4.25 Stars
A modern, sapphic, genderbent re-telling of the tale of Bluebeard… and apparently The Faerie Queene. I have to admit, I’ve not come across the latter before, but will try to find a copy, because when a book I like mentions its inspiration, I might enjoy those, too. And I liked A Thousand Monstrous Forms. A lot.
Schaefer is a very visual storyteller whose descriptions leap off the page (very befitting for a book where the main characters are in the art world). Yes, Poppy is incredibly naive, but with her history it does make sense for her to throw herself into her new relationship and to trust her wife even when the mansion in the middle of nowhere is menacing from the very beginning. The statues and mirrors are so effective in their creepiness, I can’t help but wish this was a movie so I could actually see.
The author does not make you wait for the action to start, no time is wasted on normality before the haunting, and between the house and Celia’s increasingly odd behavious, there is never a dull moment.
I do wonder, if the author likes the weeping angels from Doctor Who…
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