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.

If you are looking for a feel-good, holiday-related book, this is for you! I really liked this story. A mix of The Nutcracker and The Pied Piper might sound like an odd combination, but the author found a way to make it work. The setting of the novel was lovely, and it truly put me in the Christmas spirit, making it a perfect read for this time of year. The ending was also adorable, and it put a smile on my face.

Unfortunately, this book seemed very rushed. I didn't feel any connection to the characters because nearly no time went into developing them. I would love to read a slightly longer version of this novel with a little more character and world-building. There were also grammar mistakes, missing words, and redundancies riddled throughout, which sometimes snapped me out of what was otherwise a very magical, enchanting world.

Regardless, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light read for this holiday season.

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.

4.5 stars

I was totally captivated by this book. The descriptions were beautiful and the way music was incorporated was so well done you could almost hear music playing while you read. I think incorporating The Pied Piper was a great idea and it worked out really well. It was definitely a perfect Christmas read. I haven't seen The Nutcracker ballet in ages, but reading this makes me want to see it again.

All the characters were very well written. I loved how Nikolai decided to prove himself worthy of being emperor instead of just demanding it. Also, his little snarky bits were pretty funny, especially with Mother Svetlana. And the part with the nuns and the guns? Hilarious. Clara was a good main character. She gets pulled into a world that isn't her own, and at first all she wants is to go home, but after hearing and seeing everything that's happened, she begins to realize how much more important it is to stay and help make everything right. I'm really glad the author showed us Erik's past, so that we could understand his motivations. I think it really helps a story when you can understand the villains motivations, instead of just having a villain with no explanation. All the other side characters were written really well, and the ending was satisfying and cute.

Also, the cover of this book is beautiful, and I loved how they used part of it for the chapter headings. This was a wonderful retelling and a perfect holiday book.

I read and received this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review has also been posted to Goodreads and my blog.


This novel had me at The Nutcracker and Pied Piper retelling. Literally screamed my name till I requested it. It looked wonderful.

The writing is a mix of good and bad. Of the good, the descriptions are gorgeous and the humour is on point. Of the bad, there's a lot of telling and many lines and phrases don't make sense; not a case of nonsensical flowery language - rather, it's just simple bad grammar that desperately needs another round of editing. For example, consider these sentences:
- "grasp her bearings"..... is grasp really the right word to use?
- "tight" is used instead of "tightly", and it sounds so awkward.
- "The melody prickled over him, sweat shining on his forehead, on his last bound to the piano, he stumbled and hit the ground at a clatter."...... The punctuation is totally off, and "his last bound" and "hit the ground at a clatter" is a jumbled mess.

The writing style is also very childlike (there are a number of exclamation marks that purposefully seem to stop the sentences from being taken too seriously). But the same time, I think the childlike tone suits the story. It has this whimsical innocence - from the characters to the actual story, it sounds young. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing.


❝ Killing someone...it broke you inside, didn't it?"

❝ Music is interesting, isn't it?... Gently played, it can soothe one's soul. It can rouse one to fight in a battle; it can conjure memories of those lost. I could even make someone fall in love with you. Or plunge you into the depths of despair."


The plot is fun. It's uncomplicated, and it's fast-paced. I also loved the snowy, fairytale setting and atmosphere and I truly commend Dixon for capturing that ethereal, storybook imagination of the original The Nutcracker tale. It sparkles from the very first page.

Above all, however, I really enjoyed the pure loveliness of the novel. It's so sweet, so innocent...so easy. I love how warm-hearted it is. Yes, it could be darker, could be more mature, but sometimes you just need to know that the good guys will be good guys and that they'll defeat the bad guy in the end. Sometimes you just need a good-hearted little heroine who saves the day. This story gives us that assurance, and personally, I welcomed it.

