I found Hiddensee on a list to help complete a December reading challenge I'm doing, and the concept of a Nutcracker prequel immediately sparked my interest! While it wasn't exactly what I was expecting (this is Gregory Maguire after all), it was fascinating and incredibly creative. It was dark and somber but also hopeful and beautiful. Maguire has a more poetic writing style in this book than the others I've read by him, and his imagination really shines through the imagery and lyrical descriptions throughout. It lost a star from me only because it was a bit too slow, and I don't mind a good slow burn by any means, but this one fell all the way into boring a couple times. Fortunately, those lackluster moments were not enough to ruin anything for this reader.