Revist a classic fantasy story with an modern, sharply feminist twist. A careful rethink of a story that should have been lost to time, interesting.

I have never read Bluebeard before which I know I should definitely fix because it is such a classic . This was a nice read with amazing illustrations. I really loved the feminist overtures throughout the book.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of my ARC.

'Metaphrog's Bluebeard' by artistic duo Metaphrog is a variant of the classic fairytale.

Eve lives in a village with her family and her sweetheart Tom. Looming over the village is the creepy castle owned by the mysterious Bluebeard. It is rumored that he has married many women, but no one knows what happened to them. When tragedy hits Eve's village, she is forced in to marriage with Bluebeard and starts to unravel his secrets.

I love the Metaphrog works I've read, and their nice illustrations style. The story works well here and I don't mind the revisions. The art has details that surprised me throughout.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Papercutz and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this! If you don't know, Bluebeard is a classic horror story for Children, most people who read it nowadays find it cringy, I wrote a review about it here: Bluebeard review.

However, in this addition the authors changed it in a way that made it more acceptable by adding a feminist touch and making the heroine more in control of her life. I really enjoyed the graphics and how somehow everything was blue except for the heroine who's halo and hair was purple/pinkish!

Would I recommend this? I really don't know, something still feels missing; I know that the ending was changed a great way from the original, but I feel it was so fast and rushed in a way.

But to be completely honest, the story shows the heroine as a caring person, gentle to animals, brave, curious, smart, loves her family (especially her sister as she broke a curse by how much she loves her- which is the exact story of Frozen; when Elsa and Anna broke the curse by the power of their love). All of these aspect are great for children, so yeah, maybe it's a good book to read for children.

Very interesting graphic novel! I didn't like the art style immediately but then it grew on me. Reminds me a bit of the work of Tomie dePaola, a bit child like, which is probably why the art felt a bit weird for me. In the end, it worked very well for the story and the protagonists and made the contrast between the quaint village life and Bluebeard's alien and terrifying air even more jarring. The retelling stays true to its source material while putting enough of new and original thoughts into it to freshen it up a bit.
I adored and enjoyed it very much!

This is a colourful telling of the story of Bluebeard. Bluebeard is actually quite a dark folktale with murder and missing wives. This version is told in graphic format which is beautifully illustrated.

The artwork gives the story a kind of haunting yet beautiful feel and the characters come to life on the page. We are drawn into the simple life in a small village with families, love and friendship. Bluebeard's castle is something mysterious in the distance, a dark spot on the horizon.

Then the crops are ruined and the villagers begin to starve. Bluebeard saves the villages but exacts a high cost. Our heroine does not give up even when her life changes so drastically and the story ends in a way that leaves us with hope, love and life.

The most enjoyable aspect of this story is the exquisite artwork. The colours just leap from the page and they give the story life. I also liked the diversity and the heroism of the characters and the wonder of good defeating evil depicted in such gorgeous colours.

This is a familiar story told in a new and beautiful way.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

A good read!
This rewriting including a little freshness to the original story, much darker and tragic.
The illustrations were pretty, but it was especially the colors that marked me, and the decorations, very well chosen compared to the written word.
In short, a nice rewrite for older children who love dark stories! ^^

What an immensely original and beautiful style for a book! I would be glad to add a hard copy of this to my collection.

Eve lives with her family in a village. Eve and Tom are good friends. They play together everyday sharing their hopes and dreams. Eve finds an injured bird. She mends it broken wing. The bird becomes her friend. There is a terrible season of rain that destroys all the trees and plants that the villagers depend on for food. After a while, Bluebeard invites the village to come and stay at his country home for 8 days. Everyone in the village goes to Bluebeard’s cottage and feast. When their host, Bluebeard appeared, the old women decide that his beard being
blue doesn’t make him ugly. Eve’s father and Bluebeard have a private conservation. When the family has returned home, Eve creeps to the kitchen where Bluebeard’s conversation is discusses — Bluebeard wants one of his daughters to become his wife. The wife doesn’t want him to have one of her daughters. She is talked into it. They decide on which daughter by rolling the dice. Eve is the one that will become Bluebeard’s wife. Eve tries to talk to Tom but isn’t able to. Why? Bluebeard’s former wives have all mysteriously disappeared. How? When Bluebeard leaves for business, she decides to try to escape but can’t. Why? Will she be able to escape? Will she ever see Tom or her family again?

