Review: The Bloody Key by LJ Thomas

The Bloody Key  by LJ Thomas first popped onto my radar through one of the many newsletters I had fully forgotten I was subscribed to (honestly, author newsletters are worth it for the surprise books alone, strong recommend). I was thrilled at the premise! But I have to admit, I had never actually heard the original Bluebeard fairytale that this story is based on, and unfortunately confused him with Blackbeard … so I might have been anticipating far more pirates in this story when I signed up for an ARC. However, the lack of swashbuckling did not stop me from enjoying this wonderful little gothic horror retelling, at all!

Anne is part of a large and loving family. She lives in a picturesque little village, the kind that inspires painters to create fine landscapes, and spends her time looking after her father’s goats. But, while her life may seem all daisy chains and sunshine, trying to survive in the countryside is far from easy. The family struggles to make enough to keep themselves afloat, and winters are bleak. So, when a dashing nobleman arrives in the neighbourhood, promising wealth and security for the whole family if Anne or her sister, Liesl, will agree to be his wife, it seems like a dream come true. Sure, he’s older than both the girls combined, and there are rumours that his last wife disappeared, never to be seen from again. But can they afford to pass this opportunity up?

Liesl decides that they cannot and agrees to marry the enigmatic Bluebeard. But when the vows are said and done, Anne still feels uneasy. To keep her sister safe, she will follow Liesl into the bowels of Tiefenwald Castle and hope that her own ever curious nature doesn’t lead them both into further danger.

As my first encounter with the Bluebeard story, I think The Bloody Key did a fantastic job. The epistolary narration was an interesting choice, giving it a Dracula-esque feel, but with a youthful, innocent perspective (Anne is only fifteen), that highlighted the gruesome aspects of the tale in a particularly grizzly way. Watching Anne’s character develop from overly curious and naïve, to clearly traumatised and struggling to remain open to the world was compelling, and there was some excellent moments of tension created as clues dripped slowly into the her diary pages.

That being said, I felt like something was missing from The Bloody Key that would have given it that extra special five-star dazzle. Having read around a bit, I don’t think the novel did anything particularly new with the story, and I felt that there were a few missed opportunities to really make it bounce. For instance, most of the tale is told from Anne’s perspective, which means Bluebeard (arguably the most interesting character in the story) is somewhat absent, appearing only in his handful of diary entries and the beginning and end of Anne’s narration. I love a good villain, particularly one with a skewed sense of morality and an inflated ego, but there is so very little of Bluebeard in this book that you only really get a hint of who he is as a character. I would have loved to see him interact with Anne more, perhaps catching her snooping, or pointing her on the wrong track with a cleverly worded comment. Instead, Anne spends most of her time in the castle gardens, developing a romance that didn’t really hit for me. Particularly as the man in question sort of flounders around, not quite giving her enough information to protect herself.

Essentially, if you’re looking for something spooky, a bit grizzly, but also easy to read and not horrendously intense, The Bloody Key by LJ Thomas is a very, very good option. It’s a solid retelling, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of fun to chip away at over a cup of tea (~winks~). But if you want something more involved, this is not the book for you.