No,
Elsa said, "you suggested pink frosting. I chose to ignore your suggestion."
Bliss brought her fingers to her throat in a be-still-my-heart gesture. That cake is going to make me ill before I taste it.
We’ll let Mirabelle decide,
Elsa said. Belle, what color frosting do you want?
Mira shrugged. She wouldn’t be around to celebrate. Any color’s fine.
Earlier, she’d crumpled the last of the love letters, the one that came out of the printer with the ink smeared, and stuffed it into her pocket. Her fingers went to it now for reassurance—like it was a charm from Bliss’s shop.
You can do this. You have to go or you’ll always regret it.
Mira’s distracted,
Bliss announced, tapping a glass knitting needle against her palm. Bliss never knitted; she just carried the needle around, using it like a baton when she was making a point. Bliss was a little … eccentric.
Elsa, too. Her godmothers were unusual women: two friends who’d found themselves coparenting Mira when there was no one else to take care of her. Bliss ran a New Agey charm shop stocked with crystals, incense, and unicorn paraphernalia.
Elsa was a literature professor at the local university. Apart from a fine wrinkle and a new gray hair every year, they barely seemed to age.
Their lives revolved around Mira. Which made her impending betrayal even more despicable.
Mira’s always distracted,
Elsa said, shooting Mira an affectionate look.
It was true—her godmothers were used to her daydreaming by now. But today she wasn’t lost in fantasy. Today she just felt guilty, and was nervous about being found out, and struggling not to let it show on her face.
"If she wasn’t distracted, she would no doubt choose pink, Bliss said, banging open the cupboards and peering inside.
Did you hide the red food coloring?"
Maybe,
Elsa said, before moving on to a more sensitive subject. Mira could sense the question before her godmother even asked. You sure you don’t want to have a party, Belle?
They’d been over this before, and Mira’s refusal to celebrate her sixteenth birthday was like a big sign stating I AM DEPRESSED. She’d always spent more time alone than with friends, but she did have them, and she’d always had parties in the past. Bliss and Elsa were big on birthdays. They said every year was a gift, not a guarantee, and ought to be celebrated accordingly.
Mira always felt that, under those words, they were talking about her parents’ deaths. Two lives that had ended when Mira was three months old.
And maybe they were talking about her life, too.
Because Mira could have died that night. At her christening party, in the ballroom that had caught fire, the blaze swallowing everything—including the life she’d been meant to have.
Belle? Mirabelle? You listening?
Um, yes,
she said, snapping back to reality. Sorry. I was just thinking….
You sure you don’t want a party?
Elsa leaned against the counter, wiping her hands with a dish towel. We could do something quiet at the house. Invite a few friends …
Mira hated disappointing her godmothers. It would have been a lot easier to agree. Elsa and Bliss would have relaxed, stopped giving her those concerned looks. But she didn’t have the heart to get their hopes up and let them plan a party she wouldn’t be there to attend.
You’re breaking our hearts,
Bliss teased, bending to kiss the top of Mira’s head.
Mira took a deep breath—then exhaled slowly so it wouldn’t sound like she was upset. One more day of lying. One more day until she ran away—to the one place her godmothers had forbidden her to go—and broke their hearts for real.
She’d have to get used to disappointing them.
The night she left, Mira scribbled her email password on a Post-it note and stuck it to her desk—the final touch. Then she counted her money, crammed the wad of bills in her pocket, and tiptoed into the hall, closing her bedroom door behind her.
It was after eleven and Bliss and Elsa were in their rooms, asleep. Other than the occasional tinkle of wind chimes outside, the house was silent.
Mira crept down the hall, barefoot and empty-handed, doing her best to look innocent. If one of her godmothers woke up, she’d say she was going out to look at the stars—some dreamy excuse they’d believe.
But she hoped she wouldn’t have to. If she lost her chance tonight … she might not be brave enough to try again.
Carefully, Mira unlocked the back door. She pushed open the screen door, which didn’t creak because she’d oiled it two weeks ago when no one was home. Then she stepped out into the yard, like a thief in reverse: breaking and exiting. Stealing herself.
