Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Court of Sugar and Spice

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.

Content Warnings

lauramparis's review

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Content Warnings

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Way spicier than I normally read but overall I had a great time with this one. It was fast-paced and kept my attention throughout, which is saying something because I read this over the holidays in the middle of being busy prepping for Christmas and other winter gatherings. I will say, that even though it’s marketed as a Nutcracker retelling, it reads more like ACOTAR with the lightest sprinkling of characters from The Nutcracker, so adjust your expectations going in that it might not be as Nutcracker-y as you were expecting. Overall, I would recommend this one if:

You’re looking for an easy book to read during busy times.
You’re a romantasy fan
You love smut and spice

Content Warnings

bookedandbooked's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

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