Jane Nickerson

Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debutNa thrilling retelling of the "Bluebeard" fairy tale, set in a gothic abbey in the pre-Civil War South.

Strands of Bronze and Gold

I got about nine pages into this book and just could not bring myself to continue reading a book set on a plantation in the antebellum south written by a white woman about a white woman. Absolutely not.

Kirsten Simkiss

Sheila

Good rendition of the Bluebeard folktale, unique in that it was set in the Southern US while keeping Bluebeard French akin to the original. I figured a better setting would've been in proximity to New Orleans given the French origins of the story, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment. 

Definitely had me shuddering, given that Sophie's poor situation is a particular nightmare of mine! The preference for red hair was a nice touch. The focus on Bluebeard's opinions about slavery was a creative way to foreshadow his gruesome nature. At the same time, the slave characters that do appear in this story were troubling to me because they served only as foils and/or in relation to Sophie & didn't have any independent purpose. 

Recommend for people that love classic folktales & stories that take place in the US South during the mid-19th century .

Cindy Lee

Read more of my reviews at Secrets of Lost Words.

Rating: D

I was really excited for Strands of Bronze and Gold as I had never read a retelling of the Bluebeard fairy tale. Hell, I've never even read the original Bluebeard fairy tale. So before I read this, I made sure to read the original story. I definitely went in prepared. (I was horrified by the story by the way)

There weren't a lot of things I enjoyed about this book. It wasn't as dark as I would've liked though it definitely crept me out. I only liked the side characters, Anarchy and Mr. Stone. They were the local people from the village and they were the only characters I liked. The descriptions of the de Cressac
abbey was fantastic though. I could really see what the place looked like and feel the hot weather of Mississippi.

Though I did like a few minor things, I didn't like any of the main story or characters. Sophie was really annoying as she was too trusting. It seems like she's questioning her godfather but with her clues she should've figured out Bernard was a psycho wife killer. It's not that hard to join the dots together. Bernard was so creepy. I was telling my best friend about the book and I labelled him as the creepy godfather. I detested the romance between Bernard and Sophie. I always felt like Bernard was going to rape Sophie any second. It was so disgusting. 

It did have a happy ending so I guess that was a plus. But I would never recommend this to anyone. It was as creepy and disgusting as hell.

laura

Kristen

Parts of this book were excellent. Parts of it were pretty boring. And still other parts were cheesy and silly.

I don't think I'd have been able to finish it if it wasn't the only audiobook I had on my phone during a week of hour-long commutes twice a day. I greatly enjoyed the Bluebeard aspects, the characters' interactions, and Sophia's little detective stints, but it was ultimately too drawn out and boring.

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . . When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi. Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world. Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.

Lara 

I absolutly love this book. It's beautiful written, but also dark.
I always feel melancholic when I read it. And I read it often, every time in one session

Gabriela Roxana 

4.25

To be quite fair, this book was not entirely what I had expected.
But I truly enjoyed it. I found it to be beautiful, witty and utterly fascinating . The story of black beard is one that intrigues me the most (just as much as it terrifies me, probably).
I didn't find this book to be promoting sexism or racism, as others have claimed. I think the depiction of the world was suitable for its time period. While some aspects about it did upset me many times, I think they were perfectly applicable to the presented era.

I personally adored the long descriptions of dresses, furniture, food and jewelry. I felt totally swept of my feet by the amazing sceneries and maybe fooled a bit as well, since I got to sympathise with the villain.

(view spoiler)[ I personally thought this book will be a redeeming one for Bluebeard. I found out the story has a happy ending, so maybe I expected a different Bernard. However, I was still utterly impress by the story. I think it is flowed so well and yet unexpected. Simply beautiful.

Maybe the one thing I didn't like was the fact that the main lesson from the original story was excluded from this narrative by making Bernard a terrible person long before she stepped to the forbidden room. What was in my opinion shocking was how AMAZING Blue beard was in the story, and how her necessity to reveal his secrets ruined her happiness. Alas, curiosity killed this cat, and maybe some secrets are better left buried. I wish this lesson was incorporated in this book, hance why it lost a star.  (hide spoiler)]

Strands of Bronze and Gold

Reviews