Homecoming

Winterspell #1.5

by Claire Legrand

A brief epilogue to Claire Legrand's YA Nutcracker re-telling, Winterspell. Available for free download at Claire's website.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Novella, Short Stories, Retellings, Christmas

26 pages, ebook

First published December 29, 2014

About the author

Claire Legrand used to be a musician until she realized she couldn’t stop thinking about the stories in her head. Now she is a New York Times bestselling author of darkly magical books.

Her first novel is THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2012. She is also the author of THE YEAR OF SHADOWS, a ghost story for middle grade readers; and WINTERSPELL, a young adult re-telling of The Nutcracker. SOME KIND OF HAPPINESS, her middle grade novel about mental illness, family secrets, and the power of storytelling, is a 2017 Edgar Award Nominee. Claire’s latest middle grade novel, FOXHEART, is a classic fantasy-adventure and a 2016 Junior Library Guild selection. The companion novel, THORNLIGHT, was a Kids' Indie Next Pick in 2021. She is one of the four authors behind THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, an anthology of dark middle grade short fiction that was a Junior Library Guild selection, a Bank Street Best Book, and among the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2014.

Her bestselling Empirium Trilogy consists of epic fantasy novels FURYBORN, KINGSBANE, and LIGHTBRINGER.

Her young adult horror novel SAWKILL GIRLS received five starred reviews. It was also a 2018 Bram Stoker Award finalist and a 2019 Lambda Literary Award finalist. Her latest novel, EXTASIA, is a young adult horror novel described as "The Handmaid's Tale meets The Craft" and was a Kids' Indie Next Pick.

Her adult debut, book 1 of THE MIDDLEMIST TRILOGY, releases in spring 2023.

Reviews

[Jaime (Two Chicks on Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG this was amazing!!! The perfect ending (not that I wasn't fine with the end of the book but I needed more). I would love to see Bo get a companion novel! And I'm going to miss Clara and Nicholas!

[Sara Raasch · Rating 5 out of 5]

MY FEEEEEEEELS

THEY ARE EVERYWHERE

[Athena of Velaris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but unnecessary.

[Daria Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I was curious to see what happened after Clara goes back since for her it's only been 2 years but for Nicholas and the rest of Cane it's been 8. I liked seeing how Cane was rebuilding itself after the war and how the humans, faeries, and mages were all working together (at least for now). But I still wasn't there for the romance between Clara and Nicholas. Their already huge age gap just got even bigger and that made me even more uncomfortable. I just feel like there will always be a power imbalance between the two. However, I loved seeing Bo again, and what I said in my review of Winterspell stands - I would totally read a book all about Bo and Afa and her entire family. But mainly Bo. I feel like this did give the story a bit more closure than the book did, but I'm still not 100% behind Clara and Nicholas together.

[Brooke's Epic Emporium · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this epilogue so much. So great to see how it wound up! I miss this world, I won't lie, and wish there was more coming! But it is a fantastic story all should read!

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that was exactly the warm cup of feels I needed with my breakfast. I loved the conclusion to Winterspell, but this short story put it just that slight rung higher.

[Katrina Waldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a quick review for this very short epilogue to 'Winterspell'. VERY short. I've been holding out for another book in the series documenting Clara's return to Cane and reunion with Nicholas, so I was a little disappointed to find that Legrand instead opted for a short story on the subject. Of course, I still read it because I loved the book so much and any ending is better than no ending. I have to say, I really enjoyed this. I found that despite the length of time between works, I remembered the characters and situations from 'Winterspell'. Clara and Nicholas' reunion was very sweet but also pretty darned hot. I've been wanting to see these two get it on so I'm glad they finally got their moment. Legrand didn't forget about Anise, or the residual feelings that Clara may still have for her which I respected. Many authors tend to move on once they kill off their villains. All in all, great conclusion but I wanted it MUCH longer with more detail on the impact of Clara's actions on Cane and how this will work for the long-term future.

For a full review, see here: http://chasedbymyimagination.blogspot...

[Stacee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely fantastic and the best part of the entire book.

[Ziyue Lan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is everything I needed. That ending had made me feel so needy for this, and then I discovered the author had published this short epilogue. That’s all I needed to make me happy and content.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a great addition to the book. I feel like I needed this and if she continues the series, this sets it up great. I still think it makes no sense that Clara could not have gone between worlds during the 2/8 years she was in New York, but definitely liked this epilogue.

