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ellanasan 's review for:
Midnight in Everwood
by M.A. Kuzniar
3.5
Globally I really liked the book but I didn't like it in equal parts. I really, really enjoyed the first 35-40 ish first percent. Marietta suffers a bit from the "not like other girls" syndrome but it doesn't come out too badly and given the time period, it's not that unexpected. She's very interdependent, very aware of her own wishes for the future, she has a level-head... I really like to discover her in the first part and I think the whole D's courtship was well handled. However, the moment we move into the Nutcracker retelling proper, we hit a sort of wall. Suddenly, Marietta isn't as good at identifying predatory behavior, she forgets how to read a room, and she doesn't listen to anybody. It was a one eighty I had troubles reconciling with. It was like we start with a strong character already but instead of polishing that strength the author suddenly realizes the journey is all about her finding her inner power (that she already seemed to have so that was confusing) and so for that to happen, she needs to be pushed into a more classic YA heroine case.
I quite liked the empowerment message in the book but I found the final confrontation (the one that was supposed to be the climax) too easy and unsatisfying. The resolution of the problems is also unbelievable in the sense that all the difficulties that were here before do remain here, nothing has changed even if she found her own power. So that ending felt naïve to me, a bit too tidy...
I'm not even going into the romance because...
I liked the book but it left me with mixed feelings basically.
A+ for the cover though.
Globally I really liked the book but I didn't like it in equal parts. I really, really enjoyed the first 35-40 ish first percent. Marietta suffers a bit from the "not like other girls" syndrome but it doesn't come out too badly and given the time period, it's not that unexpected. She's very interdependent, very aware of her own wishes for the future, she has a level-head... I really like to discover her in the first part and I think the whole D's courtship was well handled. However, the moment we move into the Nutcracker retelling proper, we hit a sort of wall. Suddenly, Marietta isn't as good at identifying predatory behavior, she forgets how to read a room, and she doesn't listen to anybody. It was a one eighty I had troubles reconciling with. It was like we start with a strong character already but instead of polishing that strength the author suddenly realizes the journey is all about her finding her inner power (that she already seemed to have so that was confusing) and so for that to happen, she needs to be pushed into a more classic YA heroine case.
I quite liked the empowerment message in the book but I found the final confrontation (the one that was supposed to be the climax) too easy and unsatisfying. The resolution of the problems is also unbelievable in the sense that all the difficulties that were here before do remain here, nothing has changed even if she found her own power. So that ending felt naïve to me, a bit too tidy...
I'm not even going into the romance because...
Spoiler
Yeah it was all about her following her dreams and ambitions and this she couldn't stay and for whatever he couldn't go because apparently you don't need a man (and sure you don't but HEY if you can have both, why don't you??) To paraphrase Tangled: sometimes you need a new dream. And I just didn't get why she couldn't stay and open a ballet school or just become a ballet dancer there... Sure, it's not the same and the society wasn't perfect but once the tyrant is out, it seemed far more friendlier to women than our own Edwardian period so...I liked the book but it left me with mixed feelings basically.
A+ for the cover though.