The characters are nothing outstanding. Clara is very sweet and easy to love, but she's the stereotype of the innocent, naive, angelic heroine. At least she isn't annoying, though. I liked her. I also really liked Alexi and Zizi - they're probably my favourites, although they are definitely flat characters. Nikolai I didn't like. His personality is so inconsistent; as the Nutcracker he's like a totally different person compared to the quiet, noble little human boy we see at the start. I never got a grasp on who he really was. It's like the author was never sure, either.

I never shipped the romance. Honestly, it seems out of place. I would've preferred Nutcracker and Clara's relationship to remain one of friends, because of the childlike tone of the story and the age of their characters. A romance seems too old for the story.




The Enchanted Sonata is a sweet and inventive tale full of heart. It's pure and lovable, although not particularly written well.

Oh, wow, I am positively stupefied by this ingenuous magical entity. This is my first Heather Dixon Wallwork book and it's safe to say that any fairy tale retellings she spouts I want to be the first to hear them. The Enchanted Sonata is the most enrapturing, stunning and dreamy book I have read all year. I am perfectly smitten.

I read the synopsis of this book and thought, 'hey, this sounds right up my street' and I had a little flutter in my stomach that happens whenever I see a book I will probably love - sometimes the fluttering doesn't pan out and the butterflies die a gruesome death of disappointment, thankfully this wasn't one of those times - and then then I found out The Enchanted Sonata was actually written by a Disney story artist... Well, there was no need to tell me twice! I began reading the book with my hopes and expectations high, and finished the book with my hopes and expectations well fed.

The Enchanted Sonata is a flawless stature of a fairy tale. Wallwork combines the tale of The Pied Piper and The Nutcracker, which sounds like an unusual pairing but honestly contains more delicious layers than a luxurious Belgian truffle.

The prose is beautiful; so uplifting and inspiring, I love retellings where they light a warm glow inside and remind me that good things can happen.

Also - the little side story of Pyotr gave me all the feels! I thought it was such an adorable addition to what was already a moving storyline, the little details delivered in this story are the epitome of perfection and served on a plate of wonderful imagery that embody childhood dreams.

The Enchanted Sonata is the pied piper of books - see what I did there? - and I am the child lured out of my warm cosy bed. I would follow Heather Dixon Wallflower's precious writing anywhere.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book!

From the creepy rats to the slow-burning adventure, this has quickly become my favorite holiday book that I’ve ever read!

I don’t know too much of the original Nutcracker Ballet, so I can’t speak highly on that, but from what I vaguely know about it, I think this retelling took many of the main characteristics of the story and created a Russian version that I loved!

There’s the main character that is a musical prodigy on her way to performing in the biggest Christmas event, and then we are slowly introduced to this fantasy world full of chilly weather, nutcracker toys, and a musician who is destined to end the prince’s reign.

There is so many adventures throughout that just brought the whole idea of the holiday season into the YA world.

I gave this one a 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend for the Christmas and Holiday season, especially if you love music, nutcrackers, and peppermints!

It’s two worlds that collide, and the ending just warmed my heart all the way! Ah, I can’t recommend enough!!

This is a wonderful story. However, from the middle-grade level writing, it appears to be more geared towards younger audiences (12-16 years old) and therefore, it didn't get me as captivated as I expected it to.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC.

The Enchanted Sonata is a retelling of the Nutcracker. In it, we follow Clara, an amazing pianist who has her whole future with another prodigious pianist planned. Indeed, she knows exactly how she's going to marry the other pianist and knows exactly how she's going to make him fall in love with her because she's been playing her song and practicing it for years now.
However, on Christmas, she receives a mysterious package with a book and a nutcracker doll in it. Before she knows it, she's thrust into a brutal world of war and where a mysterious and magical disaster happens.

I do have to say that this whole book is centered around music being magic and I think the author did a really good job at conveying this idea. Whenever music was played, I could <i>almost</i> hear it. The piano is one of my favorite instruments and this book was therefore perfect for that aspect. However, I thought that during some parts of the story, Nikolai and Clara seemed a bit child-like and there were some comedy-like aspects in the book I didn't really enjoy because it was very different from the initial writing. However, I overall really enjoyed it.

