I'm a sucker for Nutcracker retellings, and I loved this adult retelling I think it's the first one that I have read. And truly felt like I was reading a grown up version of The Nutcracker. I finished it one day.

I really did like the overall story, but there was a lot of superfluous description of... Everything. I think if the descriptions were chopped down and more dialogue was added in, this could have been a home run for me. However, that didn't happen and I found myself skimming paragraphs of overly wordy descriptions. If I'm skimming until I get to dialogue to move the story forward, that doesn't bode well.

That being said, I did like the romance and I did like the little prisoner trio friendship. And I certainly was not expecting that little steamy bit towards the end which was great.

For a Nutcracker retelling, this was honestly pretty good. It's one of those things that would present really well in movie form but kind of a slog to read.

First of all the cover for this book is so stunning. That is what initially made me want to read this book. Then I found out it was a nutcracker retelling and I thought that would be perfect for winter time reading. I liked the beginning few pages and then for the first 30% I was so bored. It just kept dragging on and on about the same things. So when I reached the part where Marietta enters the Everwood I was so excited to finally get to something good. Nope. This part was still very very slow. I did like the ending when Marietta decided to make her own path. I think this book was unique and intriguing but so slow and hard for me to get through.
*Thank you to netgalley for the e-arc.

“Dreams hold power, and when one only believes in them, it feels as if there isn’t anything on this earth you might not achieve.”

e-ARC given by Harper 360 (via Netgalley) in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars for Midnight in Everwood, the adult debut from author M.A. Kuzniar. This Nutcracker reimagining tells the story of Marietta, a stunning dancer, who gets trapped in a magical world. She must fight to make it back home, and she soon realizes the citizens of Everwood also need help too. She is not one to back down from a challenge so she is determined to figure it out. During this process she is aided by two other females who show her the power of friendships.

I absolutely adored Kuzniar’s story-telling. Any time Marietta spoke of dancing I was so amazed and I totally wanted to be a Ballerina. You certainly understand getting lost in the dance as Marietta does. The story is set in 1906 and half is told in Nottingham, England. The other half in the magical world of Everwood. It is whimsical and beautiful and so well done with so much to fall in love with. Some of my favorite aspects of Everwood include the mini reindeers who make a couple of fun appearances and a certain brooding captain of the King’s Guard.

The best part of the book for me was how it told a story of chasing your dreams and doing whatever it takes to get there, even when it’s hard. There's also a scene about Marietta being her own Knight in Armor and I thought that was so powerful and true. In addition, her path in Everwood gives her the strength to fight for herself at home. While there is romance in this story, the more important themes are personal growth, friendships, and standing up for what you believe in as well as yourself! The only critique I have is that the book was a little slow. The majority of the plot (as far as Everwood is concerned) doesn’t happen until after the first half. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy Marietta’s path until that point but I do think it was a little slow.

Overall I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys whimsical fairy-tale retellings, coming of age stories, books with strong female friendships, and slow burn romance. This nutcracker retelling is perfect for those who want a winter themed book to read by the fireplace while enjoying your favorite winter beverage! You will be transported to Everwood immediately! And you might find the strength to follow your own dreams after reading!

TW/CW: Kidnapping, murder/execution, violence

“We’re angry girls with hearts made of glass.”....
“It is not like you to so freely admit a weakness.”...
“Who said anything about it being a weakness? Nothing can cut like glass.”

Another retelling of The Nutcracker, this time set in Edwardian England. Mariette just wants to dance ballet, but her family has strict expectations for her, It is time for her to marry and be an upstanding member of Nottingham society. Her mother is trying to match her with the newly arrived and eligible Drosselmeier, a man who unsettles Mariette.

This retelling relies heavily upon the original story by ETA Hoffmann (as as well Dumas' version.) I recommend reading either (or both!) of those before starting this book.

