Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

7 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Confinement, Murder, and Death

Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Pregnancy, Classism, Sexism, and War

tacochelle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

I'm really split on this book. It takes the Nutcracker story and turns it into a sort of gothic morality tale. The actual nutcracker retelling only takes up a quarter of the story, the rest dealing with the consequences of that night. Drosselmeyer is a sorceror feared by the community, who blesses/curses a set of twins at their christening, naming one Light and the other Dark. The twins were fairly close to each other, despite their parents and acquaintances constantly favoring Clara (the light one)over Natasha (the dark one). The night of their 17th birthday, Clara is publicly engaged to Natasha's lover at the family's big party, and Drosselmeyer's gifts sends the two to the titular Kingdom of Sweets, where everything seems to be made for Clara, and Natasha is kind of neglected. Here, Natasha makes a choice that drives a wedge between the two in a deal with the Sugar Plum Fairy. Her actions give her the future she thought she wanted, but at a terrible cost.

Johansen is very good at worldbuilding for the most part. The descriptions are the highlight of everything here, fully realizing the setting from the industrial city they live in to the candy-coated nightmare realm of the Kingdom of Sweets. It's enough details to paint a gorgeous picture, but vague enough to create a sort of dark fairytale mood - at least until the very end. Throughout, there's little details, like mentioning Dracula multiple times, and various European countries, where you know it's kinda set in a turn of the century, Eastern European country, and I would have been fine with that. Then the last few chapters reveal that this is actually Russia before the revolution and implies that the magical events in the story directly lead to Lenin taking over. It was such a buzz kill for me. Completely took me out of the story, what little was left. It doesn't even fully make sense, either. Little details like calling the ruler a King instead of a Tsar make it feel anachronistic to the time period.

The characters are all deeply flawed. And not always loveable. I'm generally fine with that. But the twins are the fucking worst, really letting some guy get between them? Natasha is deep in the I'm-not-like-other-girls mindset, and it feels like half the time she is criticized for it by the narrative, while the other half backs her up. The trope is really overplayed, but at least pick a lane and be consistent. It gets really slut-shamey at points, and again, half backs it up and half criticizes it. Against her own twin, even! I get everyone's life is different, but as a identical twin myself, I could not get over that. Personal preference really, but it's almost all you see in media that one twin is always jealous of the other, and it gets old real fast. Clara is no better, she is just as self-centered as her twin, but in the way that she tries to willingly be blind to other's problems. It's implied that Drosselmeyer could help Natasha get a good proposal for marriage, and that would be her only chance to avoid life in a Convent because their society is so deep up his ass with the whole dark twin shit that they do not want her. He gives the choice to Clara, who is also implied that she could easily get her own man at any time, by her own charisma and beauty, but she takes the opportunity Drosselmeyer offers. And then cries when her twin is upset about it. Neither really grows out of their major flaw, despite endlessly being punished because of it.

The ending kind of justifies their remaining character flaws, as it both gives the twin a kind of happy end, as well as an end that they rightly deserve for all their bs. But it would have worked better if it kept with the almost timeless vibe of a fairytale about the consequences of greed, jealousy, and vengeance. But solidly grounding this in the gd Russian Revolution ruins that and introduces far more complicated issues than the story actually handles.

I'm giving this 3 stars because overall I enjoyed this. Johansen does write well, and I was very engaged with the book, reading it in one sitting. But the negatives really stick with me in a way that I can't forget or forgive easily.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Murder, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and War

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.)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Classism, Confinement, Abortion, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Torture, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Misogyny, Death, Drug use, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

that_person_logan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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 really enjoyed this book. I read it in two sittings in less than 24 hours, which says a lot. I enjoyed the first half way more than the second half, which felt rushed and jolting in its pacing. I really enjoyed the eerie descriptions of the Kingdom of Sweets and wish there had been more of that. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the following things:
- Family Drama
- Historical books
- Fairytale inspired
- Winter Horror
- Lush Descriptions
- How classics are written 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Murder, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Death, Sexism, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, and Drug abuse

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

An intriguing and compelling story built from the world of The Nutcracker yet vastly different from the story told in that ballet. This wasn’t what I expected but I still found myself enjoying parts of the story. My biggest issue with the story is the writing style made it less accessible than other books I tend to read. It read like a classic novel and I had to look up several words in order to understand certain passages. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Toxic friendship, War, Toxic relationship, Murder, Classism, Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Stalking, Child death, Grief, Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexism

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Misogyny, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Classism, Confinement, Child abuse, Blood, Death, Gore, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Incest, Alcoholism, and Slavery