The air was damp, cool for June. It was drizzling, and the wet grass tickled her feet as she ran deeper into the yard, where the doghouse was. The doghouse had been there when they moved in, and stayed uninhabited since they didn’t have a dog. Bliss had painted it Easter egg colors so it looked more like a dollhouse, and Mira had kept toys inside it when she was little.
Now Mira knelt in front of the doghouse and stuck her arm all the way in, feeling around until her fingers brushed the bulging nylon exterior of her duffel bag. Seizing the straps, she wrestled it through the opening, grunting a little as she jerked it free. It wasn’t a large bag, but she’d packed it with as much as it could hold—even her shoes were inside. She’d hidden it that morning while Elsa was out running errands and Bliss was at her charm shop—then spent the day terrified one of them would find it.
Shivering as the rain pricked her arms, Mira got to her feet. She threw the bag’s longest strap over her shoulder, took a deep breath—and dashed through the yard to the street. She ran until she got to the corner, bare feet slapping the pavement, then slowed to a quick walk. She kept her head down—and prayed that a police car wouldn’t skim by on patrol.
She walked like that until she got to Rachel’s house. Rachel was a girl she knew from drama class. They’d done scenes together, but Rachel was more of an acquaintance than a friend. She didn’t like Mira enough to try to talk her out of this, didn’t even care where she was going.
In other words: she was the perfect accomplice.
Rachel was waiting in her garage with her boyfriend, Matt, the two of them looking like twins in their dark jeans and T-shirts. Mira hurried up the driveway, a weight lifting off her now that she was one step closer.
Hey,
she said, out of breath and smiling. Her clothes were spotted all over with rain.
Rachel squinted; flicked her long bangs out of her eyes. Mira, don’t you need shoes?
They’re in my bag,
Mira said. I was in a hurry.
Prison break,
Matt said, nodding like he understood.
It wasn’t far from the truth. Not that her godmothers kept her locked up—they were just insanely strict. They protected her from everything—even things no normal person needed protection from.
Mira wasn’t supposed to ride in a car unless an adult was driving, had to use a noxious-smelling depilatory because they wouldn’t let her shave her legs, wasn’t allowed to date, had to be home by ten on weekends, couldn’t pierce her ears or wear makeup or have a cell phone. … The list went on and on.
She didn’t like her godmothers’ rules, but she followed them. Partly out of respect—she felt she owed it to Elsa and Bliss to be obedient, after all they’d done for her. And they were so sweet, even when they were strict—she hated upsetting them.
But there was one restriction she couldn’t accept: her godmothers refused to let her visit the city where she’d been born. After the fire, they’d taken her away and moved north to a college town in Indiana—and they had no intention of letting her go back. Mira pestered them about it a few times a year—and always on her birthday—and every time, they said no. Not when you’re older,
not maybe one day
—just a solid, unwavering no.
Too many bad memories, they argued. It would be hard on you.
But the only memories
Mira had were their carefully chosen stories. How her parents had dressed her in lace and a dainty rosebud crown for her christening. How they’d danced together at their wedding, as if on air. Elsa and Bliss never told her anything new. It was as if they’d long ago decided on a handful of safe answers, and everything else was going to stay a mystery.
Ready?
Rachel asked.
Mira nodded; handed over the money so Rachel wouldn’t have to ask for it. Cab fare,
she said, per their agreement.
And hush money,
Rachel said with a grin. Not that she would tell Mira’s godmothers. Rachel didn’t care about rules—only her gas tank, and being compensated for her time.
Man. I never would’ve guessed you were a bad girl,
Matt said.
I try to keep that a secret,
Mira said, yanking her flip-flops out of her bag and stepping into them.
Rachel rolled her eyes. You’re both sooo bad. Get in the car.
They took their seats, Rachel started the engine—and they were off.
There were a lot of things Mira kept secret. Like how much she missed her parents.
