Author: Michelle Schusterman
Genre: fantasy
Similar books: Flower Moon by Gina Linko
Snow and Rose by Emily Winfield Martin
Rating:
 |
| not as creepy as I'd have liked, more complex than I'd hoped |
Summary (provided by publisher): The Museum of Peculiar Arts holds many oddities--a mechanical heart, a diary bound in its owner's skin . . . and Penny, a child-size marionette who almost looks alive. Fog clouds Penny's memories from before the museum, but she catches glimpses here and there: a stage, deep red curtains, long-fingered hands gripping her strings.
One day, a boy named Chance touches Penny's strings and hears her voice in his head. Penny can listen, and watch, and think?
Now someone else is watching Penny and Chance--a man with a sharp face, a puppeteer who has the tools to change things. A string through a needle. A twist of a spindle. And suddenly Chance is trapped in Penny's marionette body, while Penny is free to run and dance. She knows that finding a way to switch back is the right thing to do. But this body feels so wonderful, so full of life! How can Penny ever return to her puppet shell?
My opinion: The strongest endorsement I can give of this novel is that Schusterman sets up clear rules for the magic of this world and sticks to them. Now, the details of those rules are parceled out throughout the plot, as Penny and Chance discover what is going on, but they remain consistent. She also uses her setting and it's social context to great affect. By setting her story in the 50's she can explore gender roles, race relations, the growth of the suburb, and the post war era all in the context of a mild horror plot. Personally, I'd loved to have seen the creep factor ramped up a couple of degrees but that's more a matter of personal preference than any real censure of the writing style.
More information: Spell and Spindle releases July 31.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
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