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whatsmacksaid's review
5.0
Four and a half stars! There were two or three brief moments where the worldbuilding threw me, but I LOVED this. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.
THIS IS THE WAY BEAUTY AND THE BEAST SHOULD HAVE GONE
THIS IS THE WAY BEAUTY AND THE BEAST SHOULD HAVE GONE
summerrae's review
3.0
not sure if a novelette should count towards my reading goal but fuck it we ball
belle_fiction's review
5.0
Ooooh, this short story was a Bluebeard retelling and quickly brought to mind another classic fairytale - The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter.
This time we follow Verena who leaves with the mysterious Jakob and becomes his "bride". If you're familiar with Carter's retelling, you'll know what happens throughout so I'm not going to go into detail.
What I will say though is The Maiden Thief is a beautifully written tale full of mystery, intrigue and unnerved me at times. The atmosphere was tense and the characters highly believable.
An easy 5 stars!
This time we follow Verena who leaves with the mysterious Jakob and becomes his "bride". If you're familiar with Carter's retelling, you'll know what happens throughout so I'm not going to go into detail.
What I will say though is The Maiden Thief is a beautifully written tale full of mystery, intrigue and unnerved me at times. The atmosphere was tense and the characters highly believable.
An easy 5 stars!
tobyyy's review
4.0
Oooh... a wonderful retelling of
(The reason I put it behind a spoiler tag is that it's not quite obvious when you read the blurb/first start the story.)
Really loved the writing - again, I think I need to investigate Melissa Marr's other books. Reading these short stories/novelettes on Tor is helping my TBR pile grow taller... and taller... and taller... Not that I'm complaining!
Spoiler
Bluebeard and his wives.(The reason I put it behind a spoiler tag is that it's not quite obvious when you read the blurb/first start the story.)
“What if it’s all my fault?” I look at my sister and ask for answers to a question that has plagued me for years. ... “The sun rose on those days,” Amina begins. She leans on her garden hoe for a moment. “There was a fox in the garden the morning Karis disappeared, possibly the day that the accident happened too. I sneezed those days. What ripples we see are not always causes.” She shakes her head. “We can look for patterns, and we might even find them. There were a lot of acorns this year, and the snow was heavy. Are they related? A fawn died of hunger after I chased it from the garden, and our sister died. Were they related?”
Really loved the writing - again, I think I need to investigate Melissa Marr's other books. Reading these short stories/novelettes on Tor is helping my TBR pile grow taller... and taller... and taller... Not that I'm complaining!
bookish_coven's review
4.0
This is a well written short story, a retelling of a famous folk tale, . Although at times I was annoyed at the female protagonist, she redeemed herself in the end.
A 'horror' novella that I would recommend to fans of retelling stories.
Spoiler
the bluebeardA 'horror' novella that I would recommend to fans of retelling stories.
starryeved's review
2.0
I don't remember a time before girls vanished.
A short Bluebeard retelling in the vein of Deathless and other like-voiced tales, The Maiden Thief ends up being unsatisfying, the suspense amping up and fizzling to nothing, especially at the reveal. The climax, too, while satisfying, is too jumpy and fast-paced to be truly cathartic.
Interesting concept and setup, with a more disappointing execution.