Review; Bluebeard's Castle by Anna Biller

A little while ago, I read the gothic novel Bluebeard's Castle by Anna Biller and today I'll post my review of the book.

Description from Goodreads
A subversive take on the famous French fairy tale from the acclaimed director of The Love Witch, and for fans of Jane Eyre

When the successful British mystery writer Judith meets Gavin, a handsome and charming baron, at a birthday party on the Cornish coast, his love transforms her from a bitter, lonely young woman into a romance heroine overnight. After a whirlwind honeymoon in Paris, he whisks her away to a secluded Gothic castle. But soon she finds herself trapped in a nightmare, as her husband’s mysterious nature, and his alternation between charm and violence, become increasingly frightening.

As Judith battles both internal and external demons, including sexual ambivalence, psychological self-torture, gaslighting, family neglect, alcoholism, and domestic abuse, she becomes increasingly addicted to her wild beast of a husband. Why do women stay in abusive relationships? The answer can be found in the tortured mind of the protagonist, whose richly layered fantasy life parallels that of the female gothic romance reader. Filled with dark humor and evocative imagery, Bluebeard’s Castle is a subversive take on modern romance and gothic erotica.

My Thoughts on the Book
I had high hopes for Bluebeard's Castle and I was drawn to the book due to the cover and the blurb, but I personally felt this was more of a first draft than anything else. It had potential, but I wish the themes, such as abusive relationships, alcoholism, and the others, were more developed and explored in depth in the book. That's also the case of the book being labeled gothic and feminist - it had a few of the elements there, but it was poorly done.

On a positive note on Bluebeard's Castle, it shows how easily anyone can fall into the hands of an abusive sociopath (or abusive A-holes in general) and what could very well potentially happen if you're out of luck.

Honestly though, it was almost like reading a soap opera in book format with one-dimensional characters and hardly any storyline.

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