I didn't really enjoy this book, but I think that it's more on me than the book itself. I'm not the biggest romance reader so maybe that's why I didn't enjoy A Curse of Frost and Fate. I DNFed around 40%. I found the writing a bit juvenile and I wasn't interested enough in the characters or plot to keep reading.

Thank you Netgalley for this free arc in exchange for a honest review.

Firstly I want to say that my opinion is in no way a direct attack on the author, I have a lot of respect for people that put their work out there to be criticized.

Secondly my review will contain spoilers so read at your own will.

I will start by saying that I DNF'd this book at 7%, however I believe that it had some good qualities to it.
Let's list the things I enjoyed in this book.
: the imaginative way the world was presented to the reader.
: the idea of a romance in this setting.

Let's list the things I did not enjoy in this book.
: the way Clara was a one dimension character with her only personality trait being she was obsessed with the Nutcracker story.
: the writing style is just cold and bland way too much for my taste. (this is vary much a personal opinion tho.)
: The blant disregard for consent. This usually isn't a issue I have when reading books put this one was really off putting, whether the type of language used or the fake innocence I just can't get past it.

It honestly feels like a very immature writing for this subject.

This book was engaging and interesting, but it was full of spelling and grammatical errors that were driving me nuts. It took away from the flow of the story for me. I also felt like the story could have been told without being so long-winded. It felt like it was just looking for more pages. Overall, the story's cute and by the end, I was invested in seeing where the characters ended up, but it was extremely frustrating to read.

This wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. A Curse Of Frost and Fate is a darker, more adult retelling of the Nutcracker, wherein a late-twenties Klara (with a K, not a C, as she makes very clear, for some reason) is disenchanted with her modern dating life and finds herself transported into a magical world the day after her breakup. Despite being a retelling, the Nutcracker as a ballet/story does exist within the book’s human world, and Klara is very aware of it’s existence and plot. So, why is it that it takes until 40% of the way into the book for her to have the realisation that the events of the nutcracker were happening to her?

Other than the protagonist being rather dull and lacking in assertiveness, the book was entirely too long. This culminates in strange pacing, a gratuitous amount of poorly written sex scenes, and a narrative so confusing that in a final hour a character only briefly mentioned at the beginning has to return to explain everything that happened. Also, the tone shifted constantly between random instances of very modern language and phrasing and then archaic or complex words in both the dialogue and the prose. The inconsistency is very off-putting. It is a very nit-pick-y type of issue to have, but the repeated use of just ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ as a description was strange and almost redundant? Calling a scream feminine every time a character does it says almost nothing.

Also, it’s a me-issue but the insta-love (or more accurately: insta-lust) just wasn’t what I wanted out of a 400+ page book where there is time to actually develop a relationship. There simply wasn’t enough plot to justify the page count, especially within the scenes set modern day which were almost insufferably dull and amateur.

All in all, there is an audience for this, but I think it will be too fantasy-heavy for contemporary romance fans, but has too much emphasis on romance for fantasy readers.

This was a very middle-of-the-road book for me. But I do know people I can recommend this book to that will love and enjoy it.

As someone who’s loved attending the nutcracker ballet since I was a little girl, when I saw this on NetGalley I knew I’d probably love the fantasy/whimsical retelling of the story.

The story is an adult version of the love story between Clara and the Nutcracker, their journey in triumphing over a curse and obviously, the mouse king.

If you’re looking for a frivolous read at Christmas time and love the Nutcracker, I think you’d enjoy!

Although not appropriate for my middle schoolers, I really enjoyed this read! Will be buying a copy for my personal library and recommending to friends!

I really enjoyed this sweet retelling of the nutcracker! It was a super cute read with lots of romance between many characters (no love triangles just details about characters romantic lives). I didn’t enjoy some of the writing with unusual word choices. Some of the scenes in this book gave me the warm fuzzies!
Pick up this book if you like cute romantic stories adapted from classic stories.
Avoid if you dislike Insta love, predictable plots and all the characters being romantic.

Thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Average. Far too long then necessary. Also the vocabulary used in some cases was inaccurate or incorrect. Maybe have an editor make sure the words being used are used correctly, or don't use big words that you never looked up the definition for or don’t use in regular speech.

This book was unique, interesting, and fun to read. While I enjoyed reading it for personal reading, I will not be adopting it for my classroom. Thank you to the publisher!

When I had read this book I really did enjoy the nutcracker theme. The Nutcracker story is one my favorites amongst the classic stories. However, I did believe it could have been shortened. But, I would still recommend to fellow Nutcracker and fantasy book lovers.

A Curse of Frost and Fate is a HEA retelling of The Nutcracker.

Klara is an ordinary girl, who is thrown into a magical world and spends her entire time trying to understand and forge connections with everyone around her. Jaemis is the cursed prince, who feels a burden to save the world around him. They both try to fight this 'forbidden' connection between them, as they try to get Klara back home.

I read this with absolutely no knowledge on the original story of The Nutcracker, so I have no way of comparing it to the original. However, just from reading it and catching onto The Nutcracker vibe that is associated in pop culture, I can say that this book succeeded in retelling a mesmerizing tale of love, good vs evil, and magic.

There was so much to learn about the different types of creatures and the magic that surround the fantasy world, yet all these concepts are swept under the rug to create a focus on the romance. I would have enjoyed more world-building, in place of the two main characters pining after each other, but I cannot deny the obvious chemistry between them. While I would have preferred a more not instant love storyline, it was delivered well with the "meant for each other" trope.

