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

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Court of Sugar and Spice by Rebecca F. Kenney

12 reviews

maddydactyl's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

I loved this book so much. The development of feelings between the different love stories was completely brilliant - one set falling harder and faster, and the other set fighting it every step of the way. Rat King was truly terrifying, and I loved the use of magic throughout. Also loved the resolution with Drosselmeyer! Did not go how I expected it to at all.

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cozy_soul_reads's review

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4.75

This book was the perfect book club pick, beginning of 2024 book, and so much more! I adored the characters and felt immersed in this magical world.

Sugarplum fairy & the prince were enchanting in multiple ways & the spice was superior.

There were also darker elements that reminded me of A Court Of Mist & Fury via the high risks. But it was all worth it!! I highly reccomend this book & can't wait to read the series with my book club friends!!!

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innae's review against another edition

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4.0

A nice rendition of what I only know as a ballet. The descriptions of the fae was perfect..so many disturbing fae, and beautiful fae. The spice was nicely dive and despite other reviews I didn’t think it took away from the plot of the adventure at all.

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anns_storybound_sanctuary's review

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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.

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rubiecore's review

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adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I was super excited for this because the premise of a nutcracker inspired story with fae is really cool, especially knowing that the next books in the series are inspired by some of my favorite stories. And while I did enjoy it to an extent, I constantly found myself rolling my eyes or having to walk away from it for a few minutes because of cringy dialogue or convenient parts of the plot. I think if I was able to turn my brain off and not think about the dialogue or certain plot points too hard, I could have enjoyed this a bit more.

I want to preface my next point by saying that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with sex positivity or being open about sex but the way it’s talked about in this book is just so,, uncomfortably direct? No tension, nothing, just direct “hey yeah my c*m tastes different every single time” and it’s like, okay? I’m sure there were more graceful ways for that information to be presented to us. I think I knew the directness of this book would be a problem for me when we were first introduced to Louisa’s POV and while I tried to give her a chance, I just couldn’t stand her or her “enemies to lovers” relationship with the Nutcracker. The enemies to lovers plotline felt incredibly forced. The Nutcracker and Louisa disliked each other for absolutely no reason, Louisa’s reasoning being as ridiculous as “he isn’t attracted to me!! What’s wrong with him?” like,, be so fr rn. There’s no way that’s why you dislike him.

As senseless as the enemies to lovers plotline was, once the characters involved were together, their characters and relationship became much more tolerable overall. I preferred Clara and Fin’s insta-love relationship a lot more.

Generally, the plot was fine and obviously I cared enough to see it through but there were so many eyeroll moments, either because of a certain plot point feeling forced or because of extensive info-dumping through the character’s dialogue.

I might continue on in the series (bc I found out that Clara and Fin are in the second book lol) if I ever want something fast paced that I don’t have to think too hard about but idk we’ll have to see. I’m a bit bummed that I didn’t love this, especially because the third book is a Wizard of Oz inspired story and I love the Wizard of Oz ☹.

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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

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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

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tguccione's review

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adventurous dark tense 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? Yes

3.75

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kamrynkoble's review

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adventurous dark fast-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? Yes

3.0

Well, I saw someone post this on Instagram as a fun little Christmas read . . . Whew!

This was fun and moved quite quickly. The plot and world was quite interesting. While the characters felt shallow, I enjoyed this and will probably read the next one. It’s a fast, spicy KU book if you’re in the mood for a palette cleanser.

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koistyfishy's review

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Ohh this was utterly toothsome and I enjoyed it so much! A Court of Sugar and Spice was a deliciously delectable and delightful treat, that was that perfect fix of "sugar and spice" but defiantly naughty.

This dual-POV Nutcracker retelling follows two sisters, Louisa and Clara. Who after their father dies are sent to live with their Godfather Drosselmeyer. They soon find that not everything is what it seems in the house. One night following a bloody splinter, Louisa temporarily breaks the curse on a Nutcracker doll to reveal he is actually a captured and cursed Fae Prince. The sisters offer to help him break the curse completely so they journey to the Fae Realm; where they discover, in the Prince's absence, the Seelie Kingdom has been overrun by the Rat King's forces. To aid their quest and retake the kingdom, the group enlist the help of the Prince's cousin, the seductive and flirty gender-bent "Sugarplum Faerie".

