The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
- booksandspreadshee
- Nov 5
- 4 min read
Title: The House Saphir
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
🦋Retelling - Bluebeard
🦋Gothic Romantasy
🦋Witches
🦋Ghosts
🦋Murder Mystery
🦋Haunted Mansion
Content Warnings:
Violence
Murder
Torture
Blood
Injury
Toxic Relationships
QBS Rating
Book Description:
" "BLOODY BRILLIANT!" 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."
QBS Review:
The House Saphir was a fun, exciting read from start to finish, with many twists and turns that keep you guessing throughout.
What I Liked:
💫The ghosts of the wives murdered by Monsieur Le Bleu! They were hands-down my favorite characters in this story. All of them, perhaps ironically, brought so much life to every scene they were in. I would find myself laughing with them one moment and the next Meyer would remind me that Mallory could see still see the open wounds and injuries from their murders. I love nothing more than a pairing of comedy and murder.
💫The worldbuilding in this story really surprised me! Most stories set at a mysterious mansion close the doors to the outside world, but Meyer kept the doors open and actually gave us glimpses into what the world around the mansion is like. It was a pleasant surprise for me. I also wasn't expecting to meet magical creatures at all, but it was fun to discover Meyer's catalogue of monsters. And likewise, the magic systems were more complex than the story demanded, but it made the story stronger to have them.
💫The love story. I don't want to say too much here so as to not spoil anything. But I loved the slow-burn, the will they won't they, and all of the twists and turns this story brought to the relationship of our FMC and MMC. And, as an aside, I adored Armand's nerdy plant talk throughout. 💫The gothic vibes. Meyer did a beautiful job setting the scene of both haunted mansions we explore in the novel.
💫The plot. It was exciting from start to finish. There were many twists and turns along the way that kept you guessing. There wasn't a dull moment for me and I enjoyed Meyer's retelling of the Blackbeard story.
What I Didn't Like:
💫The pacing. This is probably my only issue with this novel, but it was a big enough issue to knock off 1.25 stars. The first two-thirds of the blook flowed at a very steady rate that I really enjoyed. But then the last act comes at you rapid-fire. Important plot points were happening so fast at the end that I couldn't track what was happening as well as I wanted to. I honestly would have preferred the story last an extra 100 pages if it meant the last act could match the pacing of the rest of the book.
This is the book for you if....
🦋You are a fan of gothic ghost stories!
🦋You like a murder mystery set in a wealthy mansion
🦋You enjoy a healthy dose of horror or thrill with your romantasy
Audiobook Thoughts!
I listened to this novel and the narration from Rebecca Soler was overall excellent as usual. Soler always delivers when it comes to bringing a cast of characters to life. Soler is fun to listen to because she does such a good job adjusting her voice to the tempo and mood of each scene. When our characters are in a tense moment or the climax of the story is happening, Soler will often talk at a heightened speed to emphasize the intensity of the moment. One downside to this, is with the pacing being so fast in the last act, Soler was reading at a heightened speed for such a long stretch of time that it perhaps made the pacing feel even more rushed. But overall, a wonderful narration as usual.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
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