Midnight in Everwood: The debut historical romance and new magical fairy tale retelling of The Nutcracker to curl up with in winter 2023

I really enjoyed reading Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar. This is an adult retelling of the story of The Nutcracker, which incidentally I have never read. The book follows the story of Marietta Stelle, a young woman who loves nothing more than ballet but is being forced by her family and society's conditions into a life that she does not want. A strange and mysterious man moves into her neighbourhood and captivates her family with his enchanting toys and inventions. Marietta is wary of Dr Drosselmeier, who wishes Marietta to be his wife, and appears that he will stop at nothing to have her. Marietta yearns for the ballet and resists the advances of Drosselmeier.Drosselmeier creates an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, to be held on Christmas Day, However after exploring the set on the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve following an argument with Drosselmeier she discovers it to be enchanted. She is transported to a snowy forest, where she experiences an enchanted adventure. Ice giants, enchanted forests, frozen sugar palaces, an evil magical king, fairies, gingerbread houses and the captain of the Kings guard. Marietta becomes the prisoner of the evil sadistic King Gelum, along with two others Dellara and Pirlipata. She forms a bond with these other women as they struggle to stay alive and obtain their freedom. Along the way she discovers love and friendship.I loved this book, it is written in the style of magical realism, a style that paints a realistic view of the world while also adding magical elements to it. It is a very atmospheric, evocative novel, full of magic. I liked the characters and enjoyed the retelling of The Nutcracker. This book is very well written, with some beautiful prose. I really loved the world that Kuzniar has created.

This book was so enchanting. It puts a unique spin on the classical Nutcracker. The story offers a good dose of romance, drama, and magical realism, with well-rounded characters and a fast-paced plotline. It's a perfect read around Christmas, plus the cover is just gorgeous. Highly recommend it to anyone who loves dark fairytale retellings.

As retellings go, it's beautifully done. It's perfect for the festive season and winter nights. Fair warning you will be craving sweets, chocolate, patisseries, and all manor of desserts. So have something ready.For those who love plenty of descriptions, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. The world of Everwood is magical and enchanting, but darker themes lie underneath the sugar coating.I wasn't expecting this to be more gothic, I was anticipating a cosy winter Wonderland but I feel this is on me for cover buying and forgetting the contents of the blurb.This was my second attempt to read this. Last year I just wasn't feeling it and found the character of Marietta too naive and immature, which is how a character in her circumstances would be expected to behave, however, it just wasn't doing it for me. On this second attempt, I still struggled with her as a character, and then further on, there weren't any characters at all I enjoyed reading about. By the time the events of the book kicked in I just wasn't really bothered about the outcome.The sweet language that adds to the festive charm is also a slight hindrance, there's so much of it dusting every page that it feels too repetitive, and I quickly grew tired of it but as a retelling of The Nutcracker this is probably to be expected, but I just found it an excessive amount.Overall the story is okay, the characters were not keeping me invested, the sugary details became too much, and I was forcing myself to finish it. This book may not have been the right one for me but I have no doubt it will delight and enchant others.

This was a gorgeous and magical tale about the importance of dreams and the sisterhood. I loved all the nuanced, and realistic charactersand the beautiful descriptive writing.

Brilliant!

Magical story in the woods

I loved this take on the Nutcracker tale. I admit that a lot of the dancing terms eluded me, not being a follower of ballet, but it was easy enough to decipher in the context of the story. Drosselmeier was always a figure of mystery in the original story, here he becomes a figure of power and ill-intent, his intentions as stifling to our heroine as those of her own, rigidly Edwardian parents. The Nutcracker Prince and the Mouse King are here transformed into a handsome guard Captain and a cruel tyrant, but the theme of love and courage overcoming evil and darkness remains.I hope the author plans a follow-up, after all, it's "in the stars that we will meet again".

I wanted to love this. It could have (should have) been brilliant but whilst there were aspects of the story that I enjoyed I found it largely irritating. Marietta's hair is initially described as raven which is presumably a cool blue black but a couple of chapters later is apparently sable (warmer brown?) before going back to raven. Only a minor detail but still annoying. There was also a section where the word litany kept repeating. There are some lovely descriptive passages but overall the sweetness became too much. Fondant, caramel, butterscotch, chocolate, cream. Cake from morning until night. It's just so sickly. Clearly the author has a real sweet tooth but I don't and I got fed up with the saccharine descriptions. It's not a terrible book but it's very girly and you do need to have a passion for pretty frocks and a love of cakes to fully enjoy it.

