Hiddensee

CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! Why did I trick myself into reading this utter nonsense?!?! Why?!?!!? After Alice (his Alice in Wonderland adaptation) was bad enough (another 1 star review) but I was lured in by the premise of a backstory to the nutcracker. I'm an idiot! I should have stayed clear! My god, this story  hardly anything to do with the nutcracker and the first 200 pages was about a boy named Dirk wandering the countryside, no mention of A nutcracker or THE nutcracker OR Christmas. NOTHING! ZILCH! Literally dumb. I hate this. I'm never tricking myself into reading his stuff again. Avoid if you know what's good for you.

After Alice

I hate to give books such bad reviews, I really do. So, I'll try to start this nicely. It was EXTREMELY well written. There was witty dialogue, beautiful scenery, and wonderful detail paid attention to the time frame.... and that's all that I can admire. To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of the original Alice in Wonderland, so it's not shocking that I don't love this companion. I hate stories that are fanciful, fluffy, and have no point. It's pure nonsense and I have a hard time getting into nonsense writing. I like fantasy and sci-fi as long as there is a plot but Alice in Wonderland is nothing but fluff and nonsense and this new addition is no different. Not my cup of tea.

Egg and Spoon

A Russian fairy tale of sorts for children, written by the writer of Wicked. Even though the story centers on two thirteen year old girls, the story bounces between being an immature, fun children's book to a fanciful, complex, beautifully written adults book. Basically, it has something for everyone.

The story is about a thirteen year old poor peasant girl, Elena, who accidentally swaps places with thirteen year old aristocratic, Ekaterina. Elena wants to plead to the Tsar to release her brother, Luka, from the service and help save her small village from starvation. Ekaterina, on the other hand, just wants to get back to her way of living. The whole peasant life isn't really her thing. Along the way Elena and Ekaterina meet a wide array of magical characters. There is the firebird (who has gone missing!), Baba Yaga and her walking house, Dumb Doma (to be honest, these two really steal the show. Yaga is hilarious!!), and an army of Matryoshka dolls. In order to save themselves, Elena and Ekaterina first need to help save Russia. Can they do it?

Fanciful and fun this is a must read for fans of Gregory Maguire or Russian folklore.