But Not Too Bold

Novellas have become one of my go-to library checkouts. With my limited budget, dropping $15 on a book that will take me a single evening to consume is a tough choice to make. However, I love the length and format, and I find that authors tend to be much more focused on what makes their work special in novellas. But Not Too Bold is an excellent example of that trend, and it put Cabaret in Flames (Hache Pueyo’s upcoming release) on my radar.

Elevator Pitch:
 Dália’s promotion to Keeper of the Keys is only a small surprise. Nobody expected her mentor to be eaten, but when you work in a house owned and inhabited by Anatema, a fabulously rich pseudo-eldritch spider creature, you know that getting eaten is one of the hazards of the job. Thankfully,  Dália is not a Bride, and thus her risk of being eaten is much lower than those who seek to marry into the wealth of the household. Unfortunately,  Dália is quite beautiful, and Anatema cannot resist a beautiful woman.  Dália must step carefully, but she finds herself at home with the strange encounters her new position throws at her.

What Worked for Me
This book is a great mashup of genres. It’s a little romance, a little horror, and the smallest sprinkling of mystery. However, I think I’d mostly categorize this book as Gothic. I don’t know that I’ve ever read such a fast-paced Gothic story before, but I loved it. We got all the lush descriptions of an opulent manor – mostly upkept, none of this falling into ruin nonsense -suffused with Laudnum and tarantulas. Pueyo’s attention to detail on the manor was refreshing, as Fantasy and Sci-Fi authors tend to have a bigger picture view of the world, and are more likely to miss the beauty in exploring a single location deeply than authors of realistic fiction. It was tough to put this book down, which made it a quick and delightful read.

Anatema herself was also a high point for me. When I hear monster x human romances, I tone down my expectations for monstrosity. Typically they aren’t actually as bad as everyone says they are, and the romance derives from discovering the humanity in the beast. Not so here. Anatema is killing people from the very first page, and Pueyo doesn’t shy away from abnormal anatomy, unreasonable logic (by human expectations), or bizarre decorating choices.

What Didn’t Work For Me
I had a hard time swallowing one of the basic premises of the book: that the employees were resigned to eventual death by spider monster. They get compensated well, but have no days off and seemingly never leave. In-world, they’re orphans who used this as a way to find a home for themselves, and rasied here since they were kids. However, every time Dália had no reaction to mortal peril, it pulled me out a little bit. You need to accept the magic of this home for the story to proceed.

I also thought that the ending was challenging. It was too neat, too tidy. Pueyo wanted a truly monstrous Bride-Killer (this is a Bluebeard retelling, sort of), but for the homicidal maniac to also be a happily ever after love interest. As a vast and unknowable being of ancient power, I was disappointed that a few conversations were enough to shift Anatema from a reclusive serial killer (by human standards) to an overly-friendly boss who cares deeply for the lives of all in her house. I wish that the book had lived in more ambiguity, and that Anatema had retained some of her dark aspects after the climax of the book.

Conclusion: a blisteringly fast gothic romance with a disappointing ending. Well worth the time investment however, if only for the beautiful descriptions of opulent manors.

• Characters: 2
• Setting: 5
• Craft: 4
• Themes: 3
• Enjoyment: 5