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Strands of Bronze and Gold

(Strands #1)

Jane Nickerson (Goodreads Author)

3.47 · Rating details · 6,068 ratings · 948 reviews

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wy ...more

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Hardcover, 352 pages

Published March 12th 2013 by Random House Children's Books (first published March 6th 2013)

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Average rating 3.47 ·

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· 6,068 ratings · 948 reviews

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Nov 17, 2013 Anne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, read-in-2013, retelling, fairytale, nook, ghost-story

4.5 stars

Bluebeard has always been hands-down the creepiest fairy tale to me. I mean, the guy had an entire room chock full of dead wives! And they didn't pass away from old age or disease.
Then there was the new wife...
She's given a key to the room and told not to use it. Well, duh, of course she's gonna look!
And since she broke her promise to him... She must die!!!!
Alright, that's the really condensed version of the original, but you get the gist.

So, Strands of Bronze and Gold is a retelling ...more

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Mar 09, 2013 TheBookSmugglers rated it did not like it

Shelves: what-the-fuck-is-this-shit, disappointing, poc, terrible-books, young-adult, historical-fiction, paranormal, mystery

(This was supposed to be a joint review but Thea refused to finish the book. Yes. It is that bad.)

After the death of her father, Northern Sophie Petheram receives an invitation to go live with her godfather, the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, in his plantation in Mississippi. Sophie has always longed for a more comfortable life and for spending more time with her godfather – whom she has always admired in a secretive, furtive way – and is at first, elated at the prospect. And to begin w ...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Wendy Darling rated it liked it

Shelves: march, 2013-publication, retellings-and-inspirations, read-2013, rh, young-adult, mythic-and-fairy-tale-ish, gothic

I was fully prepared to love this book, but alas, I ended up with more of a mild liking instead. The idea of the Bluebeard fairy tale retold tugged at my imagination, and it's true that the writing is quite lovely in parts, as well as a bit startling in others once the story finally got going in the second half.

But overall, I was disappointed to find that this ended up being a more gentle fairy tale than I would have liked. The dark story of Bluebeard is full of seductive promise, danger, and h ...more

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Jan 10, 2013 ♥Rachel♥ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley-e-book

4.5 Stars

I’m not usually drawn to historical romances, but I’m so glad I picked this one up because it was an exciting ride! Strands of Bronze and Gold was filled with mystery and opulence, and oozed suspense. I was on the edge of my seat for much of this read!

Sophie is a girl “genteel, but only in a theoretical way.” As she goes on to explain, theoretically she knows how to live a fancy life but in practice can’t afford it. This is all about to change when her father dies unexpectedly and her g ...more

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May 04, 2020 Cintia rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

I don't know why I've read this.

FULL SPOILERY REVIEW IN MY BLOG: http://abookandateacup.blogspot.com/2... ...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Mitch rated it it was ok

What if Bluebeard were a wealthy plantation owner in the Antebellum South? I’ve never pondered that question before reading Strands of Bronze and Gold, but now that I have, it seems to me like Jane Nickerson picked the least interesting way of going about an adaptation. Rather than expanding on or exploring the source material as a good retelling should, hers is a version that does nothing but overembellish the original to the point the result is a book that’s extremely poorly paced.

I suppose so What if Bluebeard were a wealthy plantation owner in the Antebellum South? I’ve never pondered that question before reading Strands of Bronze and Gold, but now that I have, it seems to me like Jane Nickerson picked the least interesting way of going about an adaptation. Rather than expanding on or exploring the source material as a good retelling should, hers is a version that does nothing but overembellish the original to the point the result is a book that’s extremely poorly paced.

