Plenty of suspense, lots of fairy-tales twined together, dramatic romance, and darker endings-This is a good choice for a teen who wants a contemporary fairy-tale retelling that doesn't leave out the Grimm elements. I really liked the push and pull between curse and self-determination, and the lush descriptions of fashion and curse elements.

This was my "book that is a retelling of a classic story" for the Read Harder challenge - Snow White. ( )

This book's title is appropriate, as the author manages to tear apart traditional fairy tales and remix them into something entirely new. Viv, the Snow White character introduced in the previous volume, is the central character and her romance with her Huntsman sets up plenty of conflict throughout this novel. Viv is an interesting character and I appreciated a number of her internal struggles as well as her determination to fight against the fate assigned her. Overall, fun reading, but this one felt darker than the previous book in the series. ( )

FROM AMAZON: 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?

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing Part one of this series, Kill Me Softly, and today I am just as delighted to give you my thoughts on Tear You Apart.

Part one of this series was a great, and while I did not like it no where near as much as I like this book, I would recommend reading it before reading this one. Now it can be enjoyed as a standalone, but the history of the town and the reasoning behind the cursed is explained in the first book and makes this one much easier to follow.



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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?

Ok.. So if you didn’t figure it out by the overview, this is yet another re-telling. Snow White to be exact. Honestly I think I should just change my screen name to she-who-reads-fairytales. Because sometimes it feels like that’s all I read. I enjoy them and if you find something that makes you happy..stick with it. Believe it or not I do read other stuff though.

Anyways.. This book had exactly the kinds of things I like to see as far as characters and world building go. I like to read about complex characters that have flaws and faults and who aren’t always looking to change them or better themselves. I get quite bored occasionally reading about your standard, cookie cutter, type A good girl meets bad boy type romance. Tear You Apart offered characters who had many, many issues and yet despite their faults, I was able to connect and love them even more because of it.

Viv is not your typical Snow White. To be contrite, she is selfish and spoiled. She wants to have her cake and eat it too. She wants Henley for herself, and yet knows that someday her prince will come and ride her off into the sunset, while she will leave his heart shattered in the dust. Though beautiful and full of charm, Viv is far from innocent. At times she displays complete hatred for her step-mother and her father and a total disregard for those around her. Her main goal is her happiness. For these flaws, I absolutely can relate to her. Her character issues stem from the fact that she is cursed, the person she loves more than anything is destined attempt to murder her. The only motherly figure she has ever known, hates her and will stop at nothing to see her eliminated. Viv’s future is uncertain, it all depends on an unknown “prince” who will someday, out of nowhere, come into her life and supposedly whisk her away from all that ails her, if her fate isn’t already sentenced to death. So while she does have a great many negative attributes, most of them can be chalked up to her fears of a future uncertain.

Henley is quite possibly the best bf ever, despite Viv’s constant attempts to make him jealous and indecisiveness about their relationship, he is always there for her at her beck and call. When I pray for patience, I will ask to have the patience of Henley. I would not want to be on the receiving end of his wrath, however. Like Viv, most of his inner anger stems from his undying devotion to Viv, and his knowing that someday he want to murder her and in return she will destroy him.

The world building in this tale is exquisitely done. I felt as if I was being sucked into a whole different world, and actually experiencing walking in their shoes. I loved the mash up between several different, beloved fairy tales and how they each tied into each other. The fact that many of the original aspects from some of the stories where left untouched, while added to some creative twists made this a respectable and interesting read.

A modern, yet traditional spin on a classic beloved tale. ( )

I love the little town of Beau Rivage. You never know what to expect or what is going to happen to any particular person.

I didn’t care for Viv in Kill Me Softly. She seemed like an awful person. She doesn’t seem much better at the beginning of Tear You Apart, but there are definitely reasons for her behavior. She doesn’t think she’s capable of having the relationship she wants so she sabotages it every single chance she gets. She has a lot of issues with being loved and I don’t really blame her. Henley doesn’t help matters when he always flies off the handle in rage.

I liked seeing the Underworld. There are so many different fairy tales woven into this story and a large part of it takes place there. While it is beautiful there are definitely secrets. Ones that Viv intends to find out. Jasper’s family is odd, and there’s more to them than meets the eye.

I enjoyed the twists and turns, and Viv realizing that her curse doesn’t necessarily define her. ( )