This gothic short book was intense and creepy. I learned a bunch of new foods and several other words were new to me. The premise is dark, compelling, and interesting. The ending was surprisingly sweet and satisfying.

I don’t typically like scary stories but this one was good.

I would recommend this to fans of Sarah Gailey and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

This story had potential but I feel like the novella structure just didn’t do it any justice. I liked the atmosphere and the characters but the setting was confusing needed more time to be explained. I had a hard time understanding the world and also just Anatema in general.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this novella early! I enjoyed the idea of the premise of the book, unfortunately the dialogue and story fell a bit flat for me. The dialogue jumps around a lot and it was tough to get into the book and follow the story throughout. However, I would like to read more from Hache Peuyo and see how other works compare to this one.

Wow what an interesting story! Queer romance but also horror but not? I really liked the progression of the story with being a novella length. The whole magic concept was crafted thoughtfully and the ending was beautiful. I would love to read more by this author!

"But Not Too Bold" is the perfect novella: intriguing, but not truncated. Charming, but with a nice little plot going. It's a murder mystery plot - of sorts - because while it is clear who got killed, the question remains: did they deserve it? Dahlia has been groomed to watch over the mistress of a wealthy home since birth, but her mistress is like none other: she is an Archaic One, a spider woman monster who looms in corners and eats those who displease her. She did just that at the start of the novel - ate someone - due to suspecting them to be a thief. But were they? Dahlia must solve the mystery for herself, lest she be consumed as well.

I very much enjoyed this strange little jewel of a story. While I did guess the "solution" to the mystery, the characters were interesting and I was very excited to see how they ended up. Recommended for fans of eerie, sumptuous, intricate stories.

Honestly, this is a fun play on Bluebeard, if Bluebeard was a giant spider lady who lived in the top level of a manse. We get a character who's been raised in the house and promoted to a new role interacting directly with the lady of the house, and a mystery from one of the brides who ended up disappearing. Love that we're starting to get more mainstream monster lovers in fiction, and this was a great read over the last few days. Definitely worth your time.

This has everything I.could ever want! A gothic setting, monsters, ancient magic, a Sapphic relationship, and a mystery to solve.

I truly loved this Novella. Dalia is the new keeper of the keys for the Archaic One, Anatema. Together, they must solve who has stolen from Anatema. But Dalia must not be too bold, lest she end up like Anatemas brides.

This was beautifully written and had such a well developed plot and characters for how short it was, which is not easy to do in my opinion. I thought the love story was heartfelt and I adored both Dalia and Anatema. Highly reccomend! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

"There is no reason for me to go downstairs," said Anatema, her fangs sprouting from the fold of her mouth as she spoke. "What for? To collect even more disgusted, horrified sounds at the sight of my appearance? What a waste of time. I have no interest in any other little person . . ."

O N L Y M I S S D Á L I A
T H E O N L Y O N E T O E V E R S E E M E
W I T H O U T F L E E I N G L I K E A C O W E R I N G C A T"

Wow. What an absolutely stunning novella.

But Not Too Bold thrusts the reader into the eclectic world of Miss Anatema, an anthropomorphic female spider, and her right-hand woman, Dália. Anatema is an ancient creature that lives in a large art-deco, hotel-esque building, staffed by chefs, cleaners, and most importantly, the keeper of the keys. In this novella, Dália finally assumes the role - which she's been training for her entire life - after the tragic death of her predecessor, Matilde. How did this fate befall Matilde, you ask?

Well, it's simple! ... Anatema ate her.

Anatema, as ancient, powerful, and peculiar as she is, only wants one thing - a bride. Unfortunately, all the previous brides either end up betraying Anatema or becoming too afraid of her, and thus, she has no choice but to eat them, find a new one, and repeat the cycle, over and over. In the process of assuming and learning her new role, Anatema finds that Dália is not only a wonderful caretaker, but is far from afraid of her. The two become closer as the book goes on, and... I'll leave the rest for you to find out on your own.

As someone who loves fantasy but hasn't dabbled in a lot of horror-leaning literature, this novella was an intimidating one that sat on my TBR for a while. I'm so glad I finally took the plunge, as this quickly became one of my favorite reads of the year. Anatema's world is so thoroughly well-thought-out, from the lore of Anatema's species and the quirky personalities of the supporting characters, all the way to the bizarre food choices, colorful decor, and everything in between. The story was perfectly paced and didn't feel rushed in any way, despite its short length.

Overall, if you're into fantasy and are looking to dip your toes into horror, this whimsical-yet-dark novella is a perfect choice. Be bold... But not too bold.

Dalia has lived most of her life in the sumptuous Capricious House, training to be the Keeper of the Keys. When she is finally promoted into the role, she comes face-to-face with the house’s mistress Anatema, an ancient creature who resembles a giant spider. Dalia finds herself more intrigued than scared by her monstrous boss, who has eaten many of her servants and all of her past brides. Anatema immediately enlists Dalia to help solve a mystery, but as the two spend more time together, Dalia finds herself fascinated by more than just the case.

I love weird fiction, so I decided to give monster romance a try! And honestly, this book is so fun. The lush setting and food descriptions are on point, and I was deeply invested in the mystery. I feel like the actual romance is a bit underdeveloped; I didn’t quite buy that Dalia had strong feelings for Anatema. Still, this was a fun read, and with a sub-100 page count, I’d definitely recommend it to anyone trying to meet their reading goal.