The main thing that made me love this book is the worldbuilding and descriptions of the setting. It was beautiful, transcendent and gorgeous. I could so easily picture the world in its glowing and luminescent glory. It was scrumptious, filled with vivid colour, brightly coloured people, trees, and delicious smells of vanilla and cinnamon. None of this would have been possible if Rebecca Kenney did not have an amazing ability for writing. She is by far climbing to the top of my favourite Authors for a reason because I JUST LOVE HER BOOKS, WRITING AND CREATIVITY! She manages to take an idea and give it such a unique and inventive spin that I will EAT IT UP like a kid in a candy shop!

This is actually the love story of both girls so I am going to split this into the two couples

❆Clara and Fin❆
I just love them! I eat my words and distaste for insta-love with these two. While there was definitely insta-"lust" between these two characters, Clarawas sweet, demure and complicated. She had been creatively repressed by her father, forced to find shame in the fact that she wanted to paint. Then bring in Fin (probably the BEST CHARACTER IN THIS BOOK BY FAR). He was perfect and even more so, PERFECT for Clara. He was the first person to actually see who she was, not who she pretended to be. He was smart, kind, generous and unapologetically sexual, but I loved it! I found myself wanting to skim Louisa and Lir's scenes, just to get back to Clara and Fin, because whilst they were in dangerous and perilous situations, the levity Fin brought to the chapters was AMAZING!

❆Louisa and Lir❆
These two are probably the reason why I brought the rating down. I have no problem with a woman who loves sex and is proud of her sexuality and body, but when you make your entire PERSONALITY your like for sex and use this as the thing to define yourself...that is where I tend to be a little put-off. Whilst she is very quick thinking and strategic, I found myself annoyed at her more times than I could count, especially since she also tried to make herself feel better by bringing Clara down. Lir was incredibly unlikeable and I did not see his appeal or charm until the last 10% of the book. For the majority there was nothing redeeming about him as a character as he says hurtful and mean things to Louisa WHILE SHE IS HELPING HIM and then tries to excuse his behaviour for "I feel so much for you that it scares me so I am trying to push you away". No dude....If you weren't Fin's cousin I might have left you as a doll if it was me.

Let's talk about the naughty parts of this book 😏 There is A LOT of it in this book, and it starts very quickly - it ranges from light touching to consensual"running through a forest" fantasy acted out.... My only issue is...I have this awful moral catch-22 that the times when some of the scenes occurred, seemed a little strange and if I were hypothetically in the story in their place, probably would have gone "NOW, is not the best time to have sex"

example: Clara and Fin are captured by the Rat King and put in his dungeon and sex is the only thing making captivity bearable???

It has some good trope moments in it too:
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ One Horse Reindeer
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ One Bed - WITH Body heat for warmth
▶ He falls first (kinda)
▶ Fae/Human Romance

Overall, this was exactly what I needed and another amazing book by Rebecca Kenney to add to my list! I cannot wait for A Court of Hearts and Hunger(Officially out 31 March 2023) where I get to spend more time with Clara and Fin ♥️♥️♥️

❆Quotes❆:
The one that sticks in my mind the most

“Nowadays, people call me Sugarplum because I have the same delightful quality as these fruits. I’m deliciously flavored, and I taste different every time.”
“You—you mean your personality?”
“No.” His lashes lower, hooding his eyes. “I’m not talking about my personality. I’m talking about my cum.”

❆Clara and Fin❆

He breaks the hot torment of the kiss for a moment, and in that moment I say the words against his lips. “I love you.”
No more than a frenzied breath, but he hears me. His hand tightens on my hair, and he crushes himself against my body, his words hot and hoarse in my ear.
“Only you,” he grits out. “Only you, ever.”

❆Louisa and Lir❆

“Your scent,” he says. “It’s like nothing else I’ve ever encountered. It’s—it’s mine. It’s my scent. That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s not the way I smell, but it belongs to me, it’s—tailored to me, designed to be the one fragrance I can’t resist.

I need you—not your body, not only that, but more. I—I admire you, Louisa. I admire your confidence, your keen mind, your beautiful enthusiasm for everything, your courage in crisis. I long to be like you. I wish I could lose myself entirely in you.”

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