*Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review*

This book was absolutely magical. When I first started reading it, I did find it to be a bit slow but then after a few chapters I got really into it. I enjoyed this story so much, I loved the twist on The Nutcracker. Clara and the Nutcracker/Nikolai were adorable together and I really enjoyed their friendship. I also enjoyed all the characters, the story telling and the Clara and the Nutcracker storybook. I can definitely see The Enchanted Sonata as a movie in the future.

What a great story to read in Christmas time! Inviting since the very beginning, this modern nutcracker's ballet version tells the story of the young and talented Clara Stahlbaum, someone with a plan for life - marry the pianist Johann Kahler( that she loves secretly or so she thinks!) and play music.
Presented to the reader as someone that lives to play her late father's Sonata, not in her wildest dreams she could have thought of what she was about to face that Christmas Eve.
In a magical world where a Prince and a Villain teach much more than just the usual rivalry story, her destiny becomes clear and Clara can now see that she has so much more to offer and live for than she would have thought.
Overcoming challenges leads to a true discovery of oneself therefore this book is one of the best books I have read this year, kept me thinking what would happen next and how the story would developed for each character.

I give five stars to this beautiful and enchanted story that truly celebrates the power of music and magic.

First of all, let me thank Netgalley and Amazon Publishers for the chance to read and review this book: The Enchanted Sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork

As always, these thoughts are my own.
I give this story 3.75 stars.



Synopsis: The Enchanted Sonata, a retelling of The Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of The Pied Piper, will captivate readers of all ages.

Clara Stahlbaum has her future perfectly planned: marry the handsome pianist, Johann Kahler (ah!), and settle down to a life full of music. But all that changes when Clara receives a mysterious and magical nutcracker.

Whisked away to his world–an enchanted empire of beautiful palaces, fickle fairies, enormous rats, and a prince–Clara must face a magician who uses music as magic…and the future she thought she wanted.



The Nutcracker + The Pied Piper…. Genius


Heather Dixon Wallwork is one of my favorite fairy tale authors. Her story Entwined is glorious and I love it! Her writing style is so cute and light; I’m confident that any of her stories are a safe, happy read, including this one. I love this for a happy Christmas read!

I love the focus on music, having come from a musical family, and the writing was glittery and lovely and I finished it in just a few hours, which was nice. It would be amazing to read this book aloud to children during the Christmas season.

That said, it really ought to be labeled as a Middle Grade or Young young adult novel. It’s not really YA. The story is light, but it’s also simple. It’s happy, but that doesn’t make the motivations terribly believable. I really loved the addition of the Pied Piper, but his motivations specifically were decently shallow. (Not that some irl motivations aren’t shallow, they definitely are). There were a few errors and left out words, but that’s to be expected in a galley, so those didn’t factor into my rating. (but they would in a finished copy, because, you know, typos are my thing.)

The army fights the war against the rats with candy… and it just feels geared more toward a younger audience. Had I gone into the book expecting middle grade, I would have come out with a higher rating.

So I was very excited to read this book when I first heard about but it took me a hot minute to actually get around to reading the book since I wanted to read it in December. So this book did start out slow for me but once I got past the first 15% of the story it started to pick up and then I couldn't put it down. There are things that bugged me. Clara obsessing over Johann Kehler for about 80% of the book was one of these things. Come on Clara you have a giant sized Nutcracker prince who adores you. I also really didn't like Johann because he proved himself to be jealous and petty at the end of the book. I would have really enjoyed seeing more of Nicolai and Clara after they reunited at the end of the book.

Things I did like was the world building and character development and how this book was so great and why did it take me so long to read it? I pretty much loved all the characters even the law-breaking nuns. I'm definitely going to have to buy a physical copy of this book to add to my collection. This book is enchanting and is a definite must-read for the season.

Rating: 4½ stars out of 5

You know what the best feeling in the world is? Well, I'll tell you. It's when that book you hummed and hawed over reading finally jumps to the top of your TBR list and becomes one of the loveliest surprises you've read all year.

