Winterspell by Claire Legrand
2014; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 68; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2014.0884
ISSN1558-6766
Autores ResumoReviewed by: Winterspell by Claire Legrand Kate Quealy-Gainer Legrand, Claire Winterspell. Simon, 2014 [464p] ISBN 978-1-4424-6598-5 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 9-12 New York City is on the brink of the twentieth century, but the upcoming year holds little promise for Clara Stole: her mother’s brutal murder is yet to be solved, her crime-lord father is dissolving into his grief and alcohol, and his “colleagues” are pressing Clara to set various debts straight or else. Complicating matters further is her beloved godfather, Drosselmeyer, whose increasingly eccentric behavior draws Clara to an empty ballroom in the middle of the night, where she finds herself fighting off enormous ratlike creatures, watching a metal statue come to life, and witnessing the kidnapping of her father by some faerie creature. Clara makes her way with Nicholas, the now very alive and very handsome statue, to Cane, an alternate realm where she believes her father is being held. Yes, this is The Nutcracker, but it’s no sugar-sprinkled production: Legrand pulls on the subtle threads of romance and violence from her source material to weave a tapestry both deliciously sensual and disturbingly brutal. Cane is a place of desperation and depravity, with the wickedly beautiful Anise (the Sugar Plum Fairy figure) its ruthless ruler. Clara is the usual mix of vulnerability and strength for a YA heroine, but a betrayal by Nicholas brings her under the tutelage of Anise for a short time, and, in a fascinating twist, it’s here that she comes into her own, gaining agency in her sexuality and in her newly developing magical powers. The backstory of Clara’s family, their role in New York, and their links to Cane is deftly woven into the overall story arc. A bounty of lust, gore, and moral dilemmas, this is sure to please fans of dark fairy tales. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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