I suppose some people might call chapter after chapter of ostentatious prose describing architecture, decorations, and *shudders* lots and lots of clothing and jewelry atmospheric, but I’m going to go with tedious, dull, and incredibly boring. A few paragraphs here and there wouldn’t have bother me, and I wasn’t too bored at first, I’m well aware of how to create a haunting atmosphere with just the right details, but Strands of Bronze and Gold just goes on and on and on. By the time a quarter of the book passes and Nickerson’s still creating the mood, setting up the atmosphere with her descriptions of Wyndriven Abbey - yes, yes, it takes place in a creepy English monastery transplanted to the Mississippi countryside, can we please move on? When will Sophia discover the dead wives? Who’ll rescue her? How and why does Bernard become a homicidal maniac? I think knowing this is a Bluebeard adaptation built up a lot of anticipation and expectation that the plot would move quickly, except, even as I’m asking those questions, I’m approaching the halfway point, and I’m still no closer to any answers. In a word, the beginning drags. Hard.

If that wasn’t bad enough, all the characters are pretty much failures for me, even after the story picks up in the second half. Bernard, obviously, is a psychopathic wife killer, but even still I didn’t like the way Nickerson approached his character. The original Bluebeard is sort of an object lesson in idle curiosity (don’t peek in that locked door!), but his descent into homicidal madness actually makes very little sense if you think about it (he couldn’t possibly have killed the first wife for discovering the dead bodies of his previous wives, she is after all, his first wife); Nickerson does include a sort of justification for Bernard’s murderous ways but it just felt really flimsy, like a third rate look at a psychotic creep. (view spoiler) And Sophia, Sophia’s reasons for marrying Bernard left a bitter taste in my mouth - after an unbelievable emotional back and forth of feelings towards her guardian, turns out for a person who knows how creepy her godfather is, a person who knows how inappropriate it is for a ward to marry her guardian, the fact she willingly submits to the marriage so she could get money to pay off her brother Harry’s gambling debts just didn’t sit right with me. Especially with the way Harry concealed the extent of his losses the first time she gave him money and then asked for more, forcing her into the wedding - I hate how she puts her own safety behind that of a compulsive gambler who’ll probably burn off whatever extra cash she gets him anyway.

If I’m kind of rambling, it’s because the book is kind of rambling, but there are two other things that pop up in the rambling that I want to point out before the rushed ending. The first is a matter of personal taste, but my favorite part of the original Bluebeard is after the wife is discovered, she’s locked in the tower and trying to buy time before Bluebeard kills her, and she keeps asking her sister whether the sister sees her brothers arriving - I read the Perrault years ago and that was the once scene that still sticks in my memory and I’m sorely disappointed of all things Nickerson had to cut from her adaptation (basically nothing), that was the scene that had to go, and with it, all the suspense. Now, it's just a one and done confrontation. The other is that the plantation setting is completely misused; frankly I would've been satisfied had there been a clearer connection between Bernard's role as a slave owner with the treatment of his wives, but for me it’s as if Nickerson picked the setting for the romanticism of the Antebellum South Gone with the Wind style, then thought better of it because slavery is of course wrong and added some shallow nods to abolitionism to make things right, but of course that for me only makes things worse, like acknowledging a bad situation without really getting why it’s wrong.

Anyway, I don’t think Strand of Bronze and Gold is a very good Bluebeard adaptation - it drags at the beginning and is terribly rushed at the end. I didn’t like the characters and the setting was problematic to put it politely, so I can’t say I liked this. ...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Misty rated it really liked it

Shelves: retelling, juvenile-ya, historical, folklore-myth-fable-fairy-tall-tale, review-copy-solicited, horror-mystery-suspense-thriller, own, arc-or-galley, sci_fi-fantasy, 2013-debuts_lucky-13s

I'm always on the lookout for fairy tale retellings that take on lesser-known and lesser-used tales, so of course when I heard there was a Bluebeard retelling, I was all over that. Fortunately for me, Strands of Bronze and Gold didn't disappoint. Jane Nickerson has placed the "Bluebeard" tale in antebellum South, using a Southern Gothic style to create a retelling that is gorgeously atmospheric and lush.
More on why I loved that, plus a touch of controversy, HERE. ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Tiff at Mostly YA Lit rated it really liked it

So, truth: I didn't know anything about the Bluebeard fairy tale when I requested this book from Netgalley. 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 hundr ...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Madeleine rated it it was ok

Shelves: we-could-have-had-it-allllllll, read-gothic-novels, read-fantasy

Oh man. This fucking book. This thing. Uh. It was supposed to be so awesome. How do you fuck this up? How? A gothic fairy tale set in antebellum Mississippi? Oh my god. This concept could have made for my favorite book of the year. But no. I just got this.