Bluebear is a story that I heard about from my mom. Even though I think Bluebeard’s story is known, this story is different. There is a suggestion of Eve being a feminist throughout the story. The author has written an engaging story. The illustrator has done an outstanding work on the illustrations. It is a gorgeous graphic novel. I loved the “art work” and enjoyed the story.

Metaphrog (known collectively as Franco-Scottish graphic novelists Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers) will be releasing 'Bluebeard' on May 5, 2020 through Papercutz -- a retelling of the French folktale with a feminist bent told through a unique art style that looks at times, almost as if it's discreetly stitched together. It's not.. of course. It's an illustrated comic, classified as children's fiction.
​
Whereas the original tale was an incredibly dark story about a wealthy nobleman who marries over and over, only to have each wife disappear and the experience of his newest wife as she attempts to avoid the same outcome that befell each of them. ​
​
Though this version makes no effort to extract that dark atmosphere, horrific things have certainly occurred in the nobleman's castle, there are some differences here and there as well. Otherworldly influence seems to abound throughout the story and the sisters are no mere damsels in distress. ​
​
All in all, if you're comfortable with the violence that is often present in a traditional folktale, this is a pretty good comic for a child that isn't easily upset. If your kids like dark stories like creepy pastas and games like Bendy, this might be the story for them. ​
​
Bear in mind, the unusually cutesy sort of.. paperdoll art style really contrasts with the edginess of the story.. but it's still fun.

Never let it be said that I do not love a good fairy tale retelling. I *love* them. I love the creativity the authors have in taking a time-tested tale and twisting it so it's something completely new. It's exciting, it's refreshing, it's my JAM baby.

However. There are exceptions to this rule. Particularly when the retelling is poorly executed. Enter Metaphrog's Bluebeard.

***Spoilers coming***

My contention with this work is not in the artwork or the extra gothic elements. In fact, the artwork is stunning and I really enjoyed the extra spook-factor. My problem is that Metaphrog BARELY changes the story. They claim this is a feminist retelling but it isn't. There are maybe 4 panels in the book where the "retelling" actually happens and it falls completely flat. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled the girl saves herself in this story but it's not enough to say it's a true retelling. If the author's had simply pushed the narrative more to the point where the girl knew all along that she was going to save herself and didn't even bother waiting for the men to come, that would have been something. As it stands, the tale is virtually the same as the original save for who kills Bluebeard. And as that moment is over within a blink of an eye, there is 0 time for the reader to bask in the triumph of the gesture. In fact, the gesture is done so quickly that the reader doesn't really feel as if there IS any triumph. It's more of a "Ok that's over with. Moving on." Where's the girl power? Where's the sense of thrill of saving yourself and being your own hero? You won't find it here and that makes this work a huge disappointment.

This is a really cute graphic novel. It’s a retelling of the classic fairy tale, Bluebeard. But this retelling has a feministic twist and maybe a happy ending?
The art is lovely and reminds me a bit of rosiethorns88. It’s not your traditional graphic novel art, it’s very digital. And also, very soft for a tale normally considered horror. I love the juxtaposition. The story suffers from a few pacing issues.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am in love with the art style in this book. The main colors are blues, purples, and pinks. Many accents are done in yellows.

I know the general story of Bluebeard but haven’t actually read any of the tellings before now. So I don’t know how much better or worse this is from older versions of the story. That said, I liked this. I think the art is a touch better than the story, but both are really well done.

The story is that of a village about to die until the mysterious Bluebeard invites the villagers to his castle, stuffs them with food and drink, then takes one of their daughters as his bride. No one wants their daughter to be this man’s wife, they’ve heard the whispers, but to save the village they will allow the marriage. His new bride must figure out what happened to her husband’s prior wives, as well as how to save herself from a horrible fate.

Although it is probably a bit scary for the really little kiddos, the language and art are both appropriate for most ages.

