Sour Cherry is a story within a story; a story of a story. A narrator spins a fairy tale that shows “you the world as it is.” We listen as she tells a story of a boy, the violence that follows him and he inflicts, and the pain of the inescapable consequences. This is a retelling of Bluebeard with a modern twist.

At once a warning and commentary on the cycles of violence and how that violence infects everything in the vicinity. How powerful men are often excused or face consequences for their actions. This explores domestic abuse and the complex and nuanced relationships it leads to as well. This line “You think you’re moving from place to place but the houses move with you,” gave me chills. 

This dreamlike story is shrouded in emotion, nature imagery, and repetition to strike an uncanny feel to the words. In slow increments, we’re pushed further into the lives of the characters. A line repeated is why won’t they leave if horrible things happen and yet we stay to listen, to read, even the same. 

It was lush and dark and captured that fairytale feeling well. I enjoyed reading but felt like the pacing sometimes felt rushed and others drawn out. While this a retelling of Bluebeard with a feminist perspective, I wanted to learn more about the wives, most of their names are just numbers, and their interier lives. It felt like so much concentrated on the man. In the end, (spoilers) another ‘wife’ tells the story to her son in hopes that he won’t be like the man. There was a lot of nuance in the story, but by the end, I wasn’t sure it stuck the landing of what the book was trying to say. 

Overall, I did enjoy the read. The writing draws you in and, like the cherries, grew inside of us and “spread its branches through her chest, pressed against her skin.” 

Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House Books for the advance reading copy.

okay SO i’ve never read anything about bluebeard before and tbh i didn’t even know this was a retelling until i saw other people saying it
that said

the writing in the book is so good and so strong, the way the story flows, the prose drips, our unnamed narrative easter eggs us along until the end, until the final page.

the first 2/3rds of this book had me deeply attached to the book and not wanting to put it down, towards the end my interest slowed but i still was eager to keep reading. a solid ending to a solid book.

This novel is thought-provoking and beautifully rendered. It took me some time in the beginning to make sense of the shifts in narrative, but the effect really added to the novel once I became accustomed to it.

4 ⭐️. what a lyrical, poignant modern day fairy tale. this exploration of domestic violence brought such an innovative perspective to the plight of so many who experience harm. I found myself enmeshed within the story and needing to know how it was going to end.

ty to NetGalley and Tin House Books for the advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

A gothic, lyrical, dreamlike story of ghosts, melancholy and decay. This story is a poignant commentary on toxic masculinity and the cycles of domestic violence. The way abusers taint everything around them, leaving behind ghosts of the past, and rot in the homes; and the excuses society makes for terrible men in power. The complexities of these relationships is portrayed incredibly; the duality of love and harm, the contradictions that are often at the heart of the cycle.

I was hoping to have another 5 star read before the end of the year, and I absolutely got my wish. This story will stay with me for a long time.

Sour Cherry is a hauntingly beautiful story that you need to read immediately. Natalia Theodoridou taught a masterclass in writing atmosphere. As I was reading this the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and stayed up. We follow a nurse, Agnes, as she is hired to care for a baby boy. This boy is unusual and mystical, unexplained things happen around him and to him. This book was gut wrenching and tender, one of my favorite winter reads so far!

Oh. Oh, wow. A retelling of Bluebeard both stunning and hopeless. Genuinely, I am at a loss for words.

Thank you Netgalley, Natalie Theodoridou, and Tin House for the eARC.

This was almost a five-star read- a dreamy Bluebeard retelling that gives agency to the victims of a cruel husband and father. The unnamed narrator is attempting to explain this story to her child, and so tells it in the form of a fairy tale.

As the story goes, a woman named Agnes (not the narrator) is hired to nurse a local lord’s son following the death of her own baby. Agnes loves the child, but even she can tell there is something wrong with him. He smells of dirt, his fingers grow inhumanly fast, and his very existence causes crops to fail and animals to die. He has a tendency towards cruelty, and when he grows up every woman he touches becomes a ghost.

