Sour Cherry is a beautifully written novel that takes on the arduous task of trying to understand why bad men are the way they are. I enjoyed the focus of the story but it started feel a little drawn out at certain points. I think this story has a lot to say and could be endlessly dissected and discussed. It would be an interesting pick for a feminist book club. I was very drawn to this book because of the cover, the title, and the plot description. Will definitely give Natalia Theodoridou another shot.

Was notified today that I'm being gifted a finished copy of Sour Cherry closer to pub day!! In the meantime I'm submitting this, as idt my FB ratio should be impacted while I wait to review the real deal (which I think it's fair to assume is objectively better).

I can't thank Tin House Books enough for this additional opportunity to read early! And a thank you to NetGalley, as always <3

Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House Books for the advanced copy and the opportunity to provide an honest review.

This book just wasn't for me. The author has some serious writing chops, and the prose is gorgeous, but I couldn't connect with the characters or the story. The moment it entered into the nameless child territory, I knew it wasn't going to resonate. The sudden shift from the story being about the boy to something entirely else was confusing and jarring because it took me about that long to finally understand what the heck was going on. Then the rug was pulled out from under me. I can understand how people would appreciate the ethereal, dreamlike quality of this fair tale retelling,, but I don't think I'm smart enough to understand what was happening throughout most of this book.

I CANNOT say enough about how much I adored this book. The layered storytelling with the most vivid imagery (either the most beautiful, or disgusting images) takes you through all of these stories. I feel like I could smell the scenes I was reading through, it was so immersive. The subject of cycles of abuse, generational trauma, can't always be done in a way that is so subtle, yet you can feel the tension in your neck knowing that you can never really outrun where you came from. Sour Cherry will DEFINITELY be in my top books of 2025, and it's only January. Ready to sign on as a lifetime Theodoridou fan if this is what a debut novel looks like for them.

The highlight here was definitely the prose, the images are so gorgeous and lasting. The pacing is a little uneven and I didn’t find the frame story format compelling, but it really is beautiful.

This dark gothic, morbid(all in the right ways), literary exquisite book had me absolutely hooked. This was so beautifully written. If you like dark historical fiction, this is one is for you. There were a few times towards the end I felt a little lost but overall I truly enjoyed this and the author’s way of writing. I wasn’t aware this was a retelling of an old folklore. After some research, it actually helped me understand it more.

Thank you to the author, publishers & NetGalley for this eARC.

3.5/5 stars
The book takes a bold approach, with its shifting and vague perspective adding to the creepy, stifling atmosphere. However, it feels a bit too long, and the subplot about "all the previous wives" and the incident with Tristan ( Bluebeard's son) felt more like a fleeting moment without much impact on the overall story.

I had not heard of this title or author previous to seeing it on Netgalley. The title and the cover art called to me and the synopsis suggested that this book would be completely up my alley (I love a good fairytale retelling). Unfortunately, after trying again and again, I have only made it to page 50. I thought the writing wasn't very strong, sometimes bordering into bad/corny territory. I also was not convinced by the vilification of the child. I think the way it was going about it was uninteresting, boring, lazy and confusing. I kept picking up the book in hopes that it would pick up, change course, or become more interesting, but no dice. This is unfortunate because I'm curious about how the story will unfold, but not curious enough to keep trying to read it. Thank you for the ARC, but I think this book is simply not for me.

Okay, I did love this, but it had some challenges. This book inserts you into a world that both feels unrealistic and is the exact reality of so many women around the world. This book feels like a gut check, when you know something is wrong long before anything even happens. HOWEVER, it's too long. I felt like there were so many places it dragged on or had pacing issues, even though I enjoyed the writing style. My biggest reflection is that this book slowly becomes horror in the way so many abusive relationships do.

2.5 stars rounded up.

The first half of this book has a focused plot, though heavy-handed on the foreshadowing, leading the rest to fall short in its over-dramatization. The second half lost me. I understand the metaphor of cycles of abuse but the plot of the latter half felt muddled and confused. A good premise, but the prose is not for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Tin House Books for the ARC.

awesomely well done tale that retold bluebeartd not a story that i'm typically a huge fan of, and turned it into this amazing thing. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

What a beautiful and haunting retelling of Bluebeard! The story poignantly explored toxic masculinity and the stain that cycles of abuse leave behind. I really appreciated how disjointed the storytelling was, however, I began to lose interest towards the end and would have loved to get some more character development. Otherwise I really enjoyed this and hope to read more by this author! Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Sour Cherry spins a Bluebeard story as a mother turns tragedy into fairy tale for her child. The writing is lush and hypnotic, weaving a darkly atmospheric tale of a soil-scented lord whose touch turns wives to ghosts, creating the dreamy unease of a gothic fairy tale. The story's heart lies in Tristan, the lord's gentle son, whose chapters offer a haunting counterpoint to his father's violence

This is exactly what I want from fairytale retellings. It engages with the shifting narratives, the threat and safety inherent in the stories we tell. It was romantic in the older definition of the term, intense and atmospheric, the characters wrestling with threats both human and much larger than themselves. It was gorgeous and strange and timeless, lush in a way that steps in like with Kelly Link and Angela Carter. I want to shove it into the hands of everyone I know, and I want to clutch it to my chest and cherish it like a forbidden secret.

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!