Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross

Viv is at her wit's end. She knows any day could be the day her stepmother poisons her, or Henley turns on her and becomes the Huntsman. Her Snow White curse is inevitable, and she isn't sure if she will survive. How could things between she and Henley have gotten so out of control? They love each other...don't they? He has always been her best friend, since they were kids, and when they were old enough he was more. This stupid curse ruined everything! She can't trust him anymore.

Henley is going crazy. Viv is treating him like a yo-yo, and he doesn't know how much more he can take. Doesn't she remember that he promised to always protect her? Doesn't she believe that he would defy anything and anyone to keep that promise? Doesn't she know that he would do anything for her? Why does she keep pushing him away?

When Viv's prince invites her to the Underworld, she accepts without hesitation. When he invites her to stay, she isn't as quick, but after an attack from her stepmother and the entrance of another Huntsman...what choice does she have? Once she's there, it's more like unhappily ever after. Her future father-in-law is a monster. She has to defeat his curse to ever have a chance of escaping or seeing her friends again. Will she find the key to her own prison before it's locked forever?

This is the second novel that takes place in Beau Rivage, and I think I like this one better. The world building is exciting, and the Underworld is a lot of fun. I enjoyed the play with fairy tales once again, but this time it wasn't being shoved down my throat. Viv wasn't my favorite character, and at times really got on my nerves...her treatment of Henley is pretty reprehensible at times. I thought Cross captured the multitude of feelings that can occur simultaneously very well, especially in the stepmother. This book is intense. There were several times I couldn't put it down. If you have a fan of fairy tales, this should do the trick.

I got this as an ARC from Net Galley, but you can look forward to its' release January 2015.

*Library Link*

"That was the Huntsman's role: One day Regina would order Henley to kill Viv. And he could do it - kill her, carve the heart from her chest, and bring it to Regina as proof - or he could spare her life, and lose her forever.
Viv didn't know what Henley would choose. She didn't know which loss he'd rather live with.
I would never hurt you, he'd said, never - but was it true? Every promise became something she had to doubt," (Cross, 2015). 

If you liked this, check out:

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Cross, Sarah. (2015). Tear You Apart. New York: Egmont USA.