The House Saphir

Overall Rating: 5/5

My jaw dropped when I was given the opportunity to read this. And we won't mention the fact that I definitely squealed a little... ok, more than a little. Marissa Meyer has long been a favorite of mine, and The House Saphir is another stunning masterpiece from the desk of the very-talented Marissa Meyer herself. Akin to Meyer's other works Cinder and Heartless, The House Saphir is a masterfully done retelling of the French tale of Bluebeard.

Mallory Fontaine is a fraud.

Though she descends from a line of famous witches, she has no magic herself. Aside from the ability to see ghosts... and so her and her sister have settled for a life of conning people out of their hard-earned money... maintaining the family business selling bogus spells, bogus Saphir relics, and conducting tours of the Saphir mansion where the first of the infamous murders took place... trying to eke out somewhat of a living for themselves.

Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on this infamous bit of history, and on Count Bastien Saphir (also known as Monsieur Le Bleu) ... who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago.

And as she conducts a tour of the Saphir estate one night, her con is discovered. She is threatened with arrest... as is her sister... if it weren't for the fact that the Count's great-great grandson and only heir decided to feign interest in her so-called "grand" tour of the infamous estate...

Count Armand Saphir is convinced that Mallory and her sister are both powerful, capable witches. He is handsome, and beyond wealthy. And after Mallory saves him from a creature the night that Armand saves her from arrest... he is fully convinced that the sisters are powerful enough to help him with his problem.

To con artists such as the sisters.... he is the perfect mark. It is only sweetened when he offers them both a considerable amount of money to travel to his country manor, to help rid that home of Le Bleu's ghost... who has returned with vengeance in his mind.

Combine that with monsters... and its almost as if Mallory's dreams have come true of being able to explore such a haunted estate...

And then the unthinkable happens.

Murder strikes again in this cursed estate.

And now Mallory finds herself in the very center of the newest murder to occur on the Saphir grounds...except this time, this is no murder caused by a vengeful spirit.

Marissa, you have well and truly outdone yourself again.

This novel is the quintessential Marissa Meyers and is a reminder of why she is the Queen of Fairytale Retellings. Her writing is always so smooth, and so well-thought that once it is on paper, it flows seamlessly. I loved the dynamic between Mallory and Armand. Meyer's characters are always flawless.... and I am totally and utterly blown away at how Marissa has somehow managed to flawlessly spin a retelling of a tale such as Bluebeard.

This was such a perfect book to read in October, and I am so looking forward to being able to turn its pages over and over again.