I don’t even know how I could possibly rate this coherently. This is everything I’ve ever wanted in a novel(la). I was giggling and kicking my feet as if this were an old school romance novel and not a gothic horror with ancient, spidery monsters. Hache Pueyo you have made a fan out of me today. READ THIS.

This book I really enjoyed. The aesthetic of this book is done very well, and it was a quick but interesting story.

If any giant spider god woman wants to take me for her wife I AM AVAILABLE.

But seriously, I wish this was longer. Such a fun read!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was exactly what I needed when I said "Give me more spooky sappphoic reads!!!!
And cherries on top! Make it gothic--with a black widow spider theme. IM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK!
SO well written and smary with excellent cultural commntary. It really says a lot in so few pages.
The best and most perfect read for where I'm at right now.

By this point, I think it’s pretty obvious that I will always be down for a weird little horror novella, and this was definitely that! I’ll admit, I somehow didn’t remember the monster romance aspect of it when I started, but honestly that’s not such a big part of the overall novella that it completely changed my experience. This is a quick bite of a book, situated in the world of an old house with an even older and stranger owner who requires a new keeper of keys after she’s eaten the previous holder of the role. There enters our new main character, trying to survive long enough to figure out the mystery of her predecessor’s death and why the lady of the house keeps eating her brides.

Even though the specifics were outside of what I normally read, I definitely found it interesting to read and engaging enough that I was able to breeze through it pretty quickly! Altogether, I would say it’s a mild amount of scary, with a dash of mystery, and a large dollop of sapphic monster romance to finish it all off.

This was a beautifully done novel and had that monster romance element that I was looking for and enjoyed about the genre. I was invested in the romance going on and thought the overall story was a great concept. I thought the characters were realistically done for a monster romance and enjoyed watching this romance grow. Hache Pueyo has a strong writing style and was glad I read this.

seeing a lot of excellent reviews for this one which is lovely! i’m afraid i’m in the minority here, as the story had some foundation but ultimately never quite came together in a logical or comprehensive way for me?

that said, most people seemed to enjoy this so why not give it a go!!

(arc from netgalley)

I was hoping with the emergence of the monster romance genre that we'd begin to see true literary uses of that subgenre and my hopes were answered through But Not too Bold.

The imagery and narrative pair to form a wholly compelling novella that uses its strange but altogether interesting world to its characters carefully constructed.

P.S. arachnophobes super beware, but I'm sure from the cover you knew that already....

Imgur link goes to Instagram graphic scheduled for Feb 11th
Blog link goes live Feb 11th as well
Will be covered in Youtube wrapup

**TL;DR**: If you don’t like spiders, don’t read this. But if you do it’s awesome.
**Source**: Netgalley, Thank you SO much to the publisher!

**Plot**: A young woman is elevated to Keeper of the Keys after her predecessor is eaten for allowing a thief in. So deliciously weird.
**Characters**: I quite enjoyed these creepy folks. I would have read a whole book about them.
**Setting**: This setting is etiher gonna scare the pants of you (spiders literally everywhere) or you’re going to love it. I loved it.
**Romance/Spooky**: It’s both spooky and the romance was weirdly great? The tension was there and I was impressed!

**Thoughts**:

I was so excited for this novella (hello monster romance with spider themes) that I read it as soon as I had access which means I read it WAY far in advance. It’s currently September and this doesn’t release till February. What can I say, sometimes you just know?

But Not Too Bold takes place almost entirely within the walls of a poppy bound manor. Spiders and poppies are uncontrollable here, growing and flourishing in the home of the Mistress while the human servants have learned to simply adapt. They keep the spiders as pets, eat them, and simply coexist. The poppies serve as part of the manor’s money source, and the Mistress controls it all. Unfortunately a thief has entered the home and the last Keeper of the Keys was devoured for allowing this. Dalia is promoted and she is tasked with finding the thief or suffering the same fate.

It’s gothic, it’s creepy, it’s got so many legs and I loved so much of it. The romance and tension in it is the perfect level for me. Honestly I was surprised by the relationship, but it just felt so… deliciously creepy. I love a good monster romance and this was probably the best dark one I’ve ever read.

I super recommend this - just not for anyone even a touch of arachnophobia.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the arc! What a lovely little story. While I did find it a bit predictable, the prose, weirdness, and atmosphere more than made up for it. Here are some other things I loved about it:

The descriptions were lovely and painted a wonderful picture. It truly was dripping in atmosphere.

This book was very unique and somewhat bizarre, and I ate it up. The less I say, the better ;)

This little novella packs a punch and does not hold your hand. I loved exploring this story like one explores a maze

So yeah, this novella was a wonderful read, and even more so during spooky season. I’m very excited to read what this author writes next. -4 spooky spiders

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!!

For the sapphic monster-fuckers out there, we eat and eat well!!!

This novella is full of lyrical, delicious prose and haunting visuals. The pages speed by in a dizzying frenzy, or they did for me anyway as I raced through the piece devouring it whole. I'm ever so relieved my fear of <i>real</i> spiders doesn't translate into the written word, as I would have missed out on a delightful evening.

A stalking, creeping obsession, as our spider queen Anatema seeks out a new keeper of the keys. The lovely, young Dália has prepped for this role most her life, yet may find the new urges she experiences a bit unexpected. Beautiful women come to the Capricious House, but they do not leave it... at least in one piece.

The house is well-prepared for sudden changes of staff and a quick turnaround as holes are filled, viewing each death as an inevitability. Cast-offs and the unwanted find a home there, all expecting to die from one slight or another and while not indifferent to the plight none desire to leave.

<i>Poppies and spiders and feelings oh my </i>