Last List Blog Hop & Giveaway

Sadly, as many of you know Egmont USA has closed it's US doors recently. The lovely ladies at Cuddlebuggery were amazing in putting together some support for these authors. There are so many great titles offered by Egmont but today we will be talking about TEAR YOU APART by SARAH CROSS. If you would like to know about The Last List check it out *HERE*

 TEAR YOU APART
 by Sarah Cross 

 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? 

Check out my full review here!

Sarah stopped by to answer a few of our burning questions!!

1. I love what you did with Beau Rivage! What made you want to create a setting such as that? 

 When I was planning Kill Me Softly, I originally wanted to retell one fairy tale in particular (Blue's) . . . and then I thought of another tale that would mix perfectly with the first one (Mira's). And if I was going to use two fairy tales, I figured: why not use them all? I knew I wanted the Valentines to live in a big building with a lot of doors to open, some place that never slept and was glamorous and seedy at the same time (much like fairy tales are), so the city had to have hotel/casinos. And it had to have a beach because otherwise, how are the mermaids going to get there?

 2. What were some of your favorite fairy tales growing up?

I loved "Cinderella" (Retta Scott's illustrations made it extra magical), and also the thieving-kid fairy tales like "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."

 3. Who has been your favorite character to write & why? 

In each book I have a favorite character to write, and it's usually someone on the sidelines who doesn't get a lot of page time. And often that character is kind of surly. In Kill Me Softly it was Henley, in Tear You Apart it was Luxe. I think the reason minor characters end up being my favorites to write is because their scenes and dialogue don't require as much struggle and revision to get right, and also, they have a sort of underdog quality to them because they're not the star of the story.

 4. Can you give us any info about what you have in the works? Anything else from Beau Rivage?

 There will be some more Beau Rivage short stories at some point (the Little Mermaid, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, etc.). Sadly, a 3rd Beau Rivage novel (never officially announced) was one of the casualties of the Egmont USA shutdown. I'd love to finish that book and release it one day . . . we'll see, I guess! Everything else that I'm working on is still a secret.

 5. Sum up your stories in 5 words please and GO!

  Happily ever after? Maybe not.

 BUY LINKS:

 B&N ~

Amazon ~

IndieBound ~ 

Book Depository ~
iTunes ~ 

About The Author

Sarah Cross is the author of the fairy tale novels Kill Me Softly and Tear You Apart, the superhero novel Dull Boy, and the Wolverine comic "The Adamantium Diaries." 

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GIVEAWAY

 Signed paperback of Kill Me Softly (US ONLY)

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Review: Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross

Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross
Expected Publication: January 27th 2015 by Egmont USA

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.
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 sacrificing the love that might kill her?

My Thoughts:

Perfect for the fairy tale fanatic like myself.

Just when I thought I knew everything there was there was to know about fairy tales, Tear You Apart comes along and proves to me that I couldn't be more wrong. Sarah Cross has taken carnal fairy tale knowledge to new heights by crafting the town of Beau Rivage, a place where these classic curses continue to play themselves out in a present day setting. This books was fantastic since it touched upon so many of them in one fell swoop. Some I knew by heart, while others I had grossly forgotten. I want to throw out there the fact that I had not read Kill Me Softly first and felt that there was no need too although, I did purchase it immediately upon completing this book.

Imagine fairy tales been passed down from generation to generation except they were fantastically twisted. The twelve dancing princesses still rose from their bed every night and were compelled to dance till dawn (one of my favs) except now they tatter their Jimmy Choo's. Balls have been replaced by nightclubs in the famed "underworld" & country clubs have replaced the palaces. Beau Rivage is a place where dreams come true or nightmares become reality depending on which side on the fairy's wand your on. 

There is so many curses threaded through this story it is a fantasy lovers paradise. They range from East of the sun/west of the moon curse, diamonds and toads curse where the bearer spits up either, Goose girl curse, and of course the more classic well know Cinderella and Snow-white curses. Let us remember that Disney was not entirely accurate in their portrayal. As the book states, "Cinderella's step sisters had their eyes pecked out by birds. The stepmother in 'The Juniper Tree" was crushed and killed by a millstone. The false prince in "The Goose Girl" was stuffed naked into a barrel studded with nails, then dragged through the streets by horses." Last but not the least gruesome is the ending of Snow White, where the evil stepmother was forced to dance to death in red hot iron shoes at the wedding reception. These are the curses the residents are afflicted with. The fairies felt the mixed blood between humans and magical creatures centuries ago was reason to punish. Around the age of 16 is the time the fairy appears and brands you with the tale tail marchen mark, the mark that signifies which curse you are fated to. 

Vivian is part of snow white curse complete with an evil stepmother and a huntsman who will one day spare her or cut her heart from her chest. The twist is the fact that Henley, the huntsman, has been Viv's best friend and boyfriend forever. They both the know the day will come when he will be propositioned by Viv's evil stepmother to kill her. As I'm sure it would in any relationship this causes a bit of turmoil. I couldn't stand Viv. I thought she was a selfish self indulgent lil' brat but, I also empathize with the fact that she simply doesn't know what is going to happen between her and Henley. It must be quite anxious making to constantly worry about your beau coming after your heart...literally not figuratively. Enter Prince Charming offering Viv safe harbor and all hell breaks loose. The characters were really fun to read about but mostly due to their curses, not their substance. I found them all to be a bit shallow.

I had trouble with the 3rd person narration as it kept pulling me out of the story. I know it sounds like I have many gripes but the good ultimately overshadowed the bad. There were more than a few of these minor annoyances but, they were heavily combated with snarky dialogue. Here are a few of the funnier quotes. (quotes are pulled from arc and subject to change)

"My chipmunks would bite the shit out of you. You might not want to risk it."

"You've got no figure to speak of  - your ass is as flat as a squashed cockroach."

I love books set in other time periods but, they can tend to feel a bit stuffy so this humor was definitely welcome since it's paired with some pretty macabre scenes. There was a brilliant twist on the Rumpelstiltskin curse which you must look out for. All in all, I think that if you love fairy tales this will be a satisfying light read for you. It is like Once Upon A Time meets Beverly Hills 90210. In the end I really enjoyed it and will definitely be looking forward to revisiting Beau Rivage very soon!

4 snowflakes