Review: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

March 11, 2013 / 15 Comments / Review, Uncategorized

Strands of Bronze and Gold
Author: Jane Nickerson
Publisher: Albert A Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House Children’s Books
Source: eARC requested through Netgalley
Publication Date: March 12, 2013 (tomorrow!)
My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads synopsis: 

A sweeping Gothic thriller based on the spine-chilling “Bluebeard” fairytale

17-year-old Sophia Petheram has been sheltered by her doting family all her life, until the day her father dies. It’s 1855, and with no money and few options, she goes to live with her guardian, the mysterious Bernard de Cressac, at the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey in Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if thread by thread, a silken net is woven around her. And when she begins glimpsing the ghosts of his former wives (all with hair as red as her own) in the forgotten corners and dark hallways of the Abbey, Sophie knows she’s in de Cressac’s trap.

With enchanting romance, chilling suspense, and dashes of the supernatural, Strands of Bronze and Gold is a compulsively-readable debut.


Review: 

So, truth: I didn’t know anything about the Bluebeard fairy tale when I requested this book. I liked the sounds of a fairy tale retelling, I liked the title and the cover, and I thought it would be a pretty cool historical novel. And it is. But man, this was WAY creepier than I expected.

For me, this book started a little too slowly. It had too much description and not enough plot. The suspense was definitely built up, so much so that I found it hard to get into for the first hundred pages or so. Sophie just kept talking about the grounds and the setting and spent a lot of time listing the zillions of gorgeous things around her. While I understand that the author was trying to build up the scene and the suspense, and that the overkill on the words and lists of things followed the opulence and too-much-ness of the place itself, I was like, “Please, something just HAPPEN.”

I only really started to get into this book around page 150, which I feel is too late to be capturing a reader’s attention. That said, once I did get into it and the story started to move, I was quite engrossed. Sophie is a little bit too much of a swoony, fainty girl at the beginning, but she ends up being pretty sassy for a girl in the 1850s, and I appreciated that her “feminine curiosity” (M. Bernard’s words) kept uncovering cool things about de Cressac’s history. I liked that de Cressac was a complex character who really made Sophie question her own ideas of what was right, and that the secondary characters were all questioning that as well.

Just to warn you, the book takes place in the South just before the American Civil War, so there’s a lot of talk about slavery and whether it’s right or tolerable. Coming from a 21st century perspective, I think it’s hard to disagree with the author’s slant here, but I did feel like Sophie and her family’s views were maybe a little progressive for the time period.

The other thing that bothered me was that I never believed that de Cressac was THAT attractive. I did believe he was charismatic enough to get Sophie to do anything he wanted at first, and powerful and wealthy enough to get Sophie to think she was in love with him. But Sophie kept on talking about him as a super-hot older guy with earrings and a blue beard, and all I could think of was this:

Sorry, George, but this ain’t hot.

No spoilers, but the back third of this novel is what saved it for me. I raced through the last hundred pages, needing to know how Sophie would get herself out of a pretty horrific predicament. Add to that the SUPER CREEPY turn of things at the end, and you have one scary novel. I was a little afraid to go to bed last night.

At its heart, Strands of Bronze and Gold tells a very disturbing and important tale about emotional abuse and what makes an unhealthy relationship. I really appreciated that part of the novel –  it was a little heavy-handed, but I really felt that it brought home the idea that the guy you want to be with is NOT the Byronic hero. Girls, you don’t want a Mr. Rochester or a Heathcliff (or Edward Cullen). You don’t want the guy who’s unstable and can explode at every turn and won’t let you speak your mind. You want the guy who’s sweet, who has conversations with you, and who wants you to be the strong person that you are. (Want more on this? See my post “Let’s Hear It For the Good Boys!“)

Bonuses: 

Frocks: man, Sophie gets a LOT of gorgeous dresses in this novel. And gorgeous jewels. And basically tons of pretty things. The fact that everything feels like it’s too tight or too heavy on her just adds to the Gothic atmosphere of the novel.

The creeps: If you’ve read or heard the original Bluebeard fairy tale, I think you’ll know that this book is pretty gruesome. As I mentioned, the ending is both awesome and disturbing.

The Final Word

Strands of Bronze and Gold will really appeal to fans of historical and Gothic horror, as well as people who like a lot of suspense in their novels. Think the Brontes or Frankenstein. It’s satisfyingly scary, but it also has a pretty strong female heroine and a good message.

Strands of Bronze and Gold comes out tomorrow! Are you excited for this Gothic historical? Do you like creepy reads? Let me know in the comments!


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15 responses to “Review: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

  1. I agree that this was super creepy. I loved it though. I didn't think that Sophie and her family had overly progressive views on slavery. I've done a bit of reading on slavery, and while the rest of the country knew it was happening, they didn't know how horrible it was until they saw it for themselves. Sophie's reaction to slavery was quite normal for someone outside of the South. Slavery was quite a hot button topic for many upper class and influential people in the rest of the country, long before the war even started.

  2. Glad you liked this one (even if you did find it a bit slow at first). I tend to really like the atmospheric stuff so I think that's why I was drawn to it right away – but I see what you mean about it taking some time to get going.

  3. Interesting – thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think what I meant by that was that I agree that slavery might have been horrific and obviously wrong to people who weren't from the South, but I also felt like there could have been a bit more of a balanced view of it, since it's a historical novel. The character of Anarchy helped with that a bit, but I wish we'd gotten more of her.

    I'm glad to hear that others loved this novel! I liked it, but I don't know if it was totally for me.

  4. OMG your image is too funny! Can I just say I agree with ALL of your review? You captured all my thoughts perfectly. Especially about the beginning. 150 pages was about right for me too and OMG that is way too long, and no wonder so many readers DNFed it! I'm glad I stuck it out though cuz there was a lot of good here too!

  5. Thanks for sharing. The blurb looks good and I like that the story is creepy. I just need to go through about lot of pages before the story turns good. Thanks for the tip!

  6. I can't wait to read this book. I really can't. I have heard from others that it is slow getting started, but if there is even a little bit of action once it gets started I think I might just like it! Thanks for the great review! Great cover, by the way!

  7. This: "A sweeping Gothic thriller based on the spine-chilling "Bluebeard" fairytale" and that gorgeous cover are the reasons I wanted to read SoBaG. But, now? I'm hesitant. The story has to grab my attention or else I definitely lose interest. It seems this is a slow going read and picks up close to the end. Not what I'm looking forward to. Hmmm, I'll file this away to the back of my bookshelf, for now. Thank you for the review.

  8. Suz

    I don't know much about the Bluebeard myth but the story idea sounds interesting to me. After reading your comments, though, I may give it a pass. I like the historical aspect but think it may be too creepy for me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

  9. I have been dying to read this book! It's sounds so creepy and interesting. I also like that there is a book that doesn't endorse the unstable guy and emotional abuse, I have a big issue with that. Thanks for the review, it made me want to read the book even more 🙂

  10. I haven't heard anything about Bluebeard fairy tale until I read this post!! 0_o
    Sounds intriguing though and I do love Gothic thrillers. Love the cover and there's a nice ring to the title too. 😀

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