Release date: December 3rd, 2014
Publisher: Self-Published/Smash words website
Format of Book: Paperback
Summary (From goodreads): A horrific retelling of the classic Nutcracker story. On Christmas Eve in 1905, a household in London finds itself under a centuries-old curse when a strange new toy is brought into the house.
A young nanny named Anne is immersed in the horrific world of her unstable charge, Olivia, when a bite from a mouse makes her the size of a doll. She must brave a world of mangled and demented toys that have come to life. Each has his own vendetta- the most unrelenting of which is the mysterious and handsomely-carved nutcracker, who becomes Anne's only sane ally.
There is war in the lower levels of the house between the rodents and the toys, yet Anne's only concern is getting Olivia and herself back to the way they once were before it is too late for either of them.
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Words cannot expressed how much I loved reading this stand alone. Most of this review will most likely be me fan-girling up a storm. But, I will try to keep this in a semi-professional level lol. So this book is more or less a re-telling of the story Nutcracker. I'm pretty sure some of you have heard of the ballet before and seen Christmas specials based on this story. However, I have never been to New York City long enough to watch it and when I'd heard of this writer on fiction press that wrote a horror version of this, I've decided to buy this book. (Along with the first two books to her Peter Pan retelling trilogy).
Upon reading this, I never wanted to leave the fairy tale. Lani Lenore did a fantastic job with bringing this world to life with the characters and the plot in general. I've never seen the famous ballet, but now I just want to go to NYC and just to see it for myself. I loved how twisted and diabolical many of the characters were throughout the adventure, especially the rats and the humans like Todd and Olivia's father. Anne, one of the leading protagonists, brought out the 'real-life' ideal into the Nutcracker's world since 90% of the time I almost forgot about that many of the enemy forces and Armand were toys. She was young, yet became quickly adapted in both Olivia's world and the curse. From that, the author was able to blend into the 'adult' themes into this and made the story so gruesome and ironic in a sense that I thought it was beautifully written. I say the word ironic because the author was able to make the toy/rat characters more humane than toys. Plus, the aftermath of the story completely brought out that sense of irony into it and other things that I don't want to spoil you all with right now.
Overall, this story was fantastic and you can read it anytime, especially during the holidays or Halloween if you celebrate it. Pick up this book if you are in a need of a tale like the Nutcracker. Happy Howling!
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