Kill Me Softly

The cover totally throws off the actual story. It makes it look like a murder mystery or something and while there's murder and mystery it's so much more then what it is. But you know, don't judge a book by it's cover

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book. It kind of reminds me of the Sisters Grimm series with a more grown up, harsher tone. Mirabelle runs away to find her parents grave and finds love instead. And not just love that consumes you but love that kills you.

And a love triangle The Vampire Diaries style because it's between two brothers. And surprisingly enough I didn't hate the triangle. It was so much more realistic then most. First she meets Blue and loathes him 100%, not attracted to him, no hints of more, just completely hates him. Then she meets his brother Felix and as a girl who is 15, grown up in a strict household where she couldn't wear make up or date (so probably hasn't been kissed or had crushes/returned crushes) she falls instantly for his charms. He puts her up in a room in the Valentine hotel/casino and she's gone.

What attracted me:
The town she's come to reminds me of Ferryport Landing in the Sisters Grimm. A bunch of magical beings relating to fairy tales reside in secret in a town together. But here they are all cursed and marked to show what exactly their curse is. While the whole idea of the fairies and curses and marks didn't exactly appeal to me, I did enjoy the psychology of living a life that was set for you, from beginning to the end. Of course, Mira just happens to also be one of these characters. It's a strange set up the way the curses work out, but anyway it turns out that Mira is a "Sleeping Beauty" and her prince is this guy named Freddie that she doesn't want. But instead of a spindle, her "spindle" is a razor".

That's what made Felix a slightly more three dimensional character rather then a cardboard cutout of a villain masquerading as someone charming. I just wish some of this angst that he feels had appeared when he tried to kill Mira.

But the rising action kind of deflated when the climax hit (Felix finding Mira in his Dead Girl Room--why is it that Felix's name is Felix but their mom named his brother Blue...one of these things is not like the other...). Because he doesn't hurt her and she tries to run like once and then they start making out but I wish it could've been painful--him stealing her love--because it kind of deflated the action. So she cuts her self with her spindle--a razor (Oh, that's why her godmothers only let her use Nair to get rid of unwanted hair. That makes sense) and falls into her Sleeping Beauty sleep. Then Freddie and Blue show up and instead of a fight with Felix or something to drive up the action, they quickly hack through the thorns, find Mira and save her in like 30 minutes. Then there's a party, she saves herself from being without Blue and that's the end...C'mon there was so much more you could've done with that.

if only, if only, if only...
I only wish that Mira's parents had made an appearance because the introduction to them just seemed like a device used for Felix to gain Mira's love/trust and to get her to town in the first place. She even gets their number and her guardians reappear at the end of the story but everyone's pretty much forgotten all about them. So there are some loose ends that need to be tied up.

Especially because Blue foreshadowed that the curse (he and Felix are correspondents of a Bluebeard story except because they are Romantics, they kill the ones who love them by feeding on their love) wouldn't allow him to just let Mira live knowing about his collection of dead girls. Hopefully there will be a sequel in Mira's POV and then others following up the stories of Viv (Snow White counterpart), Rafe (a Beast counterpart), Layla (the Beauty counterpart) and the rest. I was actually drawn in by this world and there are some loose ends that need tying up.

All and all, an interesting read.