From the #1 New York Times bestselling "Queen of Fairytale Retellings" and author of Cinder and Heartless, this is the tale of Bluebeard as it's never been told before—a thrilling romantasy and murder mystery.
Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the family business, eking out a paltry living by selling bogus spells to gullible buyers and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place.
Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir—otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu—who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien's great-great grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu's ghost, she can’t resist. A paid vacation at Armand’s country manor? It’s practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.
But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation—and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she’ll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.
But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself.
Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the family business, eking out a paltry living by selling bogus spells to gullible buyers and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place.
Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir—otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu—who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien's great-great grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu's ghost, she can’t resist. A paid vacation at Armand’s country manor? It’s practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.
But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation—and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she’ll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.
But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself.
Title: The House Saphir
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher:
Expected Publication Date: November 4, 2025
Review:
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Children's Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with a copies of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I had high hopes for this book. I absolutely adore Meyer's Lunar Chronicles. At the same time, I pushed that down because I knew it would not be the same and didn't want to be disappointed. This is in a totally different realm than that series but just as enjoyable!
I'll start with the narrator, Rebecca Soler. I really enjoyed her when I listened to her narrate The Empyrean series. As with that series, she brought this book to life. I enjoyed how she narrated the different characters. I was never confused who she was speaking as. Her cadence was great and she kept the pace of the book going really well. I also enjoyed the emotion she brought to the narration. It truly drew me in and had me wanting to continue listening and see what happened!
The supernatural part of this book was really fun. There's a witchy vibe for sure. Though the main character is technically a fraud. But I loved the idea of her being able to see ghosts and communicate with them. Meyer does a nice job with building the world out for the most part.
I don't know too much about Bluebeard, so I went into this book a bit blind with the background from that. I know Meyer truly is a great story teller when it comes to retellings (she showed me that with The Lunar Chronicles). But it didn't make the book unenjoyable to not really know that lore. I will say I would have liked just a bit more background into this lore. I expect that from a fantasy and I didn't quite get what I wanted in that respect for this story.
I liked the morally grey aspects of the characters in this story. There is nothing perfect about any of the characters. There's not good two shoes and always choosing to do the right thing. They choose the thing that keeps them safe, which sometimes is the right thing but not always. I love this aspect because it's so much more true to life and relatable. It makes the characters real and raw. Add to this the banter between the characters and it really made for some great development.
While I love a bit of romance, I honestly didn't 100% feel that in this story. I needed more attraction and chemistry than what was being presented. Even in YA books, this is possible to accomplish. The pining, the angst, it just wasn't as prominent as I would have liked.
My favorite part of this book is the found family trope. I just love when characters can find other characters that support them and make them feel loved.
While this book wraps up pretty well at the end, I can see some places where it could potentially be a series. I don't know if Meyer has that planned but I would definitely read more books in this world!
I had high hopes for this book. I absolutely adore Meyer's Lunar Chronicles. At the same time, I pushed that down because I knew it would not be the same and didn't want to be disappointed. This is in a totally different realm than that series but just as enjoyable!
I'll start with the narrator, Rebecca Soler. I really enjoyed her when I listened to her narrate The Empyrean series. As with that series, she brought this book to life. I enjoyed how she narrated the different characters. I was never confused who she was speaking as. Her cadence was great and she kept the pace of the book going really well. I also enjoyed the emotion she brought to the narration. It truly drew me in and had me wanting to continue listening and see what happened!
The supernatural part of this book was really fun. There's a witchy vibe for sure. Though the main character is technically a fraud. But I loved the idea of her being able to see ghosts and communicate with them. Meyer does a nice job with building the world out for the most part.
I don't know too much about Bluebeard, so I went into this book a bit blind with the background from that. I know Meyer truly is a great story teller when it comes to retellings (she showed me that with The Lunar Chronicles). But it didn't make the book unenjoyable to not really know that lore. I will say I would have liked just a bit more background into this lore. I expect that from a fantasy and I didn't quite get what I wanted in that respect for this story.
I liked the morally grey aspects of the characters in this story. There is nothing perfect about any of the characters. There's not good two shoes and always choosing to do the right thing. They choose the thing that keeps them safe, which sometimes is the right thing but not always. I love this aspect because it's so much more true to life and relatable. It makes the characters real and raw. Add to this the banter between the characters and it really made for some great development.
While I love a bit of romance, I honestly didn't 100% feel that in this story. I needed more attraction and chemistry than what was being presented. Even in YA books, this is possible to accomplish. The pining, the angst, it just wasn't as prominent as I would have liked.
My favorite part of this book is the found family trope. I just love when characters can find other characters that support them and make them feel loved.
While this book wraps up pretty well at the end, I can see some places where it could potentially be a series. I don't know if Meyer has that planned but I would definitely read more books in this world!
Author:
Marissa Meyer is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles, Heartless, The Renegades Trilogy, and Instant Karma, as well as the graphic novel duology Wires and Nerve. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University and a MA in Publishing from Pace University. In addition to writing, Marissa hosts The Happy Writer podcast. She lives near Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and twin daughters.
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