Reviews

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: The Secret of the Realms: An Extended Novelization by Meredith Rusu, Disney Book Group

klaraxck's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-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? No

3.75

_galia_g's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Es un libro muy lindo, vi la película y no entendí muchas cosas pero con el libro siento que todo es mejor porque te cuentan como iniciaron los reinos.

_thngan_'s review

emotional informative mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.25

Actual rating: 4.25/5 stars
A true engaging and magical story for a cosy winter reading.
The piece itself has already been that famous but this novella version made a good compliment to the storyline. Being told in different points of view through different time stamps, the author brought us from begining to the end of this magical journey. Each character have their role to play, the story itself was beautifully written with reasonable amount of each character and each voice devoured the chance to be heard.

kellysavagebooks's review

adventurous hopeful fast-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

4.0

nerdypotsie's review

5.0

It’s weird that this is on Goodreads considering the fact that it’s a movie and not a book, but I just finished watching the movie and it was wonderful.

littleflowerfairy's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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? No

4.0

This was a beautiful companion to the 2018 film. I loved getting a peek into Marie's childhood and the mysterious and fantastical origins of the Realms. I loved getting to see inside Sugar Plum's mind, learning how she grappled with the changes to her perfect world. The writing was a great mix of simplistic and easy to read, and atmospheric prose. The author really painted a warm and magical picture of Christmas time.

I wasn't a huge fan of the deviations in Clara's part, but that may just be because I'm so attached to the movie version. I realize things were likely altered to give readers something fresh and new to read, rather than just making it feel as if they're reading a transcript of the movie, but some changes felt like it took away a certain spark to the tension and development of side characters. 

Overall, it was a lovely holiday read that would be enjoyable to any fellow lovers of the Nutcracker! Even if you've never seen the movie. In fact, I imagine someone who's never seen the movie would have a better time reading this, as they wouldn't notice or care about the changes to the plot.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Terminal illness

Moderate: Blood, Violence, War, and Death of parent

asmaa_arqawi's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.0

themelancholyofaliterarygirl's review

4.0

I know that a lot of people diss on the movie for feeling more like a wonderland knock-off than the book it is a retelling of, but I still rather like the movie and love the book (so does my dad who I got to read the book once I was done!).


My favorite parts of it were Sugar Plum's and Marie's p.o.v. I enjoyed their parts a little more mainly because it was new and left out of the movie so it felt more fresh AND because of Sugar's slow descend into being a villain.

Now I know that the book mentions over and over that Sugar and Marie's relationship was that of sisters, but my dumbass kept reading into it as something more on Sugarplum's side of things.


Maybe that's because I like reading one-sided love gone wrong (villainy), but I really thought that it helped my silly head feel for what was happening more (which might be effed up of me).

Sugarplum was obviously conceited and perhaps narsastic, though I think it's clear that she loved Marie and it hurt her to see that someone she loved dearly was spending less and less time with her as time went by.

And that sh*t hurts(personal experience).

That pain and hurt definitely caused her to think poorly about things and really made her view warp and thought she was owed more than what she got(which she wasn't, she already had more than enough).

Sadly she was too hurt and full of herself to see that and that Marie couldn't help that they spent less time together as Marie grew older.

And that she wanted Sugarplum to move on and find a family withinthe other regents...

I obviously really enjoyed reading this and put more thought into than I should have, especially the non-existing one-sided romance that I conjured up

nataliesboooks's review

4.0

I really liked that the book went more in depth about the backstory than the movie. It was a cute read that had me humming along to the music from the ballet.

**read for Christmas Book Bingo - a Nutcracker retelling**

bitchburgerbibliophile's review

4.0

This is a wonderful companion to the film! I personally loved the movie and this gave you so much more background information concerning the characters and their motivations.