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 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.

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.

Clara Staglbaum has her future perfectly planned to marry the handsome pianist Johann Kahler and settle down to a life full of music. But all that changes on Christmas Eve, 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 spells and the future she thought she wanted. The Enchanted Sonata, a retelling of the Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of the Pied Piper, will captivate readers of all ages.

What a delightful magical story! I love how this book completely transported me. This book will appeal to a wide audience. Thanks so much to the author, publisher, and netgalley for this ARC.

I always enjoyed the story of the Nutcracker and was curious how the author would bring this tale to life in a different way. The blending with The Pied Piper of Hamlin worked well, and I actually stayed up late into the night to finish reading, because I simply had to see how it would end.

I adore the concept that music has not only power, but also magic. And the idea that playing piano pieces can create silences, transport us to magical places, and bring back childhood memories. Is there no more true power than listening to a piece of music?

This is the basis of Wallwork's beautiful and enchanting novel, The Enchanted Sonata. Matching the gorgeous cover, The Enchanted Sonata is full of gorgeous writing. You can not only practically hear the music, but feel the thrumming under your skin. That out of body moment we feel when we are transported by a piece of music. When it causes us to fall in love, when it evokes memories, and when we can't get it out of our head.

I loved the concept of this book, 'The Nutcracker' meets 'The Pied Piper', and the idea of music as magic. However, I felt the idea of the story was better than the execution, as the story often felt very slow and laboured, and the writing, at times, was verging on awkward. I also thought the dialogue to description ratio was very off, and the characters, particularly Clara, felt very juvenile. I enjoyed it, however I feel that a younger teen audience would appreciate it more, especially now in the run up to Christmas.

Overall rating: 3.5 stars

I was enchanted...by the cover art and synopsis for this book.

The main character, Clara, is a super talented pianist with a serious crush on a fellow pianist, Johann (like, she carries around a photo of him in a locket - it's obsession level crushing). Clara has been chosen to perform one of her original pieces at the huge Christmas Concert on Christmas Day, where she hopes to impress Johann and make her recently deceased musician father proud. However, on Christmas Eve she receives a mysterious gift that transports her into a strange world where disaster has recently stuck the inhabitants. Can she use her magical music abilities to save this world and bring the perpetrator of this catastrophe to justice?

Well, I won't answer that question and ruin the entire story but I will say that The Enchanted Sonata is a fun story with the perfect atmosphere for a cozy winter's evening. There are certain lagging points where things start to become a little muddled and some wading through is necessary, but it doesn't totally hinder the effect of the tale.

There were points where I was a little thrown off about who the audience WAS for this story - some of the writing is middle grade level yet I'm pretty sure this book is marketed for at least young adults. The content is mild with very few instances of violence and the romance is super tame. The plot was fairly predictable. I was impressed with the antagonist of the story, Erik, who had the most complex and interesting storyline.

If you're looking for a quick, wintery read that will make you crave snow, chilly nights, candy, and beautiful orchestra music then The Enchanted Sonata would be a satisfying pick. Just don't expect much a deeper connection than that.

I was excited to read this, however upon finishing the book I found I was left....quite unsatisfied. The book had excellent parts, from the description of the music and the world. However a lot felt... unnecessary.

If I had read it like a fairy tale then perhaps it would have been different. The story wasn't strong enough to carry on and while it had good world building it had me questioning aspects of it.

Thank you for a copy of Enchanted Sonata.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover this little gym of a book. It was a quick read, but packed quite the adventure in just under 300 pages. Who would have thought a nutcracker retelling could be so much fun? The author created a magical setting with lovable characters and the conclusion was nicely done. Lastly, I will mention the appreciation I give to the author for taking the time to give a backstory
on the villain. It was interesting and beneficial to understand the reason the villain became who he was in the story.

This was a sweet book. I loved the musical aspects of the story, and the characters were positively delightful. Heather Wallwork did a nice job of weaving magic, music, and fairy tails into an intresting plotline. Even the bad guy wasn’t all that bad; he had his reasons for having a rat inside of him. And the ending for the main characters! Positively swoon worthy.

Heather Dixon Wallwork is one of my absolute favourite authors of all time. She wrote Entwined, a 12 Dancing Princesses retelling which I have never reviewed here on the blog because the book is just too precious and the review would basically consist of my screaming for ten minutes. She also wrote Illusionarium, which was definitely not a fairytale retelling, but which I still loved because I adore her writing so much. So I was so incredibly happy when DW announced she had returned to retellings in this indie-published title The Enchanted Sonata!

