hebethen: (books)
[personal profile] hebethen posting in [community profile] fffriday
Not quite romance, nor quite horror -- I would say H. Pueyo's new novella But Not Too Bold is sort of a dark fairytale that runs on the logic of dreams transformed to mythology and then again rendered through a single artist's lens.

As the name suggests, a primary inspiration is the Bluebeard tale and its relatives, with the titular character here reimagined as an undeniably inhuman supernatural being with her own very particular predilections and obsessions. I enjoyed both the folklorically eccentric specificity of the worldbuilding and setting details and the painterly touches of equally eccentric character cameos. When it comes to the main character -- a high-ranking servant in the mansion of the "Bluebeard" analogue -- I am of two minds. On the one hand, her own eccentricity, of which she seems little aware, feels simultaneously natural and supernatural in a very tonally suitable way; on the other hand, perhaps it is a little too abstracted into the realm of fairytale to strike my heart beyond that. I would be curious as to how she came off to other readers!

(Note: arachnophobes and arachnophiles will both have reason to wince at some scenes. Spiders are, of course, a recurring element, including as cooked food [the latter in a mundane, true-to-life way and not sensationalized, but perhaps uncomfortable to tender-hearted keepers out there]. My one informational comment is that if you plan to keep a tarantula as a pet rather than as a food source, and you do not live inside a magical mansion that constantly generates tarantulas and poppy-flowers from nowhere, you should not let them perch on your shoulder -- they are delicate creatures and can't recover from a bad fall.)

((Oh, and, TGIF! :P))

Date: 2025-04-01 12:53 am (UTC)
chestnut_pod: A close-up photograph of my auburn hair in a French braid (Default)
From: [personal profile] chestnut_pod
I appreciate this perspective! I was curious about the story, but frankly put off by some of the marketing.

Date: 2025-04-01 03:26 am (UTC)
chestnut_pod: A close-up photograph of my auburn hair in a French braid (Default)
From: [personal profile] chestnut_pod
Judging entirely by the cover, back matter, and blurbs available through my Libby, I suspected that it might be "fluffy" and or "cozy" in a TJ Klune sort of way. The way the back cover copy described the central romance while downplaying the plot and atmosphere contributed, as did the very standard TDC (or I guess they're Reactor now?) cover. But that's my fault for literally judging a book by its cover! More to the point was the stinger, which was "sapphic monster romance novella wrapped in gothic fantasy trappings."

Like, don't call the setting of your own books "trappings," Tor! I want the atmosphere and setting to be integral!

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