This book is incredible! And this is coming from a very busy mom of young kids with very little time to herself. But, I made time for this and read it in about a month! It’s so beautifully written.Where’s the romance? There isn’t much in the beginning. The romance happens more in the second part of the book then, watch out at the end! (That is the only part I would censor for a youth reader. It’s just two pages in chapter 43.)It’s obvious how contemporary this book is because of the ending. She does not choose the man because he saved her or something like that. She chooses her passions and dreams. I absolutely love that because that is a powerful message for everyone! She chooses to stand up for herself and what she believes in.There are references to homosexuality. If you’re into that then you’ll love it but if you aren’t it’s very subtle and very tastefully written.How dark or scary does it get? I wouldn’t suggest this for someone who doesn’t want something a little edgy. But, the magic and darkness… is very tastefully written. I’m very sensitive and it wasn’t too much for me. There’s always some light shining through.

Decided to buy this used hardcover since I love hardcover books and have been looking for this book for some time now since nutcracker is my fav tale! Excited to read this for my 2024 TBR list! Book came in perfect condition and was nicely packed to ship. Highly reccommend buying it used to save some money

While I love both fairy tales and ballet, I had expected so much more from this book.For a story with such potential, it was a disappointment - I had to force myself to keep reading.I neither liked the flowery language nor the way the story developed, I didn't even like the heroine very much.

Muito bonita a capa. Livro muito aborrecido

A Nottingham nel 1906, la ballerina Marietta Stelle sogna di fare un'audizione per una prestigiosa compagnia di balletto.Vuole disperatamente una vita in cui sia libera di seguire il suo amore per il balletto, ma i suoi genitori hanno altri progetti per il suo futuro.Quando un uomo misterioso si trasferisce nella casa vicina, i genitori di Marietta vedono questa come l'occasione perfetta per farla sposare. L'inventore Drosselmeier delizia tutti con i suoi meravigliosi giocattoli a orologeria, riuscendo ad incantare anche Marietta. Determinato ad averla, Drosselmeier crea un magico palcoscenico per l'ultima esibizione di balletto di Marietta. Ma più tempo passano insieme, più Marietta percepisce qualcosa di oscuro e crudele dietro l'affascinante aspetto di Drosselmeier.Cercando di sfuggire alle sue attenzioni indesiderate, alla mezzanotte della vigilia di Natale, Marietta si ritrova intrappolata a Everwood, un mondo incantato e innevato.Midnight in Everwood è un romanzo che dà risalto all'emancipazione femminile e sul raggiungere i propri sogni. Ha un inizio po' lento, ma una volta che si arriva a Everwood la storia prende ritmo e diventa un racconto magico e incantevole.“Marietta Stelle's mother always said that nothing good came of a rainy day. However, it was a rainy day when the magic came, and once magic has entered your life, you stay in its glittering clutch forever.”La narrazione è meravigliosa, trascina in un incantevole mondo di neve e ghiaccio. Un mondo davvero fantastico dove tutto può succedere. L'attenzione ai dettagli del mondo magico ricorda tantissimo lo stile di Stephanie Garber. Le descrizioni di questa storia sul cibo, i vestiti, le decorazioni sono state meravigliose.Un elemento che ho trovato fantastico è stato il focalizzarsi sulle amicizie femminili, si formano dei legami così forti e importanti.Ogni personaggio ha qualcosa di fondamentale da aggiungere alla storia di Marietta.Ho adorato il sentimento che nasce lentamente tra Marietta e Legat. E' una storia d'amore dolce, molto coinvolgente e agrodolce, con un finale che si ama o si odia. Io non lo avevo previsto e infatti non l'ho apprezzato tanto, perché mi ha dato l'impressione che mancasse qualcosa. Avrei preferito un epilogo, qualcosa in più su Legat e Marietta, così come per il cattivo. Aveva così tanto potenziale, che secondo me se la storia si fosse concentrata anche su di lui sarebbe stata più completa.