I really loved the concept for this graphic novel, but the story jumped around a bit too much for me. I did not love the illustration style either.

I enjoyed this fairy tale telling and love the tamer take chosen here versus the very gruesome source material. The illustrations are absolutely stunning and help bring the story to life in a whole new way. I definitely haven't seen illustrations like this in any works before and was immediately blown away by them.

This could be a great read for older children that is still dark but not over the top.

A good children's approach to Bluebeard. The gruesome realities of the original tale are still intact, the death wives, the blood stained key, and the horror of Bluebeard. That being said, the artwork doesn't give anything away to new readers that aren't expecting it and there is no real violence or blood depicted. The artwork is, at times, jarring when it comes to the main character's reactions. The open mouths and overlarge teeth really give the various scenes the jarring feel they need. Overall, a really well done version of a classic.

This is a pretty decent fairy-tale retelling in a graphic novel format. Despite the fact that it takes on a fairly gruesome story, the illustrations keep the whole thing pretty tame, rendering it suitable for older kids as well as teens and adults.

Eve has lived her whole life in the shadow of Bluebeard's castle. When she turns eighteen, her father basically sells her to Bluebeard (nice) and she ends up married to a travelling salesman (I'm guessing) who's never home. Bluebeard gives his wife the house's keys, a tiny gold one included. This, of course, opens the door at the end of the gallery. And, of course, she's not supposed to open it. And, of course, she does. When Bluebeard finds out that Eve's discovered his secret, he gets nasty, necessitating a bit of self-defence.

I'm not exactly sure why this is called a "feminist fairy tale", other than the fact that Eve and her sister end up pushing the villain off a balcony. Having the main character sold off by her father doesn't seem very feminist to me.

The writing is mediocre, but since this is a graphic novel, the illustrations play a large role. I kind of liked them. They have a really unique look, and an interesting colour palette. The shapes that are used throughout clearly convey the goodness (or evilness) of the various characters. As I mentioned before, nothing gets too gory. Blood is suggested with judicious use of colour rather than actual gore. (I'm still wondering about that poor zombie who fell off the cliff, though. It was shown, but then never mentioned!)

This book will probably appeal to fans of fairy-tale retellings, especially if they also enjoy graphic novels. Those who are looking for a particularly feminist book, however, may want to look elsewhere.

This is story of a family living in woods. They work hard and lead a simple life.
There is a castle at other end of the forest and rumours are firm about a bluebeard beast living in it.
One day family goes to castle and their life changes.
Story is very good. Just cozy enough for kids to read. Fonts and illustrations are non congested, that makes reading easy on eyes.
Artwork is excellent. Their is vivid use of blue color and red color and large illustrations make reading a great experience.
Storyline is easy to follow and vocabulary is simple.
A very good graphic novel for young kids which takes them to fantasy world of fairytales.
At end support of each other wins family the battle.
Thanks edelweiss plus and publisher for review copy.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is an amazing graphic novel that I devoured over 2 days of reading. I couldn't pull myself away. The art work is beautiful and recapturing and the tale reminds me of frozen with the love the sisters have for each other.
A great read for children that is dark and gothic but not scarily so.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

Bluebeard is and is not a strange. A modern reader sees it as a warning tale for women but the whole “rein in one’s curiosity thing’ gets more than a raised eyebrow from today’s woman. I mean, she at least didn’t kill anyone. The Brothers Grimm are a bit better. But there is something about Bluebeard – the castle, the beard, Angela Carter’s short story. Who knows?

Metaphrog’s retelling, in graphic novel form, combines these various versions and presents something that is pretty darn good.

In this version of the story, the center, the part that holds is the love that the family has for each other, this is particularly true of the sisters. By filling in, or better answering questions versions, that the original versions raise, Metaphrog not only makes the story more engrossing but more modern. There are issues besides the question of curiosity vs feminism. There are also the issues of rich and poor that that are raised in the original but dealt with in passing.

The artwork is glorious. But the stand out winning aspect is the use of the name Eve for the heroine. It is reclaiming the story in so many different ways, moving it beyond the curiosity evil original and taking it further than Angela Carter’s “Bloody Chamber”.