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readandfindout's review
adventurous
medium-paced
3.5
Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 2.5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 2.5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Violence, Grief, and Death
genny's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh, how comforting it was to read this during the holiday season while wrapped up in a blanket, sipping tea, a sweet-smelling candle burning beside me... 🥰 The writing style was simple yet engaging, and all the winter scenery was lovely. Every single time Polichinelle's Candy Emporium was described, my mouth watered. I don't even have a big sweet tooth, but my goodness, something about the image of this dazzling Christmas-themed candy palace just gets me! Clara and Nikolai's interactions were adorable. I found all the awkwardness regarding the latter's nutcracker form hilarious.
A nearly perfect Christmas novel. Honestly, I loved everything except...the numerous typos. There were missing words and awkward turns of phrase. I don't know whether this was professionally edited or not, but it needed another round of proofreading. I wish we got to see what happened to Erik in the end, as well assee Clara attending Nikolai's coronation. Will she live in Imperia? What about her family? Give me a neat wrap-up! It's already an unapologetic fairy tale, give me a fairy tale ending as well! 😅 Still giving this 5 stars because I loved it that much.
A nearly perfect Christmas novel. Honestly, I loved everything except...the numerous typos. There were missing words and awkward turns of phrase. I don't know whether this was professionally edited or not, but it needed another round of proofreading. I wish we got to see what happened to Erik in the end, as well as
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, and Violence
chrisljm's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
5.0
I love The Nutcracker and this was a fantastic retelling of it (probably the best fairytale retelling I’ve ever read). The world-building was beautiful and the integration of music within the story and prose was done seamlessly and wonderfully. The story was very tender and sweet, which also perfectly describes Clara and the Nutcracker. I adored them and really enjoyed seeing them together. There were dark moments within the book but even so, Clara and (especially) the Nutcracker never lost their sense of joy and humor. There were some scenes/lines that I found really funny/amusing, which I really didn’t expect, and it made me love the book all the more. Reading this filled me with wonder and a similar light to what I imagine the Illumination Sonatina to be like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, Murder, Blood, Violence, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, and Child death
divine529's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
Reread 12/24/21
I still adore this book with my whole heart and my previous review and TW/CWs still stand.
I feel like I got more out of the story this time though. And it added an entirely new layer of the story for me.
Absolutely brilliant and one I plan on rereading forever.
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Reread 12/21/20
I absolutely loved this book. It's one of my favorite Christmas books.
This is a Nutcrakcer retelling (and a bit of the Pied Piper as well) and it's absolutely brilliant. The Nutcracker is one of my favorite stories and it's just so brilliantly done in this. Our main protagonist is Clara, a up and coming pianist who is preparing for the concert of her lifetime and what she ultimately believes is her future. On Christmas Eve she finds a present under the tree with her name on it and she finds a book with her as one of the characters. When she reads it she ultimately gets swept off to the very place she's reading about and into an adventure bigger than she realizes.
It reads like a fairytale and the writing is so vivid and descriptive without being overwhelming. It's fast paced and yet packs a punch as well.
I absolutely love Imperia. It's such a beautiful world (minus the Rats) - so magical and wintry and beautiful. I love the use of music and the magical element that brings (I kind of want the sheet music or a list of the songs that inspired it so I can try and make my way through it on the piano).
If you've ever seen the Nutcracker, you'll pretty much know the plot of this, but it takes a few twists that makes it into something of it's own.
Finally, the characters. I love all of the characters - good or not - they're all very well written and have quite a bit of depth to them despite the shorter length of the book.
All in all, this is a perfect wintry and Christmas read (and even if you don't celebrate Christmas, the winter vibes are perfect) and I would highly recommend it.
TW/CW: grief, violence, blood, loss of a loved one, death, animal death
I still adore this book with my whole heart and my previous review and TW/CWs still stand.
I feel like I got more out of the story this time though. And it added an entirely new layer of the story for me.
Absolutely brilliant and one I plan on rereading forever.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reread 12/21/20
I absolutely loved this book. It's one of my favorite Christmas books.
This is a Nutcrakcer retelling (and a bit of the Pied Piper as well) and it's absolutely brilliant. The Nutcracker is one of my favorite stories and it's just so brilliantly done in this. Our main protagonist is Clara, a up and coming pianist who is preparing for the concert of her lifetime and what she ultimately believes is her future. On Christmas Eve she finds a present under the tree with her name on it and she finds a book with her as one of the characters. When she reads it she ultimately gets swept off to the very place she's reading about and into an adventure bigger than she realizes.
It reads like a fairytale and the writing is so vivid and descriptive without being overwhelming. It's fast paced and yet packs a punch as well.
I absolutely love Imperia. It's such a beautiful world (minus the Rats) - so magical and wintry and beautiful. I love the use of music and the magical element that brings (I kind of want the sheet music or a list of the songs that inspired it so I can try and make my way through it on the piano).
If you've ever seen the Nutcracker, you'll pretty much know the plot of this, but it takes a few twists that makes it into something of it's own.
Finally, the characters. I love all of the characters - good or not - they're all very well written and have quite a bit of depth to them despite the shorter length of the book.
All in all, this is a perfect wintry and Christmas read (and even if you don't celebrate Christmas, the winter vibes are perfect) and I would highly recommend it.
TW/CW: grief, violence, blood, loss of a loved one, death, animal death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
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