I would also like to mention that this story is said to be Middle Grade but some passages seemed a bit too violent to me for this rating. It may be just my opinion but I needed to point this out.

This book is quite unique in the plot of the classic tale, it keeps truth to the main story of a prince who gets turned into a nutcracker, and a girl who is destined to help, but in this version we get so much more.
Clara is a 14 year old pianist, who is facing the biggest concert of her life, the concert she have been waiting for, for years, but on Christmas eve (the night before the concert) she receives a nutcracker a long with a little book. Meanwhile the wicked magician have turned all the children and soldiers into toys, in the enchanted kingdom, and their destiny is now laying in the hands of a young girl and a wooden nutcracker prince.

I like the take on the book, I like that the book is a bit more visual and bloody and that the background story of the prince and the magician is more detailed. The book is still written in the same sort of style as the original, and you get that classic feeling to it, which maybe makes it a little less interesting for me, since I’m not really a classic book reader, however it works with the story.
I grew to really like the characters, and I found the overall story interesting and intriguing. It had that same feeling to it as the movie adaptions I’ve watched, which for me made it the perfect Christmas book, yet it had so much new things that made me want to keep reading. I did feel there was a bit too much ”then he said” ”then she said” also including random characters like ”one older man said” ”another woman said” which for me became too much, but other than that I found the book well written.
In the book Clara reads the fairy book, so we jump a bit around in the chapters, but it works pretty well, and it gives the opportunity to get more background stories and jump back and forth in time, in a creative way.

Hello, my fellow book lovers!

I know it’s been a while since I last posted, but life has been a little busy and that’s that. Anyway, I’m back at it today with a book review!

I recently received an ARC of The Enchanted Sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork from Smith Publicity through NetGalley, and I have to say I quite enjoyed reading the novel.

Before we get into the review, I just want to thank the publishers and NetGalley for this lovely book, and I’d also like to state that this review is my personal and honest opinion of the book.

Now that that’s out of the way..let’s jump right in.

Clara Stahlbaum of London is a pianist and a protege. On Christmas eve, she’s excited and nervous about her first huge concert the following day, and about finally proving herself to the man she has always admired from afar- Johann Kahler.

As her family gather around the Christmas tree, however, Clara is surprised to find an unmarkedesent left for her- a book and a small wooden nutcracker. As she begins reading the book titled Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, she is awed and delighted to see the world of Imperia with its gilded domes and odd confections, its rats and its music…but her life takes an unexpected turn when she realizes she is part of this odd, magical tale.

The Enchanted Sonata is an atmospheric, musical, and magical retelling of the classic fairytale, The Nutcracker, sprinkled in with a little bit of the Pied Piper’s story. And I really did quite enjoyed reading this story, despite its flaws.

To start off, I want to first talk about the aesthetic of this book, which was the thing I loved most!

The cover is absolutely beautiful, the font is really attractive, and every chapter has this…tiny illustration of the Imperian Palace domes that was just absolutely lovely.



The setting and the atmosphere of the book were also quite enchanting. It had something of a winter wonderland meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory vibe to it, and I was all for that. I also really enjoyed the world of Imperia with its fairies, and rats, and candies, and palaces.

The Nutcracker, with its various retellings, is one of my most favourite fairytales to read! I feel like the story works best on page rather than on any other platform, and there is always this Christmas-y feel to it that just keeps you hooked and reminds you of warm cookies and fireplaces. And this book definitely managed to carry over some of that original aesthetic into itself. And I really, really appreciated that.

“Looking at the man was a somewhat Medusian experience. One could look at him long enough to see his golden curls, his half-smile, see that he was young enough to be a university student but old enough to wear a vest and tie and look quite dashing in them.But a person would rarely observe him longer than a glance, because the gentleman musician would turn to look back, and his blue eyes were just a little too bright and sharp and didn’t blink as often as they should and one would suddenly feel very, very uncomfortable.”