Admittedly, as far as re-tellings go, this started rough. It's a mash-up of The Nutcracker and The Pied Piper, and goodness was that obvious for the first one hundred pages. Subtlety was not the order of the day. It begins with Clara receiving a nutcracker as a Christmas gift and a storybook that eventually draws her into the magical world where the bulk of the novel takes place. Tiny little deviation to say I hate it when re-tellings use the name of the characters from the original. Like, please show me the Alice in Wonderland re-telling that does not have the main character as Alice or Ally. Anywho, in reading that storybook along with Clara, we learn the story of how the Prince of Imperia becomes a nutcracker with a little help from a magical piper bent on revenge. This piper's music turns all the children and soldiers of the empire into toys and nutcrackers, leaving it open to attack by monstrous rats and the threat that if the Prince can't prove he can be an emperor as a half-transformed nutcracker, then he'll be stuck as one forever. You can definitely appreciate the parallels between both stories, and the rats is the most blaring commonality. It took some time to stand well on its own, though. And once that time at around the halfway mark came, this story shone.

Looking back, this novel didn't feel very character-driven. In fact, I'm not quite certain what to label it as exactly. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, since it does make me think more on this book than I do others. The primary character is Clara, of course, but it often diverted off for a chapter or two to a group of people in the big candy emporium. About a quarter of this book was also taken up by the story of the Prince's fall to nutcracker shame, and the story of how the piper came to be/his motivations. These sections were an interesting diversion from the story and wove the plot together well.

Wallwork's writing style really helped sell this book. The humour laced throughout is the perfect tone, in actions, setting description and dialogue alike. In particular, the Prince was a stand-out, being rather witty and often bringing a smile to my face. I even chuckled out loud in a few spots. I even cried at one point, which is the only reason this is getting five stars without hesitation! I would also like to give a shout-out for the more musical descriptions. It is such a central part of the story, and I loved how she would describe certain pieces of music. A song about travelling being reminiscent of rolling hills and speeding trains. Clara's love for music is almost tangible. I would be remiss if I didn't say some in spots the writing felt ... younger. Like at some points it felt a little middle grade, then would veer back into a more mature territory with words like pleached—which I can't wait to use in my own writing—and bicephalous. There were also a few written sound-effects that left me a bit more confused than understanding, but that's neither here nor there.

As with the original Nutcracker tale, there is of course a blossoming relationship between Clara and her nutcracker Prince. It's inevitable and sweet and cute and yet you can't help but take a second and go "what the hell is this?" She's falling in love with an eight-foot tall walking and talking nutcracker LOL! She likes the way his paddle of a hand feels on hers and it just sort of leaves you like, "ooooo-kaaaaay." I shan't give any spoilers, but please keep an eye out for a side character romance that is pretty much the sweetest thing you've ever seen.

My only complaint was a small section in the [Abbey. They deal with a handful of nuns, and the head sister is, as you would expect, very vocal about her belief in God and that He would want this done, etc. etc. etc. Well, of course you might roll your eyes at that, but I got a little miffed by the Prince when he kept making snide comments about it. I grew up Christian, and while I've struggled a bit with several aspects of it as an adult, I took a bit of offence to his brush-off attitude to these nuns. Clearly, you don't believe in God, but don't be a dick about it to those who do and make it their life's work. (hide spoiler)]

I think this may be a favourite Christmas book of mine now, and I've only ever had one of those before. So in other words this is exciting!

I LOVE the whole Nutcracker fairytale. It's the perfect Christmas story. So of course I have to read/watch every adaption that comes out.

The Enchanted Sonata definitely lived up to my Nutcracker related expectations.

Now a talented pianist, Clara receives the Nutcracker and a mysterious book on Christmas Eve. Whisked away to the kingdom of Imperia, Clara's faced with a world where all the children and soldiers have been turned into toys.

The musical elements of this book were MAGICAL. Eric changes everyone into toys by playing his flute. He learns to use this magical music to teleport, travel between worlds, manipulate light, and so much more.
In addition to magical music, there's the giant rats who regularly breach the borders, fairies that are powerful but like to stay on the sidelines and manipulate from there, and of course, incredible sweets (in the form of a candy shop with some of the greatest sounding sweets I've ever heard of).

I absolutely loved the villain of this story. Eric Zolokov is the new version of the Mouse King, which works because he can also magically control the vicious rats that terrorize the cities.
In order to defeat him, the Nutcracker has to rally the remaining members of his kingdom behind him - without revealing that he's actually Prince Nikolai. And with Clara's help, maybe find the right music to play to turn everyone back again.
The relationship between the Nutcracker prince and Clara was absolutely adorable. We of course, no how it will end but it's still fun to watch it get to that point. From Clara's initial freight of him, to their friendship and more, I was rooting for them from the very beginning.
The world created was absolutely delightful. It was a "realistic" Kingdom with just enough fairytale thrown in to make Clara's adventure exciting.

And the side characters! Zizi and Alexei are completely adorable. Pyotr is a little orphan boy you just want to hold forever, and the nuns are badass's with weapons and illegal wiretapping.

The only thing I didn't like with this story was how simply Eric's backstory was told. I loved how much we got to learn about him and his past, but it was laid out too quickly and outright. I need at least a little mystery in my bad guys!

This is the perfect cozy Christmas book to read this season

The Nutcracker and The Pied Piper are two of my favourite stories, and when I saw that they had come together in The Enchanted Sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork, I was thrilled. This book is fast-paced, and it contains a cast of characters who are each well developed. I especially enjoyed the writing style and descriptions of music. I would definitely recommend this book for the holiday season, even if you are unfamiliar with the two original stories.

This book is a cross between The Nutcracker and The Pied Piper, and it tells the story of a girl who must reverse the spells of an evil magician who has turned everyone into toys. At first, I wasn’t sure how the two stories would fit together, but it actually makes perfect sense, and the stories work well. This book is action packed as Clara works to save the kingdom under time constraints, and I loved the musical aspects throughout. This is the perfect book for the winter season.

In The Enchanted Sonata, the reader is exposed to a variety of different perspectives which help to develop each character. I enjoyed getting to follow along everyone’s journey, especially Clara’s. What I appreciated were the bits of backstory for the villain which clearly outline his motives. It makes the story so much more engaging as well as believable. It is not always that we are provided with an origin story, so I was happy to see one in this book.

One of my favourite aspects of the story is the writing style. As music plays a big part in the story, there are many descriptions of music that are so breathtaking. It is easy to see the author’s passion for music with each note played. The beautiful writing is not just limited to music however, the setting and the characters are also vividly described. This makes the book come to life, and it is easy to get lost in the pages.

The Enchanted Sonata is a spectacular retelling of two of my favourite stories. The characters are well developed, and the writing style is very descriptive. I would definitely recommend this book, not only to YA readers, but to some middle grade readers as well. It is perfect for a holiday reading list.

*Thank you to Ms. Katie Schnack of Smith Publicity (via NetGalley) for approving my request to read this eARC, in exchange for an honest review. This is a spoiler-free review. Every thoughts, feelings, and opinions about this review is solely MINE. *

​This novel tells about the story of Clara, a musician who dream to successful just like her handsome pianist crush, Johann Kahler. On the eve of christmas, she received a mysterious gift that ultimately leads her into a magical adventure.

I have read so many retellings and this is one of those that really hit my bookworm heart; two retelling: The Nutcracker and Pied Piper are blended so beautifully. I love how the author describe both Clara and Prince Nikolai's worlds; and how the villain was so cunning that I have to curse him while reading. I like the pacing of the novel, definitely hard to put it down as page after page are full of adventures that I completely submerged into that world. The atmosphere throughout the entire story is so perfect for this christmas season.

There are a few things that I find a bit off while reading. Though I like the pacing of the novel, I find that there are some scenes that I feel flat. Also since this is a retelling, it is obvious that the story will be predictable. I only wish that it will go deeper, explore more about the magic or enchantment, and of the characters (more).
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
This is a retelling of 2 tales set somewhere in Russia; so perfect for those who are looking for a light, christmas-y read.

This was an amazing read. I couldn't put it down. I was absorbed by the characters. This is my new favorite telling of Nutcracker. A fantastic read especially for this time of year.

I will start by saying I wanted to read this because of the author. Heather Dixon Wallwork (formerly published as Heather Dixon) wrote one of my favorite books, Entwined, so when I heard she had written a new book, I was all over it! I didn't even care what it was about, but the description of "a retelling of The Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of The Pied Piper" had me intrigued! I enjoy any sort of retelling, so I had to see what Mrs. Wallwork would do to enhance these tales and make them unique! Let me tell you, I was NOT disappointed. This is going on my reread shelf as well as on my list of favorites.

Clara is a talented pianist ready to perform in the conservatory's Christmas concert and jumpstart the future she has dreamed of for years, but something remarkable happens on Christmas Eve. She is drawn into the story of a prince and his kingdom cursed by an evil magician, and without realizing it, she has been given a role to play.

This story is magical. The places, the people - I was entranced by the wonder of it all. I want to go to Polichinelle's candy emporium and visit the Abbey of the Indomitable Sisters. I loved Nutcracker's little quirks and spirit, and Clara's growth as a person.

I recommend this to everyone who wants to experience a little magic in their lives, as well as lovers of fairytales, retellings, and romance alike. It's the perfect read for the Christmas and winter season!

This book was such a joy to read. It was so much fun and I loved the mixture of The Nutcracker and The Pied Piper. The main characters were great and kind. I loved watching them grow throughout the novel. It is such a great winter read. It made me even more excited about the holiday season. The plot of this story was fantastic. It was filled with adventure and character development. I loved every single word of this book. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Before picking up this book I knew basically nothing about The Nutcracker or Pied Piper. I was almost ashamed at knowing nothing about them, so when I saw this book on Netgalley I knew I had to read it.

The Enchanted Sonata is a wonderful story about music, magic, and being true to yourself. The book starts off with Clara preparing for her upcoming piano concert. She’s trained all her life for this exact moment, and she is ready to share her own music with the world. The night before the show, Clara and her family exchange Christmas gifts and among the gifts is a story book. Neither Clara, nor her mother or little brother know where the book came from, but they feel compelled to read the story. Along with the book came a nutcracker, that seemed to be the main character of the book. As Clara discovers the story of the nutcracker, she gets transported into Nutcracker’s world, a mystical land where rats are as big as horses, fairies exist and music has strong magical powers.

I really loved the way this book started. I’m always fascinated by stories within stories, and this happens a few times during this book, where the flow of the main plot is interrupted by a new story. I wasn't sure at first about the author's choice to put two different fairy tales together, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well they went together.

Both Clara and Prince Nikolai embark on the journey of a lifetime, and each has their own lessons to learn from the experience. While Nikolai learns to stand up for himself and put all of his knowledge to use and not allow his uncle to make all of the decisions for him, Clara learns to see people for what they really are. There's this beautiful scene on a train between Clara and Nikolai where he tells her what he thinks about her crush on a famous pianist that most likely doesn't even know she exists. And while that statement made Clara mad and it hurts her, it's also her wake-up call, because she starts to question her feelings, how real they are, and if they're really about the pianist or about something else entirely. Clara in turn helps Nikolai become the worthy ruler he hopes to be, someone worthy of the title he stands to inherit.

We also get to learn about this mysterious person set on hurting Prince Nikolai, what drives him, what made him compose this music with such big, evil powers. I love the fact that we get to see his point of view, because it kinda made me understand why he was doing all of those things. He needed someone to blame, and Prince Nikolai was, unfortunately, the perfect target.

The book has a very cinematic feel, and I am hoping that someone discovers it and turns it into a movie. The atmosphere was just perfect for the holiday season, and the author did a great job at building the world of Imperia. The book is basically a love story to music, the power that music has over us. Music is everywhere, and although it may not have the power to turn people into toys, it impacts people in so many ways.

There's also a little love story thrown in there, and I thought it was super sweet. The only thing I wished was a little bit different was the ending. It seemed a little bit rushed, compared to the tone and pacing of the rest of the book.

