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melissa_l_mcabee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
When you hear that a book is a dark retelling of The Nutcracker your mind still does not expect a pit of corpses to appear in the story. This is absolutely a dark retelling, and was much darker than I imagined but it was enthralling. I did have to take breaks during my read through just to clear my mind of some of the imagery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Death, Murder, Violence, Blood, Classism, Gore, and Torture
kasia_p's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The book took some twists and turns I wasn’t expecting. The main character does learn a lot about herself and the ways her world / our world works over the course of the book and she regrets many of the decisions she’s made. She does take responsibility for her actions in the end, but it can take a little while for you to develop any strong emotions for her and the path she chooses.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
amanda_reads89's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Confinement, Murder, and Death
Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Pregnancy, Classism, Sexism, and War
sburchart's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This really isn't a retelling - more like the inclusion of a few Nutcracker elements towards the beginning that take a backseat to a story about characters nobody wants to root for and that never quite figures out what it wants to be. Horror story with a poorly explained magic system? A story about twin sisters reconciling? Russian historical fiction? Not sure what the marketing department was doing trying to spin this as a fantasy Christmas read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Death
Moderate: Abortion, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Alcoholism
colloreda's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Misogyny and War
Minor: Miscarriage and Incest
beyond3va's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was so slow to get into it and that was a struggle. The middle had OK pace but then the ending just fell flat so it was an OK read. It wasn’t great so don’t know if I will try other of her books because I thought the pace was a little inconsistent, and her characters were very flat for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War and Death
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I selected this as my BOTM pick for December 2023.
"The Kingdom of Sweets" is a Nutcracker retelling that follows one sister trying to get out of the shadow of her twin. Clara has always been the most beautiful twin with all of the opportunities in the world at her feet. Natasha has always lived in her shadow and seems to live more like a peasant than a princess. One fateful Christmas Eve, Drosselmeyer, a mysterious sorcerer, brings a special gift to their home: an enchanted nutcracker that takes the girls to the Kingdom of Sweets. While exploring this mythical land, Natasha finally gets her chance at revenge, and she may finally get to live the life she has always dreamed of.
I am not familiar with the original Nutcracker story, so I cannot attest to how well this book did at a retelling, but regardless, I really enjoyed this story. Natasha's envy of her sister was so relatable and although she made poor choices and really wreaked havoc on Clara's life, I still felt sorry for Natasha. Clara's life has always felt so much easier than Natasha's, and everyone has made Natasha know that she is less than Clara. That has got to be rough for anyone.
The Sugar Plum Fairy is sickeningly sweet, and Natasha's entanglement with her was enticing. I really enjoyed seeing the pair interact throughout the story, and I enjoyed even more the ultimate resolution they made by the end of the story.
This story was so atmospheric, and I loved reading about the Kingdom of Sweets. This is the perfect story to read in the winter, especially to get you in a festive spirit for the holiday season. I do wish I read it last month, but I still really enjoyed this story and I appreciated the ambience.
I really appreciated the overall message of this story. There are a few lessons to be learned throughout the duration of this story, but none of them felt presented to the reader in a heavy-handed way.
My one critique of this story is that the book ends up jumping ahead many years a few different times throughout the story. The time jumps made the pacing feel a little stop and go.
I highly recommend adding this to your holiday TBR for 2024!
"The Kingdom of Sweets" is a Nutcracker retelling that follows one sister trying to get out of the shadow of her twin. Clara has always been the most beautiful twin with all of the opportunities in the world at her feet. Natasha has always lived in her shadow and seems to live more like a peasant than a princess. One fateful Christmas Eve, Drosselmeyer, a mysterious sorcerer, brings a special gift to their home: an enchanted nutcracker that takes the girls to the Kingdom of Sweets. While exploring this mythical land, Natasha finally gets her chance at revenge, and she may finally get to live the life she has always dreamed of.
I am not familiar with the original Nutcracker story, so I cannot attest to how well this book did at a retelling, but regardless, I really enjoyed this story. Natasha's envy of her sister was so relatable and although she made poor choices and really wreaked havoc on Clara's life, I still felt sorry for Natasha. Clara's life has always felt so much easier than Natasha's, and everyone has made Natasha know that she is less than Clara. That has got to be rough for anyone.
The Sugar Plum Fairy is sickeningly sweet, and Natasha's entanglement with her was enticing. I really enjoyed seeing the pair interact throughout the story, and I enjoyed even more the ultimate resolution they made by the end of the story.
This story was so atmospheric, and I loved reading about the Kingdom of Sweets. This is the perfect story to read in the winter, especially to get you in a festive spirit for the holiday season. I do wish I read it last month, but I still really enjoyed this story and I appreciated the ambience.
I really appreciated the overall message of this story. There are a few lessons to be learned throughout the duration of this story, but none of them felt presented to the reader in a heavy-handed way.
My one critique of this story is that the book ends up jumping ahead many years a few different times throughout the story. The time jumps made the pacing feel a little stop and go.
I highly recommend adding this to your holiday TBR for 2024!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Classism
Moderate: Murder and Death
whitneyfoster's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Death
lateromantic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This was an interesting metaphor, but badly executed: the setting was shoehorned in (and, as a romanticist, I do not appreciate the Hoffmann or Dumas erasure), the characters and their actions boring, the references to the real world jarring and eye-rolling. Every time I started to get into it something would bounce me out of it. I wasn't a fan of the prose, I found the turn of phrase clunky, and the structure was strange - was it going for thriller? Why did it run on so long? Also, it was 'edgy', which I find incredibly boring.
Not without merit, just not my kind of thing - perhaps if you want more 'dark faerie' content after reading ACOTAR, or want a book that has vibes of the first Wonder Woman film, you'll like it, but I found both of those put together by a better craftsperson than this.
(Sorry, I don't like to write mean reviews, but I have nothing nice to say about this beyond 'nice idea' and that I will inevitably read another Nutcracker book next Christmas.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Classism, Confinement, Abortion, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Torture, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
lauren_shilling's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I want to start off by saying that this book is beautifully written. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, and very very immersive. However, that was really the only thing I really enjoyed about it. I felt like the plot was kind of all over the place. If the plot had only been the first half of the book, I would have probably given this 3.25 stars, but everything that came after the halfway mark bored me to tears. I also really couldn't stand the main character. She was very thoroughly an "I'm not like other girls' character, and in a way that put down other women, particularly Clara, who enjoyed things like collecting dolls and who cared and enjoyed caring about her appearance. Natasha, the main character, kind of made it seem like these were bad things and her lack of interest in them made her better than Clara, which bothered me. By the end of the book, this is supposed to have been changed and show that Natasha has changed as a person, but it felt almost lazily done, and it wasn't good enough for me. The reason I kept reading was because, as I said, the writing was gorgeous, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: War and Incest