The most intense feeling this book inspired was disappointment. This should have been so awesome.

So this is based on a very short and vague fairy tale with the biggest Mary Sue ending ever. I read it before because I thought, oh, it’s going ...more

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Mar 30, 2019 Trina (Between Chapters) marked it as did-not-finish

DNF at 44 minutes into the audiobook (6%) due to multiple racially insensitive descriptions.

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Aug 18, 2018 Auntie Terror rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-gaslamp

3.3 stars. Rather mediocre, all in all.

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Jun 03, 2013 Katherine rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairytale-retelling, instalove-express, romance, young-adult, historical-fiction, coverly-love, love-triangle, mystery-thriller

”My godfather had referred to my hair as ‘bronze’ in one of his letters when I was younger- a letter featuring a delightfully spun story about a princess with tresses the shade of my own, strands of bronze and gold…”

4.5 out of 5 stars

What a deliciously creepy read. And I mean that in the best possible way.

I love retellings, but they are often hit or miss with me. There’s a certain balance that authors should maintain when it comes to this type of genre: there should be enough of the original ...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Ashley rated it it was ok

Shelves: e-arc, arc

Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson - He wanted me to have only him

BookNook — Young Adult book reviews

2.5 Stars

Strands of Bronze and Gold was written well and certainly had interesting elements, but unfortunately the majority of the book was boring. The problem is that once Sophia arrives at the Abbey, Bernard doesn't let her go anywhere or do anything. As such, 95% of the book takes place in the Abbey. Sophia wanders around, has dinner with Bernard, and explores a little. And 352 pages of that just gets uninteresting really quickly. There are long, drawn o ...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it liked it

Shelves: historical, fairy-tale, france, mystery, ghosts, religious-spiritual, ya

3.5 stars

A retelling of the Blackbeard tale, set in the antebellum South.

Sophia comes from the north, her mother died at her birth, and she was raised by her beloved father, a sister, and two brothers. M. de Cressac was there at her birth, and was so enchanted with her hair that he offers to be her godfather. Over the years, as the family fades away in genteel poverty, he sends Sophia numerous gifts and essentially spoils her from a distance. When she is seventeen, Sophia's father dies, and de 3.5 stars

A retelling of the Blackbeard tale, set in the antebellum South.

Sophia comes from the north, her mother died at her birth, and she was raised by her beloved father, a sister, and two brothers. M. de Cressac was there at her birth, and was so enchanted with her hair that he offers to be her godfather. Over the years, as the family fades away in genteel poverty, he sends Sophia numerous gifts and essentially spoils her from a distance. When she is seventeen, Sophia's father dies, and de Cressac offers to take her in. She travels to his lavish mansion in Mississippi, rebuilt stone by stone from the old world, and is spoiled and given her heart's desire. She meets the slaves on the plantation and feels for their plight, and learns of his former wives (they keep popping up one by one). Bernard de Cressac is alternately friendly and boisterous, then glowering and angry. He is extremely temperamental, but charismatic, and Sophia can't seem to stay mad at him for long. He is controlling and sometimes cruel, she is not allowed off the plantation, and he later on gets her a French maid who follows her everywhere. His true nature is slowly revealed, and it's rather obvious since this is a retelling of Bluebeard, after all.

The good: the writing and the atmosphere. The descriptions are vivid, the characters are vibrant.