All in all, I really loved this story and I truly recommend it to you guys, especially during the holiday season. It's the perfect book to start off the holiday reading, if you ask me. I will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

It’s a fairytale retelling you didn’t know you needed.
___
W hen the flute played that night, only the children could hear it.
--

A quirky, incredible, amusingly twisted The Pied Piper of Hamelin and The Nutcracker retelling, following the perspectives of the Emperor of a dreamlike land, an outsider whisked away from her home and of course the piper …with way too many toys and nutcrackers scattered about.



The story sets off with a talented pianist, whose world revolves around pianos and concerts. & certainly not being landed right into a frivolous, magical but deep in mayhem kingdom. Every child in the land has been turned to toys and every soldier a Nutcracker, by an oddly smiling man who appears with a flute. Kingdom in chaos and the royal guard stack of nutcrackers, Clara with a Princely nutcracker at her side fight their way through to undo the curse, get back home, her big show and have her happily ever after…nut things get more tangled up than she can imagine.

This was such an entertaining read, I didn’t expect it to be so adventure filled, humorous, and a fulfilling story.
---
“You hwill follow me!” You did not disobey someone who added h’s to their w’s.
--
.
The world is ridiculous, magical, carrying the fairy tallish tones of description while keeping it relevant with the dilemmas characters face in the book. The resolutions the characters try to find are both plausible and bizarre, so it never really loses touch of being an outlandish land real life quandaries.

Each characters has their own quirks, even though the gloomy atmosphere it doesn’t fail to keep it amusing.



Clara is confused…but she can’t turn down her chance to help upright this alien world, after all she wasn’t alone. I enjoyed the banter between Clara and the Nutcracker, it portrayed both youth and maturity of the characters; Nutcrackers awkwardness and Clara’s bewilderment as their friendship blossomed and how both got to unveil much more of their own potential all in the process of breaking the curse.
--
“Do you know that feeling,” he said, “when you stick your finger in your ear, and wiggle it around a bit?”“Um,” said Clara. “It feels a lot like that.” Clara decided to be silent for a while.

--
There’s the right amount of action, you get adequate share of Clara’s girly moments with the Nutcracker’s moments of fear of failing and not bwing good enough. and how they grow as the story progrssed.

--
the sweetness of a fairy-touched romance reminded her of Johann, and his beautiful music. It wouldn’t be long now. “You’re a romantic, Miss Clara?”
--

He just needed a chance. Something to prove he could be a good emperor. He needed to... to lead a battle charge...or join the regiments on the southern border or... or something.
--

We even get to see the side characters growth too without it feeling detached or surplus to the story. …I thoroughly enjoyed all of this.

Ive come across this authors books previously and never really got around to pick any of them up, but now Im looking forward to seeing more of her work,

I think I owe The Enchanted Sonata all the credit for getting me into the Christmas mood this year. I’m usually somewhat of a Grinch who wants to love Christmas, but just can’t. I think that might be due to the lack of Christmas books in genres I love to read (hit me up if you have any Christmas book recs), but all that has changed this year thanks to this beautiful Nutcracker retelling. I managed to read this one in a few days, and it kept me interested the entire time. The Enchanted Sonata even got me into the most Northern Christmas mood I’ve ever been in, unfortunately now I really want a winter Christmas.

One of the key reasons I requested this book was because it is a Nutcracker retelling, and I love the Nutcracker. Thankfully, The Enchanted Sonata is very faithful to the story that I know, so it was well and truly a delight to read. Of course, it’s not just a rehashing of the story, the inclusion of a little Pied Piper retelling made the plot very intriguing. Though I did find it slightly predictable, I never found it boring, and I was always excited to continue on when I picked it up every night.

Another thing I really loved about The Enchanted Sonata was the pacing in the beginning. I really appreciated that the book didn’t take too terribly long to get into. I personally hate books with slow beginnings, and for some strange reason, I thought this book would have a slow beginning, but it didn’t and I was absolutely delighted. The pacing was generally good throughout the whole book. Though there were a few moments that I thought it was slightly slow, it never slowed down enough for me to be dissatisfied with it, and as I mentioned before, I was constantly excited to continue on.

For some reason, I feel like this book was super short, but I just looked on Goodreads and it’s listed as 375 pages long, so it’s by no means a short book, however, for the length, I felt like the characters were quite underdeveloped. I really wanted to learn more about them, and dig deeper into their psyches. I feel like I didn’t form a really tight connection with them, and I also wish the plot was just a little bit deeper and more complex. Having said that, I understand this is probably more of a light, happy read, and a deeper plot is probably not what the author was aiming for.

