Scan barcode
robinwritesallthethings's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What It’s About: A massively creative, very horny, much darker retelling of the Nutcracker ballet with a gender-swapped Sugar Plum Fairy.
Spice Level: Uh, I need a new scale of spice to describe this book, because it took things to levels of hot I’ve never read before.
Realism: Generally, I don’t like retellings, because I think many of them rely too heavily on the original and don’t deviate enough to make it interesting, but I have to say that this one incorporated everything from the source material and made it its own unique story. Everything fit. The plot made sense, the lore made sense. It’s just good, y’all.
Trope Alert: Enemies to lovers, slow burn, friends to lovers.
Trigger Warnings: There is some serious CNC in here, so skip it if you’re not into that. It is dark romance, so there’s some mentions of sexual assault and also some torture. And this last one isn’t really a trigger warning, but the Rat King is gross, dude.
Final Thoughts: I read this book because it was recommended to me by a Kindle achievement for their reading challenge. I decided to read it because I thought the title was a fun play on the whole fantasy Court of Blah and Blah thing that’s been so popular lately. I had no expectations, yet so many were met. Further proof that sometimes you find exactly what you were looking for even though you had no idea what that was. I will be busy trying all of Kenney’s books now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
kayciesmith14's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
warboyziri's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
anns_storybound_sanctuary's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I loved the world building. It is so vivid and beautifully written that I could fully immerse myself in the book.
I loved the relationship between Clara and Fin. Both characters were perfectly thought out. Their dynamic was beautiful and balanced.
Lir and Louisa on the other hand drove me mad. I like that Louisa reflects on her carelessness but while Fin and Clara are very consentual and compassionate, both Lir and Louisa are out to hurt each other. I hate when it is so obvious that one character pushes the other away by hurting them deeply just because they struggle or want to protect the other. The turn around was much to fast for my liking.
Lir and Louisa on the other hand drove me mad. I like that Louisa reflects on her carelessness but while Fin and Clara are very consentual and compassionate, both Lir and Louisa are out to hurt each other. I hate when it is so obvious that one character pushes the other away by hurting them deeply just because they struggle or want to protect the other. The turn around was much to fast for my liking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and War
Minor: Death of parent
druzyquartz's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
roro93's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death and Blood
valerie_sjg's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Mostly nsfw content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and Cannibalism
soybeanthefrogqueen's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
That this ended….. eventually.
I think if I read 10% of the beginning, and the last two chapters I would have been satisfied. I love Clara’s story but honestly the slut shaming (Luisa’s entire story honestly) I could have gone without. I LOVE the nutcracker and I would have loved a spicy book that was written well.
I think if I read 10% of the beginning, and the last two chapters I would have been satisfied. I love Clara’s story but honestly the slut shaming (Luisa’s entire story honestly) I could have gone without. I LOVE the nutcracker and I would have loved a spicy book that was written well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Abandonment, and War
aortiz5314's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
High spice level
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
mspilesofpaper's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
What a fucking nightmare. Head the trigger warnings if you still want to borrow the book and add rape threat, gang rape, ... onto it because I don't think that those are mentioned in the eBook.
I was told on TikTok that the book would be a dark and spicy retelling with Fae and I got the book via Kindle Unlimited based on this description.
It's not a dark and spicy retelling. It's just a soft porno with fated mates and horrible writing. The only dark thing about it is that it is a nightmare and gave me a headache. It's very crude (e.g., differently flavoured cum whenever he comes) and so non-sensical (e.g., FMC 1 shaves her armpits and legs after nearly dying a couple of times; if I nearly died, shaving off my body hair isn't on the top of my list). Horrible world-building as well (e.g., (2x fated mates trope but the one pairing doesn't make sense as the author themselves establish that "only the royal fae can have a Chosen").
The two sisters drove me crazy because they are so fucking stupid but described as genius (especially Louisa with her talent for war strategy). The author considers them as "strong female characters" when there's nothing about them that would make them strong in any way. They're just obsessed with sex; I'm all for sex positivity but being obsessed with sex as the only actual character trait is so cheap. Louisa is very open about her love for sex and how she uses men to her advantage by fucking them while Clara ... she's very closeted about it (Like literally hiding in the closet to masturbate.) but so kinky. Both have ADHD but the author decided that it's something quirky and should work as a character trait instead of something that should be taken seriously. I would like to see more characters with ADHD in books but it should be portrayed well then and not as something quirky to give your characters another trait.
The two male characters are just the male and Fae versions of the sisters and partly mirrored. One is artsy and outgoing, the other one is grumpy but level-headed. It's so stupid, I'm sorry. Louisa bickers constantly with her love interest, it's so awful.
The bad thing about the book is that it started well enough and was close enough to the original tale of the Nutcracker with Drosselmeyer, the wooden Nutcracker. You have a secret room, dark corridors, ... -- bit spooky and certainly dark. As soon as they are in the Fae lands: plot is thrown out of the window and it's all about sex now. Blagh.
I was told on TikTok that the book would be a dark and spicy retelling with Fae and I got the book via Kindle Unlimited based on this description.
It's not a dark and spicy retelling. It's just a soft porno with fated mates and horrible writing. The only dark thing about it is that it is a nightmare and gave me a headache. It's very crude (e.g., differently flavoured cum whenever he comes) and so non-sensical (e.g., FMC 1 shaves her armpits and legs after nearly dying a couple of times; if I nearly died, shaving off my body hair isn't on the top of my list). Horrible world-building as well (e.g., (2x fated mates trope but the one pairing doesn't make sense as the author themselves establish that "only the royal fae can have a Chosen").
The two sisters drove me crazy because they are so fucking stupid but described as genius (especially Louisa with her talent for war strategy). The author considers them as "strong female characters" when there's nothing about them that would make them strong in any way. They're just obsessed with sex; I'm all for sex positivity but being obsessed with sex as the only actual character trait is so cheap. Louisa is very open about her love for sex and how she uses men to her advantage by fucking them while Clara ... she's very closeted about it (Like literally hiding in the closet to masturbate.) but so kinky. Both have ADHD but the author decided that it's something quirky and should work as a character trait instead of something that should be taken seriously. I would like to see more characters with ADHD in books but it should be portrayed well then and not as something quirky to give your characters another trait.
The two male characters are just the male and Fae versions of the sisters and partly mirrored. One is artsy and outgoing, the other one is grumpy but level-headed. It's so stupid, I'm sorry. Louisa bickers constantly with her love interest, it's so awful.
The bad thing about the book is that it started well enough and was close enough to the original tale of the Nutcracker with Drosselmeyer, the wooden Nutcracker. You have a secret room, dark corridors, ... -- bit spooky and certainly dark. As soon as they are in the Fae lands: plot is thrown out of the window and it's all about sex now. Blagh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence