I was intrigued by this story as it is a nutcracker retelling and found it was quite eery but also magical in a dark way. The story follows twin sisters Clara and Natasha who were born on Christmas day and cursed at birth by their weird godfather, with each one's curse representing two sides of a coin - light and dark. On Christmas eve one year they are transported to the Kingdom of Sweets where Natasha takes the opportunity to seek revenge on Clara (as Natasha is the only one who can see the truth and is sick of living in her sisters shadow, especially after her betrayal). I feel like there is an undertone message laced throughout the story despite it being a very dark fantasy and although Natasha is perceived as the bad sister, I feel there is a lot to be said about her character if read between the lines.

A retelling of the The Nutcracker, I really enjoyed this - a gothic fairytale, dark and atmospheric.

A little repetitive in places but for me I would love it as a dark Christmas read.

📚Book Review📚

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I want to thank NetGalley for approving me for an ARC of this book. Special shout out to my fellow buddy reader @wendyreadsbooks.

📖Retelling (Nutcracker)
👧🏻Siblings
🖤Gothic
🕯️Dark

I'm a sucker for a retelling and I enjoyed the twist that was given to this classic. The complex relationship between Clara and Natasha was intriguing as well.

⭐⭐⭐💫

I couldn’t finish this. I got to 70% before calling it quits. The beginning was so intriguing and had so much potential, but unfortunately my interest waned from around the 30% mark. It became so boring and I had no idea what was going on.

As a lifelong Nutcracker fan, I immediately bought this for my mom and myself. I had read it was dark and twisted, but was still surprised how dark it actually was and almost abandoned it halfway through. That being said, I’m glad I continued to the end, as I felt it came together very well and loved Natasha’s growth as a character (Clara’s too). I really appreciate the author’s unique take on the classic story. Not all magic is sugar plums and rainbows, and the real world is often fueled by greed and anger. I’ll continue to love the classic nutcracker but will definitely reread this book too.

I ended up really disappointed by this sadly. At first, the atmosphere was beautiful, eerie, and magical, but it went downhill fairly quickly. I was expecting the dark fairytale it was pitched as, but it just didn't end up that way - it felt as though the author had so many ideas, and was trying to stuff them all into one book, rather than focusing on one good idea. I don't think this can even be classed as a Nutcracker retelling, because it is so far off The Nutcracker's beautiful whimsy.

Natasha was an awful main character - she was so self-pitying that it was painful. Not only was she insufferable, but so were the rest of the characters - I didn't care what happened to any of them, and for me, that ruins a book.

The writing style wasn't necessarily bad - I think that if the author had stuck to one solid idea, this would have been rated higher for me. But unfortunately as it stands, I really didn't enjoy this.

I enjoyed this book but I'm not sure if it was exactly what I was looking for - its not a bad book by any extent, it just wasnt for me.

I think part of the issue was that its so seasonal - I felt like I couldn't find the time to read it before Christmas, and it didn't feel right reading it after, making the reading quite stressful - that being said, I know loads of people would love seasonal reading, and I will recommend to many people

ARC provided via Netgalley for honest review! Thank you ❤️

I found this completely captivating. Gorgeous blend of Russian folklore & real life history blended with the nutcracker retelling. It’s definitely the most unique nutcracker retelling I’ve ever read. Also, the ending of this blew my mind just like the Tearling series. Gorgeous, heart wrenching and heart warming, what a beautiful beautiful book.

This was so deliciously dark. It was full of murder and betrayal and revenge and the Sugar Plum Faery was the perfect dark fae full of bargains and darkness.

I really liked Natasha's character. I liked how dark she was, how fixated on revenge. She's not exactly a hero but it worked because from the start it made it clear that this wasn't that kind of book. I loved how her actions changed the story of the Nutcracker from being an adventure story to being a dark bitter tale of fae.

If you're looking for a faithful retelling of the Nutcracker, you will be really disappointed because this book takes the characters and the worlds of the Nutcracker and changes it into something completely different. At least half of the story was just a completely different story. But I really liked that. I liked that it surprised me. I like that it played with the characters of the original story without sticking to it faithful.

I honestly just really, really loved this story.

I love The Nutcracker so this was a must-read from an author whose work I’ve enjoyed previously. It’s a beautifully dark twist on the tale and is the perfect read in winter time. The contrast of Light and Dark forms the foundations of the novel and features throughout in many guises. A wonderful retelling and a great read.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.

I've head great things about Johansen's previous works, so while I hadn't read any I had decently high expectations for this. I really liked the concept, and it felt very fitting for this time of year, but unfortunately the second half of this just wasn't as strong as the first half for me, and felt a bit too convoluted towards the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for this ecopy.

I absolutely loved The Kingdom of Sweets. This take on The Nutcracker was an excellent read. I really loved the direction this story went, I really wasn't expecting it at all.
The Kingdom of Sweets was written so well that it had me gripped, I couldn't put it down. I loved Natasha her character was intriguing and so different to any other characters I've read. I found the whole concept of Light and Dark intriguing and it really played well into the story, the ending for me felt bittersweet, but it was perfect.
Highly recommend this read.