All in all, The Enchanted Sonata is an enchanting read, and that’s what I enjoyed most. The world is immersive and magical, it’s like reading a Disney movie. I wish the book would open a magical portal and suck me in, just so I could roam the snowy streets, and maybe spend an inordinate amount of time at Polichinelle’s Candy Emporium. The Enchanted Sonata is everything I could have asked for at this time of year, and I’ll probably end up rereading it closer to Christmas. But for now? I think I’ll go and get myself some candy canes and dig out that Nutcracker candle I have tucked away in a box somewhere.

I gave The Enchanted Sonata four out of five stars.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was beautiful, although I felt sometimes that the timeline was a little off, especially at the beginning. I feel like when the author was telling a story through the storybook that some of them went on for so long without a break. Otherwise, it was very well done and the story was quite original.

Ebook was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, what a charming story! I'm a sucker for the Nutcracker (especially the Barbie version!), so I was very excited to read this story, and it did not disappoint. So many retellings these days try to make these stories darker and edgier, and I was so glad that this book did not take the story in that direction. I really needed this book right now. There were some parts that were predictable, but I honestly didn't mind it. Perhaps what I loved most were the characters. I thought Clara and Nikolai/Nutcracker had a wonderful dynamic, a relationship that felt very real and sincere. The ways these two (and Erik as well) were shaped by and managed their grief throughout the story was so meaningful. I loved the dialogue as well. The little vocal tics of even the most minor characters, Nikolai's awkward speech (and I loved him for that, it really sounded like me when I speak) all enchanted me. And this book made me laugh several times, which I am so grateful for.

Overall, this was a story as sweet as the Polichinelles's Candy Emporium.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review; all opinions reflected below are my own!

I was so happy when I heard my request for this book had been approved as I could not have picked a better time to read this. It's the perfect read for this period leading to winter and Christmas!

I have so many thoughts at the moment, even though I finished this book yesterday and I've been thinking about it all day today, but I will try to be as thorough as possible without spoiling the fun for everyone who has decided to give this go.

This book was so beautiful.

I have come up with some section in an attempt to group my thoughts better.

A. Context

What added a bigger value to this book for me were the various references to stories that are known to most of us. This is a mystical tale that combines - obviously - the tale of the Nutcracker with the Pied Piper of Hamelin tale. The core element of both stories are present and they're explored in depth and they're given proper attention. It was extremely interesting to see how well these two stories could connect and how both contexts could be intertwined in such an effortless way. The two original tales have German origins, to which the reader is exposed through Clara; however, the Russian element (due to the famous ballet - music composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) was also present in the kingdom part of the tale. I love how well the two co-existed and were connected to each other.

Another part that amazed me was the background story of a certain character that reminded me of <spoiler>the story of the Phantom of the Opera</spoiler> . I was so pleasantly surprised and excited to get this little "cherry on top" as it made me view this character differently.

B. Descriptions

Having read many books that feature a good amount of descriptions, there comes a point when truly enough is enough. However, this wasn't the case with this novel. I came to love and anticipate its descriptions. They were vivid and enjoyable and they made the entire experience almost synesthetic. I remember distinctly the descriptions of various forms of candy and chocolate that ended up making me crave something sweet in the middle of the night. They weren't tiring and they were enough to help you picture both world well enough. When you have exposition to two different worlds, there is a danger of having an overwhelming amount of descriptions. Yet, this book did everything right.

C. Characters and Ending

Ah, my lovely characters. What left a positive impression for me was how well established the characters are. This includes both main and secondary ones. We get everyone's story, you get the stories behind families, groups of people, people present and absent. Obviously, there are moments when the primary characters are prioritized but that does not lead to the secondary characters being portrayed as less important. I love how Wallwork took the time to explain everyone's story as, by the end, literally everything fell into place. You do not have plots left untouched or unfinished, you do not have questions; rather, you're left with this excitement and (personally) a tiny hope for an additional novel.
I was very much happy with the ending. It made my little heart warm and I was happy with the plot development.