Marrietta is a young woman from a wealthy family in 1906 England. While most would love her privileged life, she would give anything to abandon it for a chance to become a professional ballet dancer. When her parents decide instead that she is to marry their mysterious new neighbor, her curiosity begins to turn to fear as she senses a dark magic. I was drawn into the rich details this book is filled with, of clothing, food, dark, snowy fir forests, and scents of chocolate, meringue, and all things sweet, except when they’re not. A story of the privileged girl growing, finding sisterhood, love, and strength. I was curious to see how it would end. A wonderful, magical winter read, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This was an atmospheric read for the holiday season. It took about 27% of the book to get to the fantasy element of the story which was a bit too long for me but once I was there, I enjoyed my stay.

I loved the descriptions of the decadent parties and there was a lot of potential in this aspect of the book but I wanted more from the characters and ultimately this felt very “YA’ to me.

A good choice of a story to cozy up with by the fire during the holidays (it’s a shame it wasn’t published in the US until January), but make sure to bring lots of chocolate and sweet treats with you.

I really enjoyed this retelling of The Nutcracker. I loved Marietta's journey to discovering her own power and agency. I thought the author did a good job reimagining the Land of Sweets into Everwood, capturing the magic while also adding a much darker tone. The romance reader in me just wished there was a slightly different ending, but overall it was a satisfying read.

This was a bit of a letdown. I'm going, to be honest, here the only reason why I didn't give it a 2 star was because I enjoyed the world-building/imagery and the side characters. Marietta was so bland and privileged to the point that she had no clue about anything. I understand that there are people like that and more than likely at that time period where the story is set women were just told to look the other way about certain things, but there was nothing interesting about her other than she was a dancer. That's her only character trait. I was bored the majority of the time, and the ending felt like a rip-off.

I was very intrigued by this novel when I saw it. I have to say that the story sounds original, the time period and the comparison to Caraval in the tagline made me very curious.

Marietta loves ballet, but her family doesn’t support her. They expect her to take her rightful place at the end of the year and enter high society. But our heroine doesn’t want that. So when they decide to marry her off, she does everything to thwart their plans. And then there’s their new neighbor… If he seems to have charmed her whole family, Marietta sees through him and knows he’s not a good person! And when he asks for her hand, she refuses. Far from accepting her choice, he is determined to change her mind and sends her to a world filled with magic and wonder, but also cruelty. Trapped by a tyrannical king, her dancing skills will be put to the test to find a way to escape and return home.

I had a good time with the story, although I didn’t get hooked as much as I thought I would. The story had lengths, but it was nice to have a somewhat original story. The world that Marietta fell into was very interesting and I enjoyed discovering this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper360 for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

A feminist retelling of the Nutcracker, Midnight in Everwood tells the story of Marietta, a ballerina who finds herself trapped in another world.

Midnight in Everwood does exactly what it sets out to do, and I had a blast reading it. It carries all the familiarity of the Nutcracker story, but makes it all feel more grown up. It turns the story all the more sinister and dark and treacherous without losing the whimsy and fantastical.

Marietta’s story felt almost coming-of-age-esque, weaving the tale of her personal growth in with the fantasy elements. While I didn’t feel like I got a particularly deep sense of the characters, they were nevertheless interesting in their own rights and it was clear to see the role everyone played in Marietta’s journey. If you know the story, the plot was predictable, but it was so interesting to see exactly how Kuzniar made the story her own.

I can’t say I’ve ever seen a Nutcracker retelling before, so I was immediately hooked on the premise alone, and I was not let down. This was a great and fun winter read, made all the more interesting by its bittersweet ending.

Midnight in Everwood by M. A. Kuzniar can be described as a feminist retelling of E. T. A. Hoffman’s The Nutcracker set in, presumably, Edwardian England. Kuzniar retains the characters and much of the whimsy and magic from Hoffman’s children’s story, but infuses them with sinister undertones.

Kuzniar’s Marietta is a young woman who loves ballet but is on the brink of being forced to give it up in order to take her position in society, as a wife. Her father informs her of his intent to marry her off to the much older Drosselmeier, here a sadistic figure with shadowy powers who delights in domination and torture. When Marietta finds herself trapped in one of his creations, she finds untapped strength within herself, both to reach out to friends and to make hard choices for herself.

The writing is enchanting at times, especially in the descriptions of the world in which Marietta finds herself. Strangely, this resulted in tonal dissonance. It’s hard to square the whimsical delight Marietta experiences with the cruelty and crudeness of Drosselmeier. An explicit consensual sex scene also felt awkward and out of place in this story. I wasn't able to enjoy this novel, perhaps because I love Hoffman's Nutcracker too much and don't see the need to twist it into such a cruel world. But while this novel was not to my personal taste, I think readers who enjoyed Stephanie Garber’s Caraval and Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus and also favor sledgehammer feminism vibes will probably enjoy this novel as well.

This book was so good! While I felt like the beginning was a little slow, it helped to develop the story. It was such a fast read and it was perfect for winter reading. The story was so well developed and I loved the characters, I didn't want the book to end!

Midnight in Everwood, M.A. Kuzniar’s debut, is a book that must be read in December, so if you are considering picking this one up, plan to read it around the holiday season! This magical novel is the perfect book to curl up with when the world is all cozy and festive, and everything feels enchanted.

Midnight in Everwood is a Nutcracker and the Mouse King retelling, and while I personally have only seen the Nutcracker ballet once, those who habitually rejoice in the performance or who have danced the ballet themselves will be completely taken by this unique novel. I looked up many of the character names mentioned in the book to discover how they tied into the original work, and learned that Kuzniar creatively incorporated many of the elements of the Nutcracker into her story.

The book starts off following aristocratic ballerina Marietta as she prepares for a performance of Sleeping Beauty. Considering it is Edwardian times, the only option for Marietta is to marry well, but that is not the life she wants - she wants to professionally dance in the ballet corps. Her parents have other plans for her though when a mysterious and magical stranger - Drosselmeier - moves to town. As Drosselmeier pursues Marietta and asks for her hand in marriage, she turns him down, and that’s when the bottom of her world falls out. She finds herself transported to a magical sugary world - Everwood - that is ruled by a despotic king who makes Marietta dance for hours on end for his pleasure. Can she escape Everwood and find her way back home while also staying true to herself?

Midnight in Everwood is told in three acts, starting with Marietta’s life in her hometown. This section of the story takes up a third of the book and is rather stilted and boring. We are told that Marietta is passionate for the ballet, although we don’t really see or feel that. If we had, I think this section of the novel might have been more interesting. Drosselmeier, who plays a villain in this story, is intended to be somewhat of an enigma, although I never really felt intrigue or peril from his character. Instead he remained murky, lurking in the shadows of this tale. Had Kuzniar really invested in fleshing out these two characters, I believe she would have received more buy-in for what is to come.

In Act 2, we are transported to Everwood, where Marietta is held captive by a sadistic sugar king. It is in this beautiful, yet cruel world that the story really begins to pick up and you become ensconced in the magic of this tale. It is here that Marietta is treated like a ballerina in a music box, dolled up, taken out, and put on display whenever the king chooses, but given no life of her own. This section of the story really gave me Labyrinth vibes, with its numerous balls, plucky heroine, and wicked king, so if you enjoyed the 80s movie, you may want to check out this book!

In all, Midnight in Everwood is a mixed bag. When it is good, it is really good, but there are also several parts that are just downright bad and boring. I never felt myself wanting to pick this book up to see what happens next. I think that is because I felt disconnected from the characters, plot, and setting throughout most of the novel, Kuzniar had all of the pieces to make a fascinating story, but the execution was lacking.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for providing this ARC.

As someone who grew up dancing ballet, and has performed The Nutcracker countless times, I was intrigued by the premise of this story. The idea of Drosselmeyer as a villain was too tempting to pass up.

I loved how Kuzniar weaved a world that was very reminiscent of the original story, incorporating plot points in ways that fit with the retelling. I loved the fanciful world of Everwood, even if it felt like things needed to be fleshed out more. I did not find myself liking many of the characters. Most of them were boring and kind of one note, and I found myself not feeling engaged in their stories.

Overall, it was an interesting premise, but the execution wasn't great. I wanted a bit more character development just so I could develop an emotional attachment to them. I just felt nothing instead.