[Hala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed moooooorrrrrreee

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Romantic and cute

[Emily Viramontes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect ending to Winterspell!

[Kaka_shi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cutesy. Meh.

[Pamela Rowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect ending to a great story!

[Evie Hoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was exactly the conclusion I needed. I wish it had been included in the book itself, but I understand why it wasn't at the same time.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I randomly decided to read this out of nowhere as I was going through my to-reads. I was reminded how much i loved this story and the characters <3

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, I didn’t like it that much. It kept my interest but the ending I was disappointed with.

[Pinktwest · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best ending ever!!!!! It got the closure that I needed after I read the ending of Winterspell (which was amazing but did not feel like the end).

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this short story, having this little story to finish out everything, it was a great story!

[MacKenzie Bakos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, but wanted a little bit more. Maybe a scene with Clara's coronation and they're wedding maybe. ;)

[Tiffany (About to Read)]

I was so excited to find out that an epilogue for Winterspell existed online. After I finished the book, I was really curious about what happened next and “Homecoming” answered those questions nicely.

We get to see what’s happened to Cane since Clara left and, more importantly, her reunion with Nicholas and a few of the other supporting characters from Winterspell. It’s a pretty short story, so we don’t get very much in terms of plot. Rather we get a nice bonus story about the characters we met in Winterspell.

“Homecoming” isn’t particularly mind-blowing, but it’s nice to read up on what happened after Winterspell. Since you can read it for free on Claire Legrand’s website , it’s definitely worth checking out!

For more book reviews, discussions, and book-related fashions, visit abouttoread.com

[Kaza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nearly perfect finish. I would have liked to know more about what had happened to Nicholas and the Cane world since Clara left but it was still really good.

For example, was there war between them and the Fae? Were there hidden pockets of humans and mages that stayed out Anise's notice and did Nicholas really wait for Clara for 8 long years, not knowing if she would return, or were there other relationships along the way? (Claire cleared up via Clara's sister that she waited without another relationship).

[Meha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated having this mini sequel (it's really more of an epilogue), and I like that the author made the reunion feel realistic, addressing the lingering effects of the events of the last book without having everything be rosy and gold straight away. That being said, I almost wish she'd been a little bit less realistic because I felt like Winterspell ended with the hint of an epic reunion and this one made it more....eh. Maybe I'm just not invested enough in the main ship, but this didn't quite hit the notes I think it was supposed to.

[Kate Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was utter perfection! The ending to Winterspell, while fabulous, left too much unknown. Claire Legrand, being both loyal to her readers and her characters, wrote an epilogue to show us what happened when Clara went back to Cane. Exceptionally well written and satisfying! Very, very steamy and swoony! I don't think I could have survived not knowing. This was a story that NEEDED to be told and Legrand did it with flair!

[Libby Stephenson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was slightly afraid that this would ruin Winterspell for me, and it did not do that, but it didn't add anything either. Winterspell had an epilogue with a beautiful open ending that let the reader imagine their own "homecoming." This story's plot felt totally unnecessary: will they still like each other after all this time? I'm pretty sure I can guess the answer to that... (although, if the answer had been no, that could have been pretty cool, but would have needed way more than 26 pages.)

[Shirleon Sharron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is only 3 stars because it was a very short ending to the book. An epilogue so to speak. I'm thinking of the book again but I found that there was too much detail to the sex scene. I remember there being some inappropriate scenes in the book and at the time I didn't mind so much. But this was a little too much.

It would be nice to just have a sequel to the story, but I guess this is the best we're gonna get.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you enjoyed Winterspell, this is more of the same. I didn't particularly love Winterspell, but I still liked having this epilogue, since the ending, while fine, was rather abrupt. It's mostly just the reunion of Nicholas and Clara, and, as in Winterspell, it's super sexual. Not really my cup of tea.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong, I loved the ending to Winterspell, but I really wanted just a little more of Clara's return to Cane and Nicholas. This perfectly satisfied that need. It gave me the Clara and Nicholas reunion that I had been hoping for since finishing Winterspell, along with a nice look at Bo who was one of my favorite characters. So happy with this, it wraps everything up perfectly.

[Olivia Watters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean...she gave all of us what we wanted did she not. lmao. I think it was sweet and the first time I read it I wasn't so die hard on the Anise/Clara train, so I wasn't even sad about it that time around. Pretty run of the mill; she gave us Bo and a happy ending with enough of a reality check I don't see any issues.