The bad: the story dragged on a lot towards the second half; I realize that the author needed to build suspicion on Bernard and make his actions gradual, but I really felt the story was about 100 pages too long towards the end. The firs half of the book...5 stars. The second half, 3. It was so slow by the end, I was pushing myself to read on. It didn't help that the reader pretty much knew what was going to happen, a good author would not have slowed down the action so much, or else put a twist in the ending as to not lose the reader's attention, but no, mine was lost.

I also thought it was very preachy, and overly religious. There is an underlying message in the novel against slavery (which is great, I mean who's actually FOR slavery?) and it doesn't clash with the novel taking place in the South, but the religious overtones were a bit much. ...more

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Aug 05, 2015 Anna (Enchanted by YA) rated it it was ok

Shelves: coverly-love, saw-it-all-coming, insta-love-alert, major-disappointment, almost-dnf, stand-alone, cardboard-characters, super-ending, meh

I found this book so underwhelming; everything that sounded great in theory (Bluebeard retelling and all that) ended up working against it and simply put – I was bored.

The historical setting was interesting but not nearly explored enough with Sophia spending all her time in the Abbey because of Bernard’s ultimate control. That meant interactions with people were limited (the few she did have were eye roll-worthy. Particularly the insta-love where I honestly looked back to check to see if I had f ...more

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Sep 15, 2018 Krystle rated it it was ok

A Bluebeard retelling about a girl who is enchanted by her older, pedophile of a godfather that grooms her with pretty gifts and expensive favors from a young age and uses that to emotionally abuse, manipulate, and trap her into an unhappy situation.

Lots of self-righteous commentary about slave ownership by a white savior type of figure of a girl.

Writing is good but the rest of the book did not sit well with me.

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Jan 07, 2015 Sara (Freadom Library) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: standalones, young-adult, retellings, historical-fiction, read-2015

This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/

Critically
Plot – 3 out of 5 stars
This whole book just dragged on forever for me. It felt too long right from the beginning, there were pages given to huge descriptions of where they were living and I was just not for it. There were some exciting moments but those were few and far in between the creepy stuff and the generally boring stuff. It was just not for me.
Writing Style – 2 out of 5 stars
I think this was the biggest This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/

Critically
Plot – 3 out of 5 stars
This whole book just dragged on forever for me. It felt too long right from the beginning, there were pages given to huge descriptions of where they were living and I was just not for it. There were some exciting moments but those were few and far in between the creepy stuff and the generally boring stuff. It was just not for me.
Writing Style – 2 out of 5 stars
I think this was the biggest problem for me. Ignoring the slowness of the plot could’ve been easy if the writing had hooked me right in but it didn’t. There was too much description and it was a little bit disjointed. I’d be reading about something and there would be a random sentence talking about something else right in the middle of the paragraph. It was simple but in the negative way where it feels like it lacked substance and excitement. It was just boring and it made it really hard for me to get through the book.
Characters – 3 out of 5 stars
Another point where I just wasn’t connecting. Our main character Sophie annoyed me right off the bat. Her father has just died and she’s shipped off miles away and all she’s thinking about is how rich her godfather is going to be and how much she’s going to hate his wife. She’s self-centered and naive about life, specially in Mississippi at the time of slaves. There were some moments where I liked her but the majority of the time she was just stupid to be honest. There were so many huge warning signs flashing at her the whole time and she still had no clue and was just very passive and submissive. Bernard was just plain crazy. He’s a very charming man but incredibly manipulative which are the signs of a sociopath, if you didn’t know. It was an obvious thing though, not only for me but for everyone else, except for Sophie. I just wanted to shake her and yell at her. If she would’ve been just a bit more proactive and the book would’ve been shorter, I might’ve liked it more but that was not the case.

Emotionally
(view spoiler)[I knew from the first chapter of this book that I was not going to like it. Why did I keep reading? So I could feel capable of rating this book appropriately and writing this review coherently.

