Blueblood

by Malorie Blackman, Laura Barrett (Illustrator)

Overview

Nia has met the man she wants to marry. Marcus is kind, clever and handsome, with a beard so dark it is nearly blue-black. Nia demands a single promise from him – that Marcus will never enter her study, her private space. But when Marcus's curiosity begins to mount Nia feels more and more uneasy. Will he betray her? Can he accept that no means no? Can a woman ever have a room of her own? Malorie Blackman brings her unparalleled understanding of human nature to the story of Bluebeard.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642596748
Publisher:	Haymarket Books
Publication date:	11/16/2021
Series:	Fairy Tale Revolution
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Malorie Blackman has written over seventy books for children and young adults, including the Noughts & Crosses series, Thief and a science-fiction thriller, Chasing the Stars. Many of her books have also been adapted for stage and television, including a BAFTA-award-winning BBC production of Pig-Heart Boy and a Pilot Theatre stage adaptation by Sabrina Mahfouz of Noughts & Crosses. In 2005 Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children’s books. In 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature, and between 2013 and 2015 she was the Children’s Laureate. Most recently Malorie wrote for the Doctor Who series on BBC One, and the fifth novel in her Noughts & Crosses series, Crossfire, was published by Penguin Random House Children’s in summer 2019.

Editorial Reviews

As macabre as the original... the same dark, sinister atmosphere overshadows the old, murderous story.” —Eithne Farry, Sunday Express

"Blackman’s feminist twists on the lesser-known fairy tale 'Bluebeard' are interesting, and a climactic reveal raises intriguing questions about legacy and violence... Barrett’s delicate, eerie, shadow cutout illustrations are nice additions to the unsettling atmosphere." —Kirkus

"Blackman’s feminist twists on the lesser-known fairy tale 'Bluebeard' are interesting, and a climactic reveal raises intriguing questions about legacy and violence... Barrett’s delicate, eerie, shadow cutout illustrations are nice additions to the unsettling atmosphere." —Kirkus

From the Publisher

2021-09-18
Wealthy and confident Nia, a jewelry designer for the rich and famous, has everything going for her.

All she needs is the perfect partner. Nia's past relationships have ended for mysterious reasons. Despite the warnings of her brothers, Nia swiftly becomes engaged to new paramour Marcus. Rumors about him abound, and he has his own history he’d rather keep hidden. Perhaps Marcus is a bit strange, with his blue-black beard and controlling ways, but as long as he follows Nia’s one rule, they should be fine: don’t, under any circumstances, enter her private workroom in the basement. Told in Marcus’ and Nia’s alternating third-person perspectives, the story neither quite works as a shorter tale or as a sketch of what could be a fuller novel, falling somewhere unsatisfyingly in between. The characters lack depth and come across as ideas rather than real people. While it touches on interesting ideas about abuse and a woman’s autonomy in marriage, the work doesn’t do so strongly enough to make a lasting impression. However, Blackman’s feminist twists on the lesser-known fairy tale “Bluebeard” are interesting, and a climactic reveal raises intriguing questions about legacy and violence that would be fascinating if explored further. Barrett’s delicate, eerie shadow cutout illustrations are nice additions to the unsettling atmosphere. Characters are racially ambiguous.

An unusual retelling that doesn’t quite cohere. (author's note) (Fiction. 13-adult)

Kirkus Reviews