Charity Rau

A bride to a mysterious blond-haired man. A warning about not opening a door. A house full of creepy secrets.

This book had all the elements of a classic Bluebeard retelling with a few of the author's own embellishments. We have the young bride (or soon-to-be bride in this case), the creepy man with blue hair and beard, the strange house full of secrets, several dead wives, and the warning to not use a particular key to open a particular door.

It was a decent retelling with a couple of twists that were mostly expected. It took me a while to get invested in Marianna but once she is separated from her family and immersed in the mystery, the story felt more urgent. Until then, it seemed to meander slowly towards where all of us familiar with the fairy tale knew it was headed.

Overall, it was a pretty easy read with a familiar plotline and a few editing errors. I might consider picking up the second one just to see what the author does with the next retelling, but you could almost pretend this is a stand-alone if you don't care about the main character's long lost love.… (altro)

[Reviewed as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers programme.]

I love Bluebeard stories. This starts with an almost Beauty-and-the-Beast setup (appropriate as the two stories are very much mirror images of each other) to motivate the character - no plucked roses, but marrying all the same to save the life of her sick merchant father and the finances of her family. She then investigates the forbidden room not from idle curiosity, but rather because she knows her husband is deeply dangerous and that she needs to get to the bottom of it.

A very solid take on the story, which read very easily. My main gripe -- and this is a small gripe in a publishing world that seems to make sequels and series obligatory -- is that it was set up as the first story in a fairytale-inspired series, when all I'm personally interested in is the Bluebeard story as a standalone arc.… (altro)

Mariana lives a life of luxury and attends a ball every night until she finds out her family is penniless. After the death of her mother, the disappearance of her fiancé Will and her father falling ill she is still joyful. Lord Bludington has made a proposition to Marianna to marry him due to her father’s failing health. Marianna accepts his proposal and moves into his manor then things begin to change and she becomes isolated from everyone she loves. This is a kind of retelling of the Bluebeard tale. I really enjoyed this fantastic young adult dark fantasy novel.… (altro)