The plot was boring. We follow a young girl named Sophie who after the death of her father, moves from Boston to Mississippi to live with her godfather. Pretty simple in context but this is supposed to be a retelling of the fairytale Bluebeard. I hadn’t heard of it before this book so before delving deep into the story, I went on Wikipedia and learned more about the fairytale. It’s very similar to 1,000 Nights, where this man named Bluebeard kills his wife, then he gets a new one and when she finds out about the dead one before her, he kills her too. So on and so forth, until a smart woman comes and manages to get help and kill him before he can kill her. That sounds really exciting and it leaves space open for interpretation but this retelling had nothing suspenseful about it. I didn’t like it. There was more time spent on describing the giant mansion and all the different dead wives, than on the actual retelling of the tale. There were a few subplots, dealing with the Underground Railroad and a minor romance, but there were more bothersome than helpful. I just wanted to get on with it. Such an interesting fairytale but the execution of the book made it boring and annoying. By the time we finally got to the retelling part and it got creepy and exciting, it was just too late for me to be interested and it still didn’t happen the way I wanted it to.

Sophie was an idiot. I’m sorry, I try not to be insulting while writing reviews because its unprofessional, but there’s no other word for her. She was too busy fawning over her godfather to realize what a creeper she was. And when she finally started putting the pieces together, she didn’t do anything proactive! She had this really gross and weird obsession with the dead wives, like keeping strands of their hair weird. I guess I should’ve seen it coming because of the title and all but all the ladies had red hair and she just thought itd be cool to put them all together and make a bracelet. What?

There was even hints and actions toward romance between Sophie and Bernard that literally disgusted me. I get it, its part of the plot but she should not want it! That’s so gross dude. To top it all off once she gets her brain cells back, she finds another guy and ITS SO INSTA LOVE. One of the worst cases I’ve ever seen of insta love to be honest. It just made an already bad feeling, worse where I was concerned.

I held out that maybe in the end that maybe she’d get her stuff together and fight for herself and kick that ass’ face in. But in my opinion, the ending wasn’t harsh enough. When it was finally getting good and suspenseful, it just stops very abruptly and we come back a few days or weeks later I think. It was such a letdown. I wanted Sophie to go from passive and weak to a strong powerful and decisive woman and that didn’t happen. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be trying anymore of Jane’s books because of how I couldn’t connect to her writing style. (hide spoiler)] ...more

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Dec 18, 2012 AH rated it liked it

Shelves: yellow, dark, ghosts, historical, arc-netgalley, retellings, babr-reviews, zzread-feb-2013

Retellings seem to be all the rage now and Strands of Bronze and Gold is a nice addition to this genre. I had never heard of the Bluebeard fairy tale, so I started reading this without a frame of reference. There are differing opinions on this matter – some readers will prefer to have some knowledge of the Bluebeard story while others may not. About halfway through the book, I had to satisfy my curiosity and I did look up the story. Having a little background knowledge helped me appreciate the b Retellings seem to be all the rage now and Strands of Bronze and Gold is a nice addition to this genre. I had never heard of the Bluebeard fairy tale, so I started reading this without a frame of reference. There are differing opinions on this matter – some readers will prefer to have some knowledge of the Bluebeard story while others may not. About halfway through the book, I had to satisfy my curiosity and I did look up the story. Having a little background knowledge helped me appreciate the book and its dark and gothic rendition of the story.

The story begins as a teenaged Sophie leaves her home and family in Boston to live with her wealthy godfather in Mississippi. Bernard de Cressac has a vast estate and he provides Sophie with lavish gifts, clothing, jewelry – everything she could want or need. But all is not what it seems. Bernard has a penchant for red-headed ladies, and he isolates Sophie from her family and even from the local townspeople. In addition, the mansion is quite creepy and strange things happen.

I enjoyed this story. The writing was lovely and the author gave a lot of attention to details such as the descriptions of the food and clothing of that time period. The author also integrated the themes of slavery and the underground railway into the narrative. A word of warning to pet lovers – there is a scene that may unsettle pet lovers. As the story does take place in the south when slavery was accepted, there are also some uncomfortable scenes as well. The pacing of the story was a little slow and there were parts that could have had a little more action.