It was embarrassing to admit she still missed them—so she didn’t talk about it. It was easier to withdraw into daydreams when the loss hit her hardest, and imagine what her life would be like if her parents were alive. She’d re-create them from things her godmothers had told her, and she filled in the blank spots using characters from old movies, pieces of her own personality and the person she wished she could be—the person she might have been if she’d known them.
Rationally, she knew she should have gotten over their deaths a long time ago. She’d been lucky to survive, and she should focus on that, and be grateful. But the pain of losing her parents, of never knowing them, was always at the forefront of her heart.
She wanted to visit their graves. To tell their ghosts who she’d become. To see the city they’d called home, and get some closure. So she could—maybe—be normal.
She couldn’t keep living like this.
Rachel drove with the radio tuned to a rock station, singing along whenever a song she liked came on. Matt turned around to loop his arms across the back of the passenger seat, his overgrown hair falling in his face.
So where’re you going?
he asked.
San Francisco. To meet a guy,
Mira lied, not caring about the rumors that would be circulating by the time she got back. They’d be better than whatever people already thought about her: a girl who was an orphan, who didn’t date, who lived with two eccentric godmothers, and spent a ton of time in her own head. It’s been a long-distance thing,
she said, filling out the lie.
That’s cool,
Matt said, nodding.
"More like weird, Rachel weighed in.
That’s a really long bus ride. This guy better be cute."
Mira shrugged. If Rachel thought long-distance romance was weird, she’d think the truth—a fake long-distance romance, complete with eight months’ worth of love letters that Mira had written to cover her tracks—was a whole lot weirder.
Outside, dark houses in neat, quiet neighborhoods skipped by; and then they were on the highway, and Rachel was telling Matt to remind her when their exit was coming up, and Mira drifted and let them talk. She closed her eyes and saw the last line of the last letter she’d written:
I’ll see you soon. I love you. …
Mira knew her godmothers pretty well—and she’d known that if she suddenly disappeared, Bliss and Elsa would assume she’d gone to the one place she was always pestering them about.
So she had to leave them chasing a false trail.
From November to June, Mira had written love letters to herself, and to a boy she invented, who supposedly lived in San Francisco. It had been a game at first—a plot that could be abandoned if she changed her mind. But the closer she came to leaving, the more determined she was to go through with it.
She’d sent the letters back and forth from two email accounts; and yesterday, she’d printed out a few prime examples—I can’t believe we’re doing this! I can’t wait to meet you!—and planted them in her desk drawer.
She knew Elsa and Bliss would ransack her room once she disappeared, find the not-very-well-hidden letters detailing her plans to run off to San Francisco to visit David,
and decide that was where she’d gone. But even if they suspected the printed letters were a trick … once they broke into her email account (with the help of the password she’d written on the Post-it on her desk), and saw eight months’ worth of progressively more impassioned messages … they’d be convinced.
Her godmothers hadn’t raised her to be devious—and she usually wasn’t. They’d never suspect she was deceitful enough, or crazy enough, to carry out such an elaborate plan. But turning sixteen was supposed to be special. She was willing to break the rules to ensure that it would be.
Crap, I have to parallel park,
Rachel muttered. Mira blinked her eyes open. Rachel had lowered the radio volume and was clutching the steering wheel tightly with both hands. The wet black road gleamed under the streetlights. Mira could see the bus station up ahead.
Pull over; I’ll do it,
Matt said.
I can do it, Matt, god!
Mira leaned forward between the seats, eager to just go now that her destination was in sight. You don’t have to park. Just drop me off.
You sure?
Rachel asked.
Positive.
A moment later, the car jerked to a stop across from the station—and Mira got out, hauling her bag after her.
It was raining harder now. The drizzle had turned to a steady patter, fat drops splashing her face, her shoulders. She waved good-bye to Rachel and Matt, then waited until the street was clear and ran across, tightening her toes so she didn’t lose a flip-flop in the process.
Good luck!
Matt yelled out the window.
Be careful!
Rachel shouted.
Thanks!
she yelled back.
Mira shoved through the bus station’s grimy glass doors and went to the ticket counter, where she bought a one-way ticket with a handful of damp bills. She was shaking with excitement when she dumped her bag on the floor behind the last person in line, and sank down on top of it to wait.