The characters in this story were…something, really. I can’t really say if I liked them or not. I can’t really say much, to be honest.

There were moments where I was deeply touched, and where I felt like I understood these characters. They felt real, and not like a jumble of character traits moulded into a person. But these moments were few and far apart, and I didn’t really know what to make of these characters in between these moments.

The main character Clara is a little bit of an idiot, and she’s straight up obsessed with this Johann guy. I mean, she is fifteen, and that kind of puts her madness in perspective, but she still feels a little off. I found Nikolai, the Nutcracker prince, to be more likeable than her. But not by a lot, that’s for sure.

The villain also isn’t someone too interesting or anything. He was just….kind of evil. There was a backstory and everything, but it fell a little flat for me. It didn’t hit as hard as the author had intended it to.

Most characters that weren’t these three were very inconsistent and two-dimensional. It was very underwhelming, to say the least.

“The words had risen, real, from the pages. Mother and Fritz hadn’t seemed to experience it the same way Clara had. She had actually felt it when Prince Nikolai had been riding through the mountain forest. The bitter cold air. The smell of soft pine. The thud of Kriket’s hooves. When the prince strode through the Palace, Clara inhaled the musty scent of old furniture and incense, and saw the glisten of chandelier prisms reflecting across the walls. There was magic in this book, and it gave Clara shivers.”

The writing in this book is bad. There, I said it.

It’s not unbearable. It has its moments. But, overall, it’s bad. It’s inconsistent, it’s cheesy and just….not good. The author kept shifting in between the limited third person and the omniscient third person throughout the book, and while I do know that this is very dorky of me, it bothered me so much!!!

The good writing parts were immersive, but the poor writing-parts were just as good at de-immersing you from the world. Like, yes, the description of music and the setting would be lovely, but the next moment there would be some corny dialogue or some unnecessary exaggeration, and that would just ruin it all. There were also quite a few grammatical and spelling errors in the copy of the book that I received and that was a huge bummer, too.

There was, however, the two-fold narration in the book which I found entertaining and cool.

“It was like learning another language, a purer language. Languages could tell you what to say; music made you feel.”

Lastly, the plot. This isn’t a new and unique story, I’ll tell you as much. But it does have something to it that isn’t too ordinary either. It’s a fun story, and it’s a really great concept of one. The execution knocks it down a couple of pegs, but not too many. At least, not for me.

The pacing of the story was also a bit off, but I blame that on my reading slump and not the book itself. xD

Overall, I found the book to be enjoyable. Yes, it has a lot of technical flaws and there were places where I would totally have DNF’d this book had it not been for the fact that this is an ARC, and I wanted to give it a chance, but there were also places where I would just forget everything around me and just keep reading.

Was this one of my favourites ever? Nope, Would I recommend it? Depends, because this is definitely not for everyone. Did I hate it? Again, no. But I didn’t love it either.

I gave this book a three out of five stars on Goodreads, and I think this one definitely had so much more potential. Still, I’m not too sad about how it turned out, all things considered!



Well, that was it for my review of The Enchanted Sonata. The book came out this October, and if you’re in the mood from some light, Christmas-y, going-on-in-the-side read, I would totally recommend picking this one up.

Thanks for the read, and hope you guys liked my review!

I adored this novel so much. What a great blend of Pied Piper and The Nutcracker. I could tell by the writing that this author was a classically trained musician by the way she described things. A lot of it was based off of sound as much as sight, which I loved.

Highly recommend for the holiday season.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah native Heather Dixon Wallwork loves every aspect of storytelling, from working as a lead storyboard artist for Disney to writing best-selling middle-grade novels.

Most recently, she's gotten into the holiday spirit with her newest book "The Enchanted Sonata" (The Wallworkshop, 386 pages), a retelling of "The Nutcracker" with a bit of "The Pied Piper" thrown in — the first in what she hopes will be a trilogy about music as magic.