Sophie’s character was interesting. I think if you look at her from the context of her time period and upbringing, she is representative of that age. At first she was a naïve girl, but the longer she stayed at the estate, the more resourceful she became. I liked how she compared herself to Scheherazade, telling stories to Bernard to distract him from his seduction. Sophie was also able to develop covert relationships with people around her. When Sophie finally realizes Bernard’s true intentions, she is appalled, but plays along until she can find a way out.

“If certain aspects of my life had come from the pages of a fairy tale, I had now entered between the covers of some lurid novel.”

As a retelling of the Bluebeard fairy tale, Strands of Bronze and Gold is a dark gothic read. While the pacing of the story was a little uneven, I did enjoy this book and I can’t wait to see what other books this author has planned.

If you are interested, the author’s website has some interesting background information as well as the Bluebeard fairy tale - here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for a review copy of this book.

Review posted on Badass Book Reviews.
...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Leigh Collazo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: net-galley, 5-stars, best-of-2013, pub-date-2013, read-in-2013

More reviews at Mrs. ReaderPants.

REVIEW: I allowed one of my 8th grade girls to read the first chapter of my ARC. When she finished the chapter, she said she was "already into it." And she is right--the story and Sophie's voice hooked me from the very first few pages as well.

I was consumed by this book, and I once again stayed up too late on a school night just to finish it. There are several plot threads outside the Bluebeard story--The Underground Railroad, a romance between two slaves, a mai ...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Bethany rated it it was amazing

I got my hands on an advance copy of this novel and LOVED it! Well written with beautiful descriptive detail, it was an intelligent but easy read. The captivating villain (Bluebeard!) hooked me in the beginning and the well-paced plot kept me turning pages all the way to the dramatic ending. Set in Mississippi before the Civil War, I enjoyed all of the period details as well as the touch of the supernatural. As a reader of dozens of fiction books every year, I would highly recommend this as a mu ...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Eve rated it it was amazing

Wonderful and intoxicating. I read this in one day. Echoes of Jane Eyre and Rebecca and of course, the Bluebeard legend, are woven throughout this beautifully written and thrilling Gothic mystery. Even if you already know the story, you'll be swept away by the masterful pacing and haunting prose. Tons of fun! ...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Rayne rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, historical-fiction, there-s-romance-in-there-somewhere, you-go-girl, period-tale, ghosts, retellings, mystery, fuckboys-galore, you-have-disturbed-me

I am familiar with the story of Bluebeard. I read it when I was younger (which quite possibly scarred me for life), and I've read a few retellings of it through the years. But never like this. I didn't start this book thinking I'd like it a lot. I was certainly intrigued, but I had read some reviews, and there seemed to be some issues I was almost ready to dislike. And this is why you should never prepare yourself to dislike something before you face it yourself, because I thoroughly enjoyed thi ...more

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May 22, 2012 Gabrielle Carolina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bir12

I didn't mean to finish it. I meant to just read a bite, to make sure I wished to request a review copy in the coming year, but I kept turning the pages of the Kindle Ap on my iPad, and I hate reading on a screen.

For now, I'll just tell you the review (posted closer to the far-off release date) will be glittering with strands of bronze and gold. ...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Evie rated it really liked it

Shelves: loved-it, 2013

It was amazing. It was breathtaking. Intense. Beautiful. Dark and gothic. Thrilling. Scary. Heart-pounding (the last 1/3rd of the story). And then.. it ended. Very abruptly. I loved the entire book but was a bit let down by the ending :( But overall a fantastic retelling of the "Bluebeard" fairy tale!