She watched the clock tick by for almost an hour—until she heard the announcement that her bus was boarding, and the line started shuffling sleepily forward.
Mira wasn’t usually a person who broke rules, who did things she wasn’t supposed to, who lived dangerously, who took risks.
But a week before her birthday, she boarded a bus to Beau Rivage—the city where she’d been born, the city where they’d buried her parents.
The one place her godmothers had forbidden.
CHAPTER TWO
SIX DAYS BEFORE HER SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY, in a casino café called Wish, in the heart of Beau Rivage, Mira ordered her third lemonade of the night and spread a few cold French fries around her plate—artfully, so it looked like she was still eating, not just taking up space. It was one in the morning and she was alone in a strange city, with her duffel bag next to her, a play cracked open in front of her—and she had nowhere to go.
This was not the triumphant homecoming she’d imagined.
She was shivering from the air-conditioning. Her hair was even wavier than usual, made wild by the humidity and tangled from all the sweaty, plodding walking she’d done.
She needed a place to stay, but she was too young to rent a hotel room. Too skittish to camp outside. She’d trekked to three cemeteries that day, wanting, if she couldn’t stay overnight in Beau Rivage, to at least see her parents’ graves before she left—but all she found was sunburn and frustration.
By nightfall, her enthusiasm had vanished. The inviting seaside city became a neon ruin. Dark figures stole through the shadows. Lights from the casinos rippled and flashed, drumming her eyes with violent starbursts. Humid air clung to her like an unwelcome admirer—and she’d hurried into the Dream Casino to shake it off.
That was how she’d ended up at Wish.
Casinos were open all night. She’d figured she could sit in the café, maybe doze off with her head on the table, and no one would care. But now that she’d been there three hours, Mira was starting to think her predicament was obvious. That some gambler would see a helpless
girl in a frilly blouse and shorts and hit on her. Or some slot-playing grandma would spot a runaway
and call the police. Or both.
She had the kind of innocent exterior people felt comfortable harassing: heavy-lidded, sleepy eyes, and a soft-featured face that made her seem gullible, though she wasn’t. She kept her head down so as not to encourage any well-meaning Samaritans. Or perverts.
She was reading A Streetcar Named Desire for the nth time, mouthing words she’d nearly memorized, when she noticed a guy standing at the edge of her table. She moved her hand to the nape of her neck, worked her fingers through the knots in her hair, and prayed he would go away.
No such luck.
I’m getting bored watching you,
he said. You’ve been reading that book for hours.
She raised her eyes and saw ripped jeans, black-ink sentences twisting across them like chains. A spiked leather cuff on one slender bronze wrist. A miniature chain-saw pendant dangled from his neck.
And then the kicker:
His hair and even his eyebrows were blue. Blue like sour candy, like poster paint. His hair stuck out from his head in spikes, stiff and sharp, and he had a smirk to match. A metal barbell pierced his left eyebrow.
Every part of him seemed calculated to drive people away. Like a plant studded with thorns, or an animal whose bright colors signaled poison.
Well, it was working.
Mira wasn’t sure if he was flirting with her or harassing her for the fun of it—but she wanted him to leave her alone. And in her experience, the best way to get rid of an obnoxious guy was to be rude to him. She spent so much time being polite that she definitely knew how to be the opposite.
I’m not here to entertain you,
she said, putting on her coldest look.
The muscles in his tanned forearms flexed as he flattened his hands against the table and leaned over to read her page, undeterred. What are you here for, then?
None of your business,
she said.
That’s probably not true.
Mira ignored him, hoping he would get bored and leave.
I’m Blue, by the way,
he said.
She rolled her eyes. Blue. Right. How nice for you.
Blue turned his attention to her duffel bag then: stuffed to bursting, the coded destination sticker from the bus company still stuck to the handle. Are you lost? You’re not an orphan, are you? My older brother loves seducing orphans.
The idea was absurd, but the word orphan struck a nerve. It always did.
