Fiona Cook (back and catching up!)'s Reviews > The Seventh Bride

Be bold, be bold, but not too bold...

When a millers daughter finds her hand requested by a lord, even if she's 15 and not yet thinking about marriage, there's not really the option to say no. Even when he seems just a little off, even when he requests you visit the manor house no-one in the village seems to have heard of in the middle of the night...

Luckily for Rhea, she has excellent coping skills, and the friendship of the best hedgehog a girl could ask for.

Surprise, it's a T. Kingfisher novel that I loved! Always subverting expectations :) But she's just so good at putting her own spin on fairytales, weaving horror into them in a way that accentuates their original cautionary elements. They still take place in a magically medieval-ish setting, but they feel timelessly relevant; the "Bluebeard" here is a perfect example of how to listen to your instincts when everyone around you doesn't seem to get those off feelings about someone.

The usual amazing elements of her work are here too; a number of female characters who bring different skills to the table, some of whom aren't quite whole anymore but are never portrayed as lesser because of it. Magic is a natural part of the world, which also makes it exploitable. And the threats are very real; there's a very comforting feeling to big parts of this novel, but the danger is not possible to overlook.

In short, another really excellent book from this author. Easily one of my favourites, but then I say that each time I read a new one.