A sad, happy, strange book, with some of the most memorable ghosts I’ve ever read. It’s full of shadows, but it’s also full of sparks and light and big, glowing scenes, and while it’ll break your heart more than once, it somehow manages to glue it all back together by the end. I loved it.
Book Reviews
Anne Ursu, author of Breadcrumbs
Claire [Legrand’s] fantastically spooky The Year of Shadows will keep you turning its pages well into the night, even though the floorboards are creaking and funny shapes lurk in the corner of your eye. Such is the allure of tempestuous, terrific Olivia, the complex and utterly real heroine who is suffering from one misfortune and indignity too many–and that’s before the ghosts arrive. Though we soon see that sometimes ghosts are the least of the things that haunt us, the book assures us that with spirit and hope we can create light in the most shadowy of places. Also, like all the best books, it has a really great cat.
School Library Journal
In this unique retelling of The Nutcracker, the author weaves the original story and characters together seamlessly with a rich setting and spins a romantic and dark new tale.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
A bounty of lust, gore, and moral dilemmas, [Winterspell] is sure to please fans of dark fairy tales.
Marissa Meyer, New York Times bestselling author of Cinder
What a mesmerizing whirlwind of a story! I was simultaneously horrified and enchanted by the land of Cane, with all its passion and mysteries, magic and mechaniks. Claire Legrand’s writing has the grace of a ballet, but this is definitely not your grandmother’s Nutcracker tale.
Publishers Weekly
The story of The Nutcracker receives a sinister steampunk twist in an engrossing retelling. Legrand’s story is rich in fantastical realism…