Mira swallowed her initial reaction. Is that so,
she said flatly.
Blue nodded. It’s a sickness. So for your own safety, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.
This is a public place,
she argued. I can—
Actually—
Blue started.
Blue—you’re being nice to her, I hope.
Mira turned to see a boy in a white oxford shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He was cute, with honey-colored hair and an athlete’s physique, but he seemed awkward, even a little embarrassed to be there. His eyes hovered around Mira, like a bee distracted by a flower.
She managed a strained smile, to be polite.
This is Freddie,
Blue announced. He has a thing for damsels in distress.
He said it almost derisively, and Freddie ducked his head and mumbled, No.
No, he’s not being nice to me,
Mira answered, since Blue was ignoring that part.
I am being nice,
Blue said. I’m chasing you away.
She glared at him. So I should be grateful you’re a jerk?
Exactly.
Blue leaned toward her again. What are you doing here anyway? You’re practically camped out.
And you noticed because you have nothing better to do than stare at me.
Yes,
Blue said. But it’s also because I live here. The Dream is my dad’s casino.
Mira took a shaky sip of her lemonade. Great. Maybe he was lying—but maybe he wasn’t, and he was going to be a jerk and kick her out, because he could. Then she’d have to trek to one of the other casinos, when God only knew what kind of people were wandering around.
She grabbed her bag. I have to use the bathroom,
she said abruptly.
Freddie blushed and looked away.
So you are human,
Blue said.
You thought I was something else?
No.
Blue smiled. Go ahead. We’ll wait.
When she came back, Blue and Freddie had taken care of her check, and her glass of lemonade and the plate of fries she’d been still working on
for three-plus hours had been cleared away. It shouldn’t have been a big deal—but she’d been clinging to that table like it was her sanctuary. She felt like they’d stolen something from her.
I wasn’t done yet,
she said. She imagined herself trudging through the city again, this time in the dark, her heavy duffel bag chafing her hip, the unnerving scuffle of footsteps behind her. …
Don’t bother thanking me,
Blue said. It’s no trouble to comp your meal and your room. Really.
"I don’t have a room here, she said, with growing irritation.
That’s why I needed the table."
Blue’s eyes lit up—and Mira got nervous: he seemed way too happy to find out she didn’t have a room here. Even better. I’ll get you a room at the Palace down the street. It’s a little sleazy—they have heart-shaped bathtubs and pink wallpaper and, uh … yeah.
He gave her a fill-in-the-blanks look. But no one will come by and grope you in your room. I can’t promise you that if you fall asleep in the café.
She glared at him, as viciously as her face could muster.
Blue shrugged. You never know. We cater to a filthy clientele.
That’s so tempting,
Mira muttered. But no thanks.
She pushed past him and he grabbed her arm, bronze fingers tight against her skin. He didn’t look like he was offering her a choice. He was trying to bully her into this, get her to leave the casino with him, and then … ?
It’s the middle of the night,
Blue said easily, charm creeping into his voice. Come on—Freddie and I’ll walk you over.
Mira’s blood was thudding in her ears. This had been a terrible idea. This whole thing … She jerked away from him. Her voice wavered as she said, "Did you not hear me? I’m not going anywhere with you!"
Blue’s mouth snapped open like he was about to say something else. She didn’t stick around to hear what it was.
The overhead lights in the casino blazed an ugly yellow. Mira followed the nauseatingly bold gold-black-violet carpet like it was the yellow brick road. Slot machines dinged and screamed en masse, like monsters at odds with each other. Cocktail waitresses wove in and out of the crowd.
It was 1:38 A.M.—there was no way she was going to wander the streets. So she found a secluded part of the elaborate fairy-tale garden in the Dream’s lobby, climbed past the flimsy rope barricade, and settled at the base of a wisteria tree to wait until morning.
Mira checked her watch periodically, heart drumming nervously at first, wondering how long she could rest there before someone kicked her out. But as 1:50 changed to 2:04 and then 2:15, she relaxed.
She was half asleep when she heard a female voice murmur, "Oh, look