This book has been sitting on my TBR pile for a year. I haven't been too interested in picking it up, because (ugh) "A Novel of the Nutcracker"? But it's so much more than that.

The book is divided into five Acts, with an Overture and a Curtain. Each of the divisions begins with an epigraph from The Wasteland, which gives a real glimpse as to the tone of the book.

The Overture and Act One are very much a version of The Nutcracker - but a darker version where Clara has a twin. The book is told from the point of view of Natasha, and I just adored her as a character.

I loved the use of words through the book, often commenting to my husband on just how much I liked a particular word. The book felt more like a horror book to me in its use of comparison. In one point we have laughter "as cold and crystalline as the deadly icicles that hung from our house's roof, waiting for unwary passersby." :)  There are also some disturbing scenes and quite a sense of dread.

I think the book settles more on dark fantasy than horror. I absolutely adored it. I love how the real world meets the fantasy world, how imperfect and real the characters are, and how the story was told.