METAPHROG'S BLUEBEARD

In this diminutive graphic-novel adaptation of the “Bluebeard” tale, Eve and her siblings confront the mysterious and sinister man whose castle looms over their village.

The sparse text is narrated by an older Eve as she recounts her youth and reluctant marriage at age 18 to Count Bluebeard. Her slow-burn tale successfully builds suspense, though it’s somewhat diluted by clunky writing and excessive use of ellipses. The stylized illustrations have a soft quality that contrasts with the characters’ exaggerated expressions. Spreads and panels that predominantly feature blues and pinks seem to correspond with Bluebeard and pink-haired Eve, respectively. Despite the limited color palette, readers can distinguish characters’ skin tones: Eve, her family, and Bluebeard all appear white while her best friend and true love, Tom, has brown skin along with several unnamed townspeople. This adaptation retains many elements that characterize existing versions of the tale, including a bloody key, dead wives (here, with minimal gore), sibling saviors, and an enchanted castle. Yet, though Eve claims that the “bond between two sisters, our love, proved stronger than any evil spell,” this self-identified “feminist fairy tale” treats that bond superficially (a slap from Eve is what finally breaks her sister Anne’s trance). Overall, the characters and worldbuilding are frustratingly two-dimensional; readers would be better served with Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods (2014).

A passable introduction to horror for young readers in an engaging format.