It was a pretty fast paced book, with loads of fluff. There is nothing 'dark' about this retelling. Overall, this book is a cozy holiday read for anyone that likes fairytale retellings with a little more passion and chemistry. Reading it gave me classic yet heartwarming feeling.

DNF at 45%
2.5-stars

I found this really difficult to get invested in. There’s a lot of info-dumping and dialogue that just spells things out. There’s over the top instalust that is talked about A LOT in internal dialogue as well as by everyone around them and then pretty quickly acted on. After that they’re in love I guess 🤷🏼‍♀️

The MMC has this martyr attitude like he can’t have even a little happiness because his parents are imprisoned and he has this curse - all I really know about him is he’s super handsome and used to love to laugh. The FMC I know even less about. She’s just wholly invested in this realm and the Prince.

And it’s needlessly long. There’s a whole conversation about whether to bring a horse with them or not and in the end she brings the damn horse and rides so well the Prince doesn’t believe she’s inexperienced 🙄

It’s not a bad concept overall but needs a lot more work.

This was a very long read that could have been cut in half. There were a lot of filler words that could have been left out. I felt like there were many things that were missing like the author knew what they wanted to write, but could not execute it on paper.

This is a nutcracker retelling, which I was so excited for, but it fell flat for me. There were so many grammatical errors! Im usually not one to take much notice to that but it was so frequent. There were also many words put in sentences that didnt make sense. It came across as the author just wanted to use a bigger word to seem, I guess, smarter but the word ended up not making sense at all. I also thought this book was way too long, she should have stopped over explaining every little thing and I would have enjoyed this alot more.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this copy in exchange of an honest review.

An adult nutcracker retelling, a kingdom under a spell, a cursed prince.

The discription got me so excited I couldn't wait to dive in. Gorgeous cover (while I don't judge book by its cover it was so beautiful and I'm a graphic designer so it earned bonus points). Unfortunately I didn’t find myself getting sucked into this story and struggled with the writing at all. It was unnecessarily long (and I like long), the main characters and story felt hollow and unfinished.

Disclaimer: I appreciate NetGallery giving me an ARC in return for a honest evaluation.

The Nutcracker tale is retold in The Curse of Frost and Fate with a romantic twist and a bit of spice on the side. We learn about many different magical species, alliances, and how they all interact, which I found interesting. The plot was also promising. The issue I found with the tale was that it was largely telling you what occurred rather than showing you, which made it difficult for me to become really immersed in it. I did not feel the connection between the main characters and there were also grammatical errors that I've found.

What if your favorite childhood story, one of magick and romance, was real? On Christmas Eve, Klara finds herself whisked away to the magical world of Galindria, cursed by darkness in this present-day retelling of The Nutcracker. She believes Prince Jaemis (cursed by Mogran the Mouse King), the realm of magick he calls home, and the fae creatures she meets all to be a dream; one inspired by her favorite ballet and perhaps a bit too much to drink. Still, she can't deny the instant connection she feels when the cursed prince enters her life; a connection that could spark her biggest adventure yet.

Verika Sloane's attempt to create a magical world based on a familiar tale is commendable. The world-building isn't so complex that you get lost, with a blend of familiar fae creatures (like the Sugar Plum Fairy) alongside a few new ones each offering their own interesting histories. Her descriptions of Galindria are beautifully attention-grabbing and engaging--enough that you can fall into the world of Galindria while keeping one foot in reality (much as Klara does at the start of the book).

The romance between Klara and Jaemis, however, feels a bit rushed, even for such a long novel. The couple was more interesting while their sexual tension simmered. Once it reached a full boil, the smut (which was a bit uncomfortable to read, given the word choice) seemed to take over the plot. Once the couple "makes love" (an antiquated term I wasn't expecting to hear from Klara, who became more heart-eyed than heroine with every page), they're too distracted by one another to see the crystal clear answers directly before them. The story dragged on a little too long, especially since the conflict's resolution is blatantly clear early on.

Klara and Jaemis, who grew up in different worlds, did learn how to learn from one another's strengths and perspectives, though. Klara is willing to take adventurous risks in the name of love, while Jaemis never makes the mistake of seeing Klara as a damsel in distress in need of saving.

That being said, the story could have used some restructuring. While the entire plot seemed to drag, the romance was rushed. Everything from the smut to the "I love you's" felt ingenuine, forced. There are a number of word choice mistakes that seem juvenile, and some concepts were over-explained.

If you're looking for a Christmas-y read and a happily ever after, this cute retelling of a classic tale is right up your alley. However, there's plenty of room for growth between the plot and writing style.

I was very excited to discover this book and was my first Nutcracker retelling. I loved the Nutcracker influence and the additional elements to keep it fresh. I loved the spice and the romance aspect to keep the reader engaged. I enjoyed this story.

This book was engaging and interesting enough, but it was riddled with spelling and grammatical errors and was entirely too long – unnecessarily so. The story's cute, and by the end I surely was invested in seeing where the characters ended up, but it was extremely frustrating to read.

As I said, this is a re-imagining of the story in the Nutcracker, so there are many similarities, with some new additions to keep it interesting and not too predictable. It was a little spicy, and very much romance filled which I can always appreciate.