Bluebeard by Metaphrog, 175 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL
Papercutz, 2020. $20.
Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Life in the village requires hard work, but Eve and her family are happy. But then change comes: first with a huge storm, and then with an invitation from the wealthy and feared Bluebeard. How will Eve uncover the mysteries surrounding Bluebeard and escape his grasp?
Simple story line that it is, Eve’s story was a nice read. The beginning felt choppy and somewhat pointless, maybe because the details shared felt unrelated to each other, but the second half was more engaging. Metaphrog breaks the stereotypes of typical fairy tales, encouraging readers to overcome their hardships -- with or without a knight in shining armor. I also enjoyed the unique illustration style; though I was not sure I liked it in the beginning, the style grew on me as I became entranced by all the strong colors.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

I really enjoyed the unique premise of this story. I'm new to graphic novels and really enjoyed this one.

I loved a lot of the art and really felt like it added to the story. I dont know what it is exactly that was missing but I just wanted a little more. Maybe why Bluebeard was the way he was? or why he murdered his wives?

Prior to reading this book I didn''t know anything about Bluebeard and the children's tale but upon looking into it I loved the twist of the stronger female lead character who had more control over her fate. Although men were on their way to save her it was she herself who managed to change her own fate.

I loved the idea that the sisterly bond can break any curse. It is a good idea to have in a children's story.

Some of the graphics may be slightly scary for some of the younger age children and I would probably only recommend this for ages 9+

Thank you Netgalley and Papetcutz for the ARC copy.

Once upon a time, in the depths of a magical fores, lived a man everyone in the village feared. Bluebeard was very wealthy, and very powerful. But also very frightening. Eve grew up listening to stories about him, and is terrified of the man. But when the village falls into starvation and Bluebeard asks for her hand in marriage, she'll have no choice but to obey in order to save her family. Bluebeard is a dangerous man, Can Eve find a way to get away from him?

Although the story has a very interesting plot outline, the narration felt lacking. The story took quite a long time to speed up and become interesting, to the point that it nearly lost my attention, It took nearly 50% of the book to become really interesting. The illustrations are nice, with beautiful colours that create an air of mystery and magic. All in all, not too bad a story, but not particularly exciting, either.

This illustrations really drew me to this book. The story was just as interesting and a magical retelling of Bluebeard. I will be adding this to our library's collection. I enjoyed following the story from Eve's perspective. The illustrations are truly lush and vibrant.

I was lucky to receive a beautiful graphic novel arc by Metaphrog via Netgalley who told the story of Blackbeard in a feminist retelling. Instead of having Blackbeard as the main character we have a young girl called Eve who grows into a strong woman who wants to spend her life exploring the world with her childhood sweetheart Tom. I loved this book not only was the story and artwork were captivating but it also gave a message to it's readers that it was ok to be a strong woman and to make your own way in life. For this reason I have to give this 5 stars and would highly recommend it to young and old alike

Once more, we get a beautiful graphic novel from Metaphrog, almost justifying the great time each one takes to produce. I wouldn't like to overplay the feminism allegedly brought to this story, although the heroine has a life of her own and her own intended destiny before the titular Bluebeard comes and whisks her off her feet against her will. But the politics of the whole gory, gothic saga aside we still have a wonderful telling, with all the beats and more that we regularly get, and it's all perfectly conveyed. In child-friendly manner we see the nightmares of the black forest (which I might have capitalised, but allusions to Polish names and foods remind us there is bound to be more than one forest that is a bit on the black side), and all the rustic idyll that famine and nasty, manipulative men can counterpoint so nicely. Every image is lush in colour and detail, or playing with silhouette puppet shows and rural storytelling traditions of old – and that's what this is, ultimately – timeless storytelling.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This is the first graphic novel I have read by this author and I enjoyed it. The illustrations were bright and beautiful and told the story very well, even when a page didn’t have words. Looking forward to reading another.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* I really loved the art of this graphic novel! it just felt so mysterious and mystical! I'm slowly getting more into graphic novels and this is certainly one of the best ones I've read so far! The story itself was interesting though it was vague it was still a thriller