Full review to come closer to the release date! ...more

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Jan 02, 2017 Olivia (Stories For Coffee) rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish

Got around 70 pages in, but I was tired of the subtle derogatory terms used for PoC like "Negros" or comparing their skin color to food. Even if it's "true to the historical time period to use those terms", I'm not about it. ...more

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Jun 06, 2012 JennRenee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2013

Review:
This is one of the few books this year I wanted right away. I was so happy to see it on audio and WOW is all I can say. I didn’t go into this book with any expectations because I really wasn’t familiar with the Bluebeard folktale. I started the book without any inkling what was to come. Part way through the book I did get curious and looked up the folk tale and it only excited me more for the book. If you don’t know the folktale you will need to look it up. It’s just creepy very creepy an ...more

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Feb 24, 2022 Cillian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Cillian by: Rayne

Shelves: for-the-nook, ya, 2022-elites, why-so-serious, ghosts-or-the-undead, gothic, another-retelling, the-amazing-south, forgotten-authors

Best character development I've seen in a very long time.
It's not all dresses, whatsits and doodads for Sophie; she's deep, smart and extremely real.

Also, to the annoying, ridiculous SJWs who wake up offended and never miss an opportunity to score virtue points: no, a compassionate person who thinks that owning people is wrong and is uncomfortable with the idea of treating human beings like property is not a fucking "white savior." It's a nice person.
It really is that simple.
Had she ignored the ...more

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Aug 10, 2016 ᒪEᗩᕼ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, listened-on-audio, historical, 2016, ghosts, fairytale-retelling

Plagued by an overwhelming icky-ness that I just couldn't shake

Book Title: Strands of Bronze and Gold
Author: Jane Nickerson
Narration: Caitlin Prennace
Series: Strands #1
Genre: YA, Historical, Retelling
Source: Audiobook (Library)

☆My Pick for Book Theme Song: Down With The Sickness by Disturbed --Because this guy is seriously disturbed and maybe his underlying problem is Mommy issues…

Ratings Breakdown

Plot: 3.2/5
Characters: 2.8/5
The Feels: 2.5/5
Addictiveness: 2/5
Theme: 2/5
Flow: 3/5
Backdrop (World B ...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Stellareads rated it it was amazing

Strands of Bronze and Gold features one of my favorite villains of all time. Monsieur Bernard is complicated, eerily charming, sometimes sympathetic, and deeply terrifying. Some heroines might fade away when placed next to such a villain, but Sophie is her own kind of interesting. I loved watching her grow as a person as she struggles to maintain her own identity in the face of Bernard's overwhelming personality.

A few thoughts:

1. The writing is lovely. I never noticed a clumsy phrase or badly c ...more

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Jan 11, 2018 theresa rated it liked it

I was really excited to read a Bluebeard retelling because CREEPIEST fairy tale ever amiright??Unfortunately i was bored most of the time reading this and i just couldn't care for the MC at all.The writing was very descriptive and i am not sure was that good or a bad thing haha.Last 50ish pages were semiokay,but i expected more tbh 🤷🏻‍♀️3,25 ⭐️ ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Play Book Tag: [Poll Book Tally] Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson 2 stars	1	4	May 07, 2020 04:02PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. YA Mystery (?) Godfather character. Spoilers ahead. [s]	4	22	Apr 15, 2018 11:53AM
2017 Reading Chal...: Strands of Bronze and Gold	3	13	Oct 20, 2015 06:00AM
Fairy Tales Eclectic: (Blue Beard) "Strands of Bronze and Gold" Discussion - October 2014 Group Read	33	23	Nov 06, 2014 03:07PM
Goodreads Librari...: Different Goodreads listing for different translations	7	253	Feb 01, 2014 02:59PM

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About Jane Nickerson

Jane Nickerson

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For many years Jane Nickerson and her family lived in a big old house in Aberdeen, Mississippi, where she was also the children’s librarian. She has always loved the South, “the olden days,” gothic tales, houses, kids, writing, and interesting villains. After a few years in Ontario, Canada, Jane and her husband have returned to Mississippi where Jane lives in a little old house and writes, mostly ...more