Bluebeard's not exactly my favourite fairytale - the whole room of dead wives creeps me out more than you'd expect given my love of crime shows/books.

I liked this retelling, it had that fairytale (duh) feel to it - dark and gloomy and foreboding. Verena was an interesting character, smart and resourceful but also resigned to her fate - willing to slip into whatever role was required of her. I liked that she was willing to use that to save everyone who came before her. I mean she starts as a replacement for her brother, then Karis, then Amina, then Wife and then, most importantly, Widow. I liked how she changed the narrative to benefit her sisters. Frankly I don't think she was willing to do it for herself - I think if it was just her, she would have submitted unless and until someone else came along. Even her leaving with Jakob seems to be about what she can be for Jakob - a replacement for Amina - rather than the happiness it might bring for herself.

I jab the key into the lock and turn it. “WIFE!” Jakob roars, his fists pounding the door. “Open this door.” “My husband died,” I say firmly, leaning back against the door. My voice is as unsteady as my hands. I shake all over. I count my breaths as the door shakes against my back. “There was an accident,” I say a moment later. “My poor Jakob never returned home.” “No!” “He went on a trip, but he didn’t return,” I continue to explain through the door. “He left me here alone, and I’m waiting still for him to return.” I push off the door and shove a heavy wardrobe in front of it. “Wife!” Jakob calls again. “You cannot trap me in my own home.” “This is my home now. I live here with my twelve sisters.” “You may not do this.” “It is already done,” I remind him.

Anders, Charlie Jane. Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2016 (p. 339). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

And of course, I enjoyed how she bests him. 4 stars. It's short, but packs a punch. ( )

I was less than impressed with her earlier books.

But this cover and blurb(!) makes me very intrigued.

Update : This one is very gritty not sure how I feel

A fantastic story that uses many classic fairy tale motifs and reinvents them to give a modern, feminist spin. In this it is reminiscent of the great Angela Carter but, although here the retelling is more straightforward and less visceral than Carter's deeply psychological works, it is still extremely enjoyable and effective, the almost gentle folktale rhythms making the fairly straightforward metaphors both more palatable and more compelling. Which is, of course, precisely what fairy tales and folk tales do. ( )

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 ( )

More like 2.5. A strange take on mysterious disappearances in an older, indeterminate time period and some fairy tales, but it was a tired kind of plot and the narrator's voice showed no growth or change, only mention of change prior to the story. The twist was not unexpected and some of the dialogue was overwrought or bland (I wanted Jakob to be scarier, but his dialogue/speech patterns had no life to them, or any distinguishing features ), but many of the images in the latter half were truly cringe-worthy, as they should be.

Also, trigger warning for really casual rape, treated extremely casually, almost like it isn't happening. It's. pretty awful. I decked a full star for that, and the way it's treated (he gives her an orgasm, she decides to go with him?). ( )