I swear if anything has "retelling" in it, it's just an auto add to my TBR list. Unfortunately Midnight in the Everwood fell a bit flat for me. I enjoyed it and didn't feel like I had to force myself through it, but it never fully captivated me despite the whimsical, descriptive writing that I often enjoy. I think the main problem is that everything is rather surface level. The characters' motives and developments are shallow and felt more so for the continence of plot than actual real thought out characters. The descriptions are beautiful, I really loved the imagery of Everwood. There are a ton of plot holes and some things that really don't make sense.. so if you decide to read this, I recommend approaching it as you would a guilty pleasure. Its a nice ride and was a good break between all of the series I am reading, but its not more than that.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the e-Arc!

A beautiful Nutcracker retelling and, of course, I purposefully saved it to read around Christmastime. It is a very descriptive and slow-paced story. There are 3 acts – just like the classical ballet. The slower parts are especially at the beginning of the story where we’re still in Nottingham in the 1900s. The story picks up a bit when our passionate ballet dancer named Marietta is confronted by her soon-to-be-betrothed and mysterious neighbor Dr. Drosselmeier on Christmas Eve. He has been courting her and has built an elaborate set for her ballet performance. He gets really offended when she turns down his courtship and she spirals into this new world and lands in Everwood.

The description of this new world is whimsical and excessively decadent. Once we were here, I was fully captivated by the story. The context and character’s voices were expertly written. I believed I was in 1908, and the way modern topics were woven into the story felt seamless. It was nice to see Marietta open up and create the female alliance with Dellara & Pirlipata. I pretty much lived for those small moments between Marietta and Capt. Legat. So many beautiful quotes that I loved in this book. If you’re in the mood for something slow-paced and full of decadent winter magic, give this a try. The writing is gorgeous.

This book was incredibly fun and whimsical, but it DESPERATELY needed better line edits. I saw so many unnecessarily complicated sentences and just overall bad grammar and word choices. It was not the standard I normally expect from a published work.

A take on The Nutcracker, filled with romance and intrigue. The lavish descriptions of food, clothing, settings, help to distract from weaker plot points/lulls in the storyline.

“The world slipped away until there was nothing but Marietta and the stage she stood on. And so she danced, giving life to Aurora, lending the princess a voice.”

MIDNIGHT IN EVERWOOD
Thank you, NetGalley, M.A. Kuzniar, and Harper 360 books for the opportunity to read this book! It hits shelves on January 25th, 2022!

A retelling of The Nutcracker? Yes, please! Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar introduces Marietta, a young woman who wants nothing more than to dance rather than be subjected to society’s rules and constant suitors. The mysterious Drosselmeier moves to town and immediately becomes the most eligible bachelor. He talks about his worldly travels and boasts about his wonderful inventions, but Marietta knows something is not right. On Christmas Eve, when she is practicing for her performance, he proposes, but she denies him and suddenly finds herself transported to another world by Drosselmeier’s elaborate stage set. While the world is beautiful and it lures her with the promise to dance to her heart’s content…danger is always lurking.

Give me more!! I was heartbroken when I hit the 100% mark on my kindle. What I would give for an extra 5-10%. I think this is a stunning retelling worthy of the original tale. Drosselmeier is usually painted in a mysterious light, but also seen as an uncle figure, not in this book. He is mysterious, yes, but dark and predatory as well. He gives an added eerieness and suspense to the story, a demon that only Marietta can vanquish. I adored Marietta. I really appreciate how the author highlights Marietta’s struggle but also her privilege. There is wonderful diversity throughout this book and it shines a light on the adversity and injustice many faced in that time, and still today.

Marietta’s friendship with Dellera and Pirlipata is a friendship that many would love to have–loyalty, acceptance, respect, and the occasional snarky comment or two. But then there is the budding affection with the Captain of the King’s Guard, Captain Legat. The romance is heartwarming but it doesn’t take over the whole plot of the novel. It is there, and it is lovely, but not overpowering. Overall, I gobbled this book up and I am eager to see what else M.A. Kuzniar will write next! I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.