Published By: Bantam/Transworld
Pages: 368
Released On: 30/11/2023
Light and dark – this is the destiny placed upon Natasha and Clara, the birthright bestowed on them by their godfather, the mysterious sorcerer Drosselmeyer. Clara, the favourite, grows into beauty and ease, while Natasha is cursed to live in her sister’s shadow. But one fateful Christmas Eve, Natasha gets her chance at revenge. For Drosselmeyer has returned and brought with him the Nutcracker, an enchanted present which offers entry to a deceptively beautiful world: the Kingdom of Sweets.
In this land of snow and sugar, Natasha is presented with a power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who is also a giver of gifts . . . and a maker of dread-filled bargains. As Natasha uncovers the dark destiny laid before her birth, she must reckon with powers both earthly and magical . . . and decide to which world she truly belongs.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Generally speaking, I am not a huge fan of adaptations, especially of classic stories. I’m on the fence as to whether they’re necessary. Having said that, I absolutely adore The Nutcracker and believe it has such scope for modern adaptations – any excuse to lose myself in that world.
There is a whole lot of plot going on, let me tell you. But there’s equally a lot of character creation and development. Drosselmeyer was perfectly wicked. Enough of the classic character to make him recognisable but with something a little extra to make him shine. And bizarre as it sounds, as he is obviously a bit of an evil character I felt a lot of sympathy towards him as the book went on, which I wasn’t expecting. The town sisters were also fabulous creations. You have Clara, the pretty one, the one who succeeds without really trying, the one who gets everything she wants, the one everyone loves. But my absolute favourite was Nat, the so-called cursed sister, the dark one, the scary one, our main narrator. There are a lot of other characters that you would expect from this tale, such as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and whilst well written, for me, this show is stolen by Nat and she holds every page.
I loved the description of the fantasy world. It’s absolutely gorgeous and you can practically taste the sweets and hear the eery silence. There is definitely an edge to it. A danger. It’s beautiful on the surface, but there’s darker elements beneath, which is perfect for this fantasy story.
In my opinion, The Nutcracker isn’t completely kid friendly, and I can definitely say that this book isn’t. But there was something about it that put me in a childish frame of mind, this sense of nostalgia and childish fun. But it is scary. Quite scary. And I think there’s always a frightening element to fairy tales and classic stories like this, that give it an added extra. A harsher edge.
It is a really interesting angle on the classic story. It’s taken some elements of the original, plus elements from other previous adaptations, but then looked at it from another viewpoint and offered us something completely new (to me at least) to this 1816 classic.
I admit it is at times quite complicated to follow. It didn’t ruin the reading or anything, it is still well written and executed. But there is a lot of description, and a lot of characters, and a lot going on that you do have to take a minute and focus. But very good none the less.
Whilst I do like the original story, it has been a long time since I last read it, so it’s difficult to say how much of this is true to the original book, but it had this feeling of authenticity to it which I liked, like a continuation of that story, or a different viewpoint of the story. The darkness beneath the story.
I read this in less than 24 hours. It is so enticing and capturing and magical. Frightening, perfect for the cold dark winter months. And I was still thinking about it the morning after. And it has reignited my desire to see The Nutcracker ballet!
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