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Truly a story of "splendors and glooms" this tale of orphans, cursed jewels, magic, and mystery had an old-fashioned feel without feeling dated, if that makes sense. Schlitz, unsurprisingly, knows how to tell a story rich in every day details to help ground the plot, thus making the magical elements more shocking and more believable at the same time. Two orphans taken in and exploited by a strange, cruel Italian puppeteer? Sure. Wealthy Victorians obsessed with death and overprotective of their
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Lizzie Rose and Parsefall are apprentices of a cruel puppet-master, Grisini. They are mistreated and miserable, but they have one bright afternoon--teatime with a little lonely rich girl. Then Clara goes missing and they are suspected of kidnapping her. When Grisini disappears as well, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall follow to find him in the home of a mysterious old woman. Cassandra has powerful sorceries, and the choice she offers the children could save them from Grisini's torments--or doom them fo
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Aug 03, 2012
Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
fantasy-fiction,
children-ya
Reminded me a little of City of Masks, but with richer research into and use of historical details. Good depiction of early modern England; very Dickensian in spots. A decently entertaining read.
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The fact that this took me a while to read should in no way reflect on its quality (I have a love/hate relationship with reading books on my phone, which is currently my only way to read ebooks). In fact, each time I opened it up again, I immediately knew where I was and what was happening in the story, with the whole thing as vivid as if I'd read it over just a few days.
'Splendors and Glooms' is really the perfect description of the story - the gloom is easy to spot, in the downtrodden lives of ...more
'Splendors and Glooms' is really the perfect description of the story - the gloom is easy to spot, in the downtrodden lives of ...more
Rich in language, rich in ideas. A Victorian melodrama indeed. Schlitz handles with care every fearful trope of childhood: losing those you love, having those who supposedly care for you hurt you, understanding your powerlessness, feeling that you do not measure up. She weaves all of this together into quite a Gordian knot. It was greatly satisfying to read, and more than a little scary. I would have said the audience is ten or 11 and up, but then I remember how many 9 year olds loved Coraline s
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I avoided this book because of its cover, but once I got into it, it was really good. Great characters with a very different fantasy plot. Well written!
Historical fantasy. A Dickens-esque tale of poor orphans enslaved by an evil puppet master magician, manipulative witch trying to use the orphans to free herself from a curse and a sad, wealthy girl trapped in the body of a marionette. Was a little slow getting going for me, but couldn't put it down by the second half.
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Apr 04, 2012
Megan
marked it as to-read
Aug 03, 2012
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
marked it as to-read
Shelves:
to-read-mv,
to-read-historical-fiction
Sep 17, 2012
Jessica
marked it as to-read
Oct 26, 2012
Debbie Barr
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Nov 21, 2012
Lisa Vegan
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Dec 07, 2012
CLM
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Jan 28, 2013
Julia
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Feb 04, 2013
ScottK
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Mar 22, 2015
Sharon
marked it as to-read
Jun 06, 2016
Lisa
marked it as to-read
Aug 01, 2022
Jamie
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