I had hoped this would be a festive read to ease me into the season, but instead I was left feeling a bit confused and as though Erika Johansen had tried to bite off a lot more than she knew what to do with.
The actual prose itself is wonderful. Johansen is a hugely talented writer, and the descriptions of parties and the details in the titular Kingdom of Sweets are beautiful. The sisters and their relationship feels complex, painful, and authentic. It was difficult to read at times, but there was also something refreshingly honest about seeing the toxicity and damage on page.
The plot itself, however, spans over two decades, and in such a small book, it means that huge spans of time are waved away in a matter of paragraphs. It leaves a lot of scenes feeling isolated and the pacing unbalanced. Likewise the ending felt overly drawn out and unnecessary, when it could have ended thirty pages earlier for a cleaner break.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC of this book! I don’t know what I was expecting when I started this, but it certainly wasn’t what it ended up being. Not quite sure what the overarching message was, but the constant reminder that the MC was ugly and frumpy got old after the second time it was mentioned. And ending with the Russian revolution was a bit of a surprise.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-arc of this book!

I really enjoyed this book, the nut cracker retelling was really interesting and I felt really engaged to the story the whole time!

A solid 4 stars!

The Kingdom of Sweets is a dark and incredibly addictive retelling of The Nutcracker. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and its gothic vibe! ⁣
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Clara and Natasha lives are determined by the destiny placed upon them and I loved exploring their story. The two are, at least for me, unlikable characters but it's their messy relationship that makes this story so gripping. Clara has been given everything in life which in turn has made her self-centered and used to getting her own way while Natasha is a complex and interesting character whose loneliness, jealousy and heartbreak leads her to making the most terrible decision. Each girl makes choices with no thought of the consequences that may arise. ⁣
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I really enjoyed the plot of this one and just how atmospheric it felt. I really enjoyed the scenes set within The Kingdom of Sweets along with the scenes with the Sugar Plum Fairy. ⁣
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The Kingdom of Sweets is a whimsical and haunting retelling that I really recommend picking up if you love dark gothic stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to net galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a darkly lyrical retelling of the Nutcracker. While I’m not familiar with the original story, it was easy to get sucked into the story, I don’t think my lack of knowledge hindered me in any way as the concepts were easy to understand.

It’s definitely a darker toned book, the themes of sisterhood, revenge and dark versus light were explored beautifully within. I found the ending ever so slightly lack luster, but that was because I was hoping for a darker twist. The message of the book wasn’t really about that and so I can see why that choice wasn’t picked.

I’m looking forward to seeing what else Johansen writes, I’ll definitely check out her other books.

This is a compelling and complex story. Not my first retelling of The Nutcracker but the first one that has left me wanting to know more but at the same time reluctant to find out.
This fast-paced story takes us on a journey of sibling love, lose, jealousy and betrayal. I liked the story, but it felt like we didn’t dig-down enough into the characters and plot. I mean, there was a lot happening but at the same time the in-depth focus of the story was not quite there.

The Kingdom Of Sweets was nothing at all like I expected. As a lover of ballet, I expected to find a fantasy story based on The Nutcracker, with a slight twist of Clara having a twin sister. What I got instead was a brutal but fascinating deep dive into human emotion. Johansen reimagines Drosselmeyer and Clara to examine human selfishness, the desire for vengeance and a tendancy to hide from our worst character traits. Drosselmeyer is unmasked as a selfish, and in the end cowardly, creature who uses children for his own gain, to shield himself from his past. Clara shows the darker side of the light, happy front that people give the world. The inclusion of Natasha as both villain and hero of the tale is masterful, perfectly. balancing with Clara. Both flawed, both victim of a desire for vengeance, and both searching to find their place in the world.
As the novel concludes and we see the events as the lead up to the Russian Revolution and war in Europe, it serves as a stark reminder that we should all strive to do better - a small ray of hope in the darkest of times. After the turbulence of recent years, the reminder is timely.

If you’re looking for a darkly fairytale like story with unlikeable but such intricately developed characters then this is a book for you!

I was gripped pretty quickly by the writing, Johansen once again had me hooked by her choice of words, and I loved the grim and gritty vibes. The Queen of the Tearling is one of my favourite series so it was such a delight reading something new from this author, even though it was very different in style. It was so atmospheric, I often felt chillingly cold while reading and it was a perfect read for the end of the year.

The first third of this book had me on the edge of my seat invested but I did seem to lose a little interest toward the second half. I still I think the way the story came full circle was very well done but there were parts in the middle where I got lost. I loved the beginning and was really invested especially when the main character ends up in The Kingdom of Sweets, the atmosphere and the descriptions were amazing. I was so intrigued and interested and loved the vibes and so when the main character returns to the ‘normal’ world my interest started to wain. It started to feel too long, and I think if this book had been shorter, maybe even novella size, it could have been so much better. It just felt as though the pace slowed down dramatically, even though at some points it felt as though there were too many things going on and not everything felt like it needed to be part of the story. As a whole this sadly didn’t work for me as much as I’d hoped, however it was a good book, and I’d definitely recommend it for fans of dark fairytales and retellings because this is a solid one with amazing writing.