D. After thoughts and Extra Bits

As I mentioned earlier, this book had been on my mind all day and I've been mentally revisiting some of its interesting elements. My favourite being the various literary and philosophical themes that appear throughout.
We get an exposition to the Romantic-Victorian movement from innocence to experience and the realization of themes that the characters were ignorant before as well as the association of music with enchantment and the overall realm of the mystical, which was very prevalent during the Renaissance. Music had both positive and negative connotations, depending on the context in which you found it, and both sides are explored in this novel.

E. Concluding Thoughts

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to whoever is ready for the most enchanting journey and for characters that will stay close to your heart. I am so happy I decided to read this and I will definitely pick it up again sometime in the future and see what else I can pick up.

Thank you very much for reading this review and I can't wait to see what you all think!

In this retelling of The Nutcracker we get to see so much more of the story that Heather Dixon Wallwork has spun around the original. Clara Stahlbaum is a pianist that hopes to catch the attention of her famous male counterpart Johann Kahler through her performance at a Christmas concert. The night before however, on Christmas Eve, she is transported into the land of Imperia where she encounters magic, evil rats, and a prince-turned-toy Nutcracker. It was delightful fun to read and perfect for the holiday season.

Dixon Wallwork is able to completely capture the story not just in words but the sensation of the music she describes. I have never before read a work where music is incorporated so seamlessly into the narrative. What's truly great about it is that it carries the essence of the music in the story inside the words of the plot and the descriptions of the music. You don't need to know music to feel the sensation she describes. The Enchanted Sonata is itself an enchanting piece of art.

I don't know where to begin! I LOVE THIS BOOK.

The synopsis intrigued me but the book was beyond anything I imagined. First, I absolutely love the lyrical writing and the world-building. I finished the book in one reading because I was so engrossed in the world and magic of it all. I did not want to leave Imperia.

Second, the characters. I loved them. Clara and the Nutcrackers are easily lovable. I especially loved how Nikolai tried hard to prove that he is worthy of being an emperor. The side characters are equally entertaining and added more to the story. Thank God they all got their happy endings they deserved. I have to say that the three main characters; Clara, Nikolai, and Erik are complex characters and we were introduced to the different layers of their personalities throughout the book. Which for me, makes the book more interesting.

All in all, I'm SO in love with the book and this book will make a marvelous Christmas/winter read.

Ps. Thank you to the publishers for giving me this book! I can't wait to read more books from this author! x

"But I do know that in the face of bitterness and disappointment, when our souls cry out in despair and anger, that we might fight it. As we fight everything in this life-with nobility, courage, and grace. That is what makes a true prince."

Clara’s world is turned upside on Christmas morning when she finds a mysterious present under the tree wrapped in velvety red wrapping, topped with a glistening silver bow. She opens it to find a handsome nutcracker and a strange book along with it. As she opens the book to read it, she immediately realizes the story is more than meets the eye.

The story is played out in front of her of another world inhabited by a young prince named Nikolai who is on the verge of becoming emperor of Imperia. Tragedy strikes one night when every single child across all the kingdoms are turned into toys from rocking horses and candy, to dolls and toy pots.

This book is literally the definition of magic. There’s an evil magician, fairies, a talking nutcracker, giant rats. I was absolutely enchanted by this world. A world described as a blur of jewels and glittering forests but don’t let that fool you into thinking this book is all gumdrops and spun sugar, it has its very dark moments. There are very gorey battles and heart breaking scenes.

Also the entire book is centered around MUSIC! It is built upon this aspect that music is magic and it is needed to save the world. Clara herself is a pianists. She was taught as a child by her now deceased father. The evil magician even carries around sheet music so when he plays his flute, dark and sinister things become reality.

Speaking of the evil magician. What a fantastic character. He was dark, beautiful, mysterious, and even had an entire backstory chapter which settled my love for him. He had so much misplaced passion and had such a complexity to him.

This is a nutcracker retelling and I’ve personally never been interested in the story which leads to my knowledge of it being minimal but I adored this story and had no problem getting comfortable with it.