"The Enchanted Sonata" tells the story of Clara Stahlbaum, an accomplished young pianist who dreams of falling in love and being rescued from her grief over her father's death. Then she receives a mysterious gift of a nutcracker, accompanied by a book that, when she reads it, whisks her away to a magical land of fairies, monstrous rats and a prince who needs her help. The kingdom is in turmoil after a maniacal musician's flute lures children from their beds and turns them into toys. The prince then needs Clara to use her own musical abilities to save them.

Wallwork pulled from her experience as a musician in writing "The Enchanted Sonata." She first majored in flute performance at Weber State University, but she'd spent most of her childhood drawing, and her dream since she was 14 was to become a storyboard artist, she said. When Brigham Young University first launched its animation program, she applied right away and transferred there after she got in.

It was while studying animation at BYU that Wallwork decided to take a creative writing class, thinking a storyboard artist ought to learn more about story. She started writing a novel as a homework assignment for that class, and soon found she didn't want to do her other schoolwork anymore.

"I remember writing it and really enjoying the writing process, thinking, 'I really should be doing my homework,' but I wasn’t," she said. "I was spending all this time writing."

Eventually, this assignment turned into Wallwork's first published novel, "Entwined," a retelling of the fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." "Entwined" was published through HarperCollins, as was Wallwork's next novel "Illusionarium," a steampunk original story.

For "The Enchanted Sonata," Wallwork really wanted to apply her artistic skills to designing her own cover, but she knew a traditional publisher would never let her do that. She'd also had enough issues with how her publisher had run things that she decided she wanted to publish this book herself.

"I felt so strongly about it that I just went ahead and did it on my own," she said. "My agent was very supportive and very kind about it. I’m so happy with how the cover turned out that I think I’m glad I took that step."

She said she enjoyed picking her own layout designers and editors, including her BYU creative writing professor. Wallwork also said she was able to have more back-and-forth with them than she ever could with her traditional publisher.

In addition to applying her artistic abilities to designing her own covers, Wallwork has noticed how her storyboarding experience influences the way she writes her books. She said her novels are often similar to screenplays with dialogue-, action- and character-driven scenes.

"When I’m writing, I actually see the characters in my head and how I would draw them," Wallwork explained.

She added that she'll often draw the characters of her books for fun before she writes them.

In her career as a storyboard artist, Wallwork worked out of Salt Lake City as a story lead for Disney Interactive, contributing to movies such as "Moana" and "Monsters University."

Today, she freelances for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is the storyboarder behind the animated children's video "A Mother's Hope" — the story told by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a member of church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, about his mother losing her children at a train station during World War II. She's also helmed "The Coat," a story from past church President Heber J. Grant's childhood.

Between working for the film industry in her home state to being able to publish her novels on her own, Wallwork said she's grateful for how modern technology has allowed her to fulfill her dreams.

"We live in such an incredible time," she said. "It’s just astounding. Twenty years ago, you had to live in California to create movies, and you had to always work through traditional publishers to write books. Now, with the internet and software advances, you can do this in your home. … I just feel so blessed and lucky to live in this period of time in the world."

This is one of those books that could easily become a seasonal, Christmas read. It approaches the classic story of the Nutcracker in a different way that I really enjoyed. The Enchanted Sonata is an adventure/romance story truly appropriate for all ages. It would be a great book to read to a group of children by the fireplace.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the atmosphere it created. I could clearly see the snowy countryside, snarling rats, and beautiful candy creations. The writing formulated a setting I could lose myself in.

It wasn’t without its flaws though. I think the book should’ve spent more time developing the characters. It would’ve been better in first person where we could experience the character’s feelings more thoroughly. Things also escalated exceptionally quickly and the villain was beaten too easily for my taste.

This novel was a cute adaptation of the Nutcracker story and I enjoyed it for the entertainment value, even if the writing and characterization had issues at times.

ARC given by Netgalley for my honest review.