His first wife gives birth to a son, Tristan, and the narrative eventually switches over to him. This was easily my favorite part of the book. Tristan doesn’t have his father’s cruel nature, and his journey from little boy to young man was equal parts touching and devastating. The writing is lush and gorgeous throughout, but the chapters with Tristan had the strongest “fairy tale” quality.

Unfortunately, the book grew repetitive and kind of tedious to finish. There was only so much I could read about forests and parties and girls dying and becoming ghosts. The story was stronger when it focused on just Agnes and the boy, the boy and his wife, and eventually Tristan.

There’s an earlier plotline involving a shopkeeper that I also enjoyed, but as the narrative dipped in and out of the “real world” I felt myself losing interest. The fairy tale is simply a framing device, an allegory for spousal domestic violence, and I think that’s what kept me from feeling fully immersed in the story. I would have enjoyed it more if the fairy tale was the story, full stop. Still, this is a fantastic debut from a talented author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

I’m a fan of ghost stories, but after reading, I couldn’t describe how I felt about this haunting tale. I had many conflicting emotions. There will be some initial confusion as you begin reading the story but just go with it. Trust me. We meet Agnes, whose baby has died (but the narrator is not Agnes). She has been hired to nurse a local lord’s baby boy. They become close, and she stays long after she has finished nursing, almost raising the boy as her own. She senses something is not right with the boy. His fingernails grow long and fast, he smells like dirt, and strange things happen around him. The crops die, the animals birth strange creatures and items, and the people fear him. As he becomes a man and marries, every woman he touches becomes a ghost. These ghosts haunt the narrator and the man. The man has a son even though he never wanted one and tragedy is always around the corner.

Once you wrap your head around the story, it pushes full steam ahead and there is no going back. So you sit by the fire with the ghosts and you read. You get lost in the ethereal, dreamy story. It begins to feel very dark. You eat a cherry. You understand the darkness. You are also like the child who wishes for a different ending. But you know what the ending will be. To say that it is heartbreaking is to simplify it immensely. The author’s writing style is such that you are transported to another time and place. You can feel these women, and then when are hollow and feel nothing. One of the more powerful moments for me was the description of the many wives. It was rushed and hurried, only giving a few paragraphs to each (numbers instead of names), as if their existence didn’t matter. Their bodies were thrown here and there. I lost track of how many there were (maybe that was the point). This is a bold fairy tale retelling and I can’t wait to read more from this author! Thank you to Tin House Books for providing this book for review consideration via Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou is a haunting and beautifully written take on the Bluebeard myth, blending gothic elements with contemporary themes of power and abuse. The story centers on Agnes, a nurse who becomes entangled in a mysterious and unsettling household, where echoes of past trauma linger like ghosts. The prose is lush and atmospheric, wrapping you in an eerie, dreamlike world that feels both timeless and razor-sharp in its commentary.

I loved how the novel balances the ethereal with the visceral—it’s chilling without being gratuitous and deeply reflective without losing its narrative drive. Some parts felt almost too surreal, but that only added to its haunting charm. A must-read for fans of dark, feminist reimaginings. 4.5 stars!

Hauntingly beautiful and lyrical this was a ghost story like no other, at first I was a little confused but quickly caught on, the writing is lush, people who enjoy gothic/folklore books will definitely enjoy

This book was all over the place. It started out decent until I realized one whole half of the book was about one woman, and the rest of them had small rushed parts. I couldn't keep up with who was a ghost supposedly, the past and now , and why he was evil. I think maybe if it had been a longer novel that able to go into a bit more depth, it would have been okay. It was just a confusing mess for me.

This was a beautifully done story and had everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall feel of this. It uses the reimaging of Bluebeard and was glad it created the story being told. The plot had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall feel in this world. It had that folktale element that I was hoping for and was glad the characters worked with that story. Natalia Theodoridou has a strong writing style and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

A lush and rich modern fairy tale with more secrets and crannies than you can count. Lyrical, haunting, and utterly new, while recalling our most dangerous stories and warnings.