The Enchanted Sonata is a The Nutcracker retelling with a bit of The Pied Piper thrown in, which might sound a little odd but trust me, it works. This book has all of the wit and wonder I have come to expect of DW, from her wonderful use of onomatopoeia, to the complete adorableness of every character, to the charming villain and his sadistic revenge. The main character, Clara, is a pianist, (which is great because music is literally magic in this book) and from the intimate way DW writes about music I just know it's not just research, it's a lived experience of music. In so many books about music or performance I have read, the authors are charmed by the notion but haven't lived the experiences. DW definitely convinces me she has played the piano for many years, and I would know, because I tried piano lessons for two years and could never quite get the hang of playing with two hands.

DW writes with authority on the subject of music, and she also loves using italics to make sure you know exactly where the right emphasis should be placed. She has a slightly quirky but very original writing style an voice that seems almost a throwback to her Disney animator days, and I love it. There's also an insult, 'pancake-head', which I found adorably PG (I pretty much found the whole thing adorable, okay?). I loved the way the story was framed and found it an interesting and original use of that device and, to be honest, I have been wanting to read a book that does this device very well but have been unimpressed, until now. The pace was fast but not breathtaking, with almost the entire book taking place over the course of only a few days.

I don't want to give away any spoilers since I went into this book basically blind, having only read the blurb, but I can guarantee if you've read and loved Entwined as much as I did, you'll adore this retelling as well. I don't even really know the story of the Nutcracker: it's not a story that has ever interested me, although my interested was piqued a little when I read a ballet book that had a performance of it. I've always loved the music, but I'm not quite sure of the story. That being said, there's enough originality in this book that even if you don't know The Nutcracker and can't identify aspects of its story, you can still enjoy this one as an amazing fantasy in its own right.

I will say that there is a romance and it's just as completely adorable as I have come to expect from DW, with no instalove and a definite build there between the characters that goes from respect, to affection, to genuine feelings. I will also add that DW comes from a Disney background, and this book wouldn't be out of place in a Disney library, so take from that what you will. I know there is a Disney film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms coming out this Christmas season, but they really should have taken this book and made a film from it.

I will also add that this book is not, as one might expect, London-based.

The whole thing was just absolutely lovely, like a fine European chocolate that melts luxuriously on your tongue, but you know, in book form. I will be very proud to add the hardcover to my existing collection of Dixon-Wallwork books.

As soon as I read the synopsis for this book, I knew I would love it and I'm pleased to say it was a pleasure to read. The book is marketed as a 'retelling of The Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of The Pied Piper', I was only familiar with the latter tale but I liked that it had elements I was familiar with in this sense.

The Enchanted Sonata is a captivating story and it took me back to the stories I loved when I was younger. I remember reading The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson and falling in love with this fantastic setting and story - not to be corny, it definitely enchanted me in the same way.

The writing style was so descriptive and everything is so vivid, you could honestly picture the streets of Imperia, with it's stunning palaces and quaint streets. Not to mention the amazing Pollichinelle Candy Emporium which had me craving some treats - it was so immersive. The settings in the novel have a uniquely European charm - and I loved them so much.

There is plenty of action in the story and while I'm not the biggest fan of rats anyway, the rats in this story are actually monstrous and are part of the wild landscape of Imperia. They pose a real threat, and used by Erik - the pied piper of sorts - Clara and Nikolai (the Nutcracker) must battle multiple enemies.

Music is integral throughout the novel, and rightly so. It adds another dimension to the story and enriches it - Clara's love for music comes from her father and every time she plays the piano, it is a touching reminder of him. The villain in the story: Erik, uses his music to transform all of the kingdoms children into toys and curses the prince too. This focus on music is also present in the writing itself, as it is so lyrical - I wonder if this is intentional? Either way, it ties it all together beautifully.

Another great element of the book was the focus on grief - many of the characters in the novel; Clara, Nikolai as well as Erik, have faced the loss of a loved one. This is a recurring theme and I think this is a really good portrayal of how grief can affect people in different ways. For Clara, the memory of her father is revisited each time she plays music, but Erik becomes bitter and enraged.

While the romance which develops in the story isn't central to the plot, it's a nice addition and while I predicted it happening - it was still very sweet and I enjoyed the development Wallwork provides. I believe the ending certainly leaves it open for a sequel and if this does happen, I'd definitely be interested in reading it.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to any reader who enjoys a charming story with a sweet budding romance, plenty of action and musical elements.

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a fan of the Nutcracker so when I saw that this was a retelling and had music, I was excited to read it.

Overall the story was fun and enjoyable, it definitely brought me out from the month long reading slump I was in.