Snow White - Woman of the Night

Tear You Apart 

 

Title: Tear You Apart

Author: Sarah Cross

Series: Beau Rivage

Publisher: Egmont USA

Publication Date: January 27 2015

Source: Netgalley

Purchase: Pre-order only

Goodreads Summary: 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:

  I had some major problems with this book. First of all I found it really hard to like the main character Viv. She was awful and a complete mess. She didn't know what she wanted, and she didn't want to find out what she wanted, it seemed to me like she was using her excuse as a way to put major life decisions on a permanent hold. She blamed everything on her curse. I guess I can understand some of that, but enough is enough. She needed to learn that the world didn't revolve around her, and that other people also have lives. It really bugged me that she was so quick to ruin other people's lives just to help her own. Viv had real trust issues, insane jealousy issues, and was suspicious of everyone who crossed her path.

CAUTION: SPOILERS

  She was totally willing to take advantage of anyone and everyone, including the dude at her dad's party, and the Prince of the underworld. I hated the scene where Henley, who she previously broke up with, comes to rescue her when her step-mother's car gets a flat. He drops what he's doing and immediately comes to her aid because he loves her. And what does she do? She gets mad at him for sitting next to Regina, when he didn't have a choice. And then she leaves the car in a huff and ignores him for the rest of the party. She even goes so far as to hit on one of the guys there in order to make Henley jealous. But she doesn't just flirt with the guy, no, she kisses him and whispers something dirty in his ear. WHAT? WHO DOES THAT? SHE'S TERRIBLE! Then, Henley smashes the guy's car in because the idiot was kissed by Viv. Man the people in this story remind me of Catherine and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. 

  I didn't like the swearing or sexual scenes. Viv was just SO trashy that I found it hard to believe that she had any friends and that she still had a reputation. I also can't believe that the prince would ever want to marry her. 

  Also, can we talk about the fact that this book was horribly graphic????? Way too many crude jokes - but that wasn't even the worst of it. The wedding scene was the worst - seriously, it made me want to vomit. Who in their right mind would make a woman dance in red hot iron shoes??? Okay - I get that fairytales are dark and grimm (see what I did there?) but they are never that graphic. This was graphic - Cross depicted the scene in all its' grossness and horror. She described the way Regina's feet actually melted down to the bone. She made sure the reader understood the pain it was causing the "wicked queen" and the complete horror and repulsion that Viv felt. I was disgusted. No one needs that much detail.

 One thing I will say however is that Cross does know how to connect the reader with her book. When the old huntsman sliced his knife down Viv's chest, I could almost feel the pain, and it made me completely squirmish. Yuck. 

 I really hope that by the end of the book Viv had learned her lesson. I think she may have - and living away from people in the forest with cute fuzzy animals will definitely help her bitterness drain away. If she appears in any of the other Beau Rivage books I hope she is a changed person. And I hope she appreciates her friends for who they are. For how kind they were to her when she's only ever been awful. And above all, I hope that she and Henley have their Happily Ever After - because he deserves it.

Rating:  

 

Disclaimer: My review of this book seems really negative, but I did enjoy reading the book and was completely hooked. I did like the way the fairytales were portrayed and how Cross integrated them into modern society. I also really like Kill Me Softly - and I hope that the next book in the series won't be quite so crass. But what can a blogger do?