Book cover of The Puppetmaster's Apprentice

Book description

Impressed by the work of the puppetmaster and his apprentice, Tavia's ruler, The Margrave, has ordered dozens of life-size marionette soldiers to be sent to Wolfspire Hall. When the orders for more soldiers come in with increasingly urgent deadlines, the puppetmaster's health suffers and Pirouette, his daughter and protege, is…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Puppetmaster's Apprentice as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This fascinating, gender-swapped Pinnochio retelling has a few hints of Frankenstein, and is gorgeously written. The main character, Pirouette, begins life as a tree and is carved into a puppet by her father, then brought to life by the magic of the blue moon. When the powerful Margrave of Tavia commissions Pirouette and her father to make one hundred wooden soldiers or risk imprisonment, they have no choice to comply. And then the Margrave makes an additional demand: he wants Pirouette to carve him a life-sized assassin—and then bring it to life. But is she making a monster or a…

From Joanna's list on adult fairytale retellings.

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