Overall a great retelling of a classic story. My only problem was reading through Adobe editions proved to be an issue this time with this title.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is a lovely addition to my library's Christmas collection, which was sadly lacking in graphic novels. Adaptor/Illustrator Andrewson's art is lovely (I especially love the chapter title pages which remind me of illuminated manuscripts!) and the story flows quite nicely as well. Highly suggested for all graphic novel collections or holiday collections.

Before reading this book, I was only vaguely familiar with the story of the Nutcracker- I've never read any version of the story, never watched any film adaption of it, and have only seen bits of the ballet. I knew there was a Nutcracker, a young girl, and an evil Mouse King, and that was it. What a surprise to find so much drama, adventure, and downright creepiness in what I'd always assumed was a sweet little Christmas tale! And the feels! The tenderness of Marie's affection for the Nutcracker, and the sacrifices she makes for him; the frustration and injustice when no one will believe Marie when she tells them what happened, dismissing her story as fever dreams; the fear and disgust inspired by the seven-headed Mouse King; the satisfaction, relief, and happiness at the ending (I really wanted Marie to dance around her parents chanting "Told you so! Told you so!" but she took the high road). Andrewson's art has a childish look to it, and that lends itself to the more platonic tone of her version- in this version, Marie and the Nutcracker are friends, no mention of marriage. The art is lovely, with lots of detail and action, and the scenes with magical happenings have a distinct dream-like quality, distinguishing them from the "real" world. An afterword by the author gives insight into her reasons for wanting to do an adaption of this tale, and why she chose to focus on the character of Marie. A delightful addition to any library!

#TheNutcrackerandtheMouseKingTheGraphicNovel #NetGalley

Let the holiday book love commence! The graphic novel retelling of the beloved Nutcracker classic is both fantastic and surreal. Organized into 14 chapters, the story of Marie and Fritz Stahlbaum has all the characters readers have come to know - or discover: Fritz's Hussar soldiers and Marie's doll, Miss Clarette, the wicked Mouse King and his army, and the Nutcracker. The story unfolds like a fever dream, shifting between Marie's dreams and the wide-awake storytimes told by their godfather, the children's uncle Drosselmeyer. It's manic, often creepy, and a new spin on the classic tale. Give this to your adventure and fantasy fans. An author's note talks about the original story versus the adaptation that Natalie Andrewson 'wanted to tell'.


A frenetic adventure that's going to be read at Christmastime and beyond.

We have this mental image of The Nutcracker as a sweet and innocent story. Books like this one prove just how weird and creepy it actually is. I could see reading this with a kid before going to see the ballet to help them understand the story.

An interesting approach to the classic Nutcracker ballet in the form of a Comic/ Graphics Novel.

A fast read that presents the story in a child friendly manner and that would probably hook a new young audience (and some reluctant older ones) to the world of musical stories.

An ARC if this book was kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A graphic novel retelling of E.T.A. Hoffman’s tale about a girl with a great imagination, her devotion to a nutcracker she finds under the Christmas tree, how the Nutcracker and the Mouse King came to be great enemies, and how the curse is broken and an imagination is set free.

I have to confess that I’ve never actually seen or read an entire adaptation of the Nutcracker story before this. Oh, I know the basics of the story and the music of the famous ballet, but I always seemed to lose interest as a child (or fall asleep, the public TV station always seemed to put the ballet on super late on New Years Eve and we’d watch it to try and stay awake…and proceed to zonk out and get woken up to New Years cheers and then stumble to bed). I was quite surprised to read all the back story in this of how the Mouse King and Nutcracker came to be enemies. I am pretty sure I’ve never heard any version of that part of the story before. It was interesting, and felt very fairytale-ish. The art style is one that will appeal to today’s middle grade crowd. There’s quite a dearth of Christmas graphic novels available, and this would be a nice timeless addition for a library to add that is looking for more holiday tales.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues. No sexual content. There are fantasy battles but only some rats and toys injured in them. Marie suffers a bad cut on her arm and a pool of blood is shown in one illustration. Some may want to know that the back story involves a lot of use of horoscopes, and that two characters smoke pipes at one point.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the illustrations in this story! Thanks again to NetGalley and First Second for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for feedback.

I’m actually not too familiar with the actual story, besides what children’s movies I’ve seen that talked about the Nutcracker. This was something that I went into without much background knowledge, so to read it with an open mind was wonderful! I plan to find a copy of the actual story to read during the holidays this year to become more familiar with it and I plan on getting this GN to pair with it. Wonderful story that kept me engaged the entire time between the fairy tale being told and the REAL reason the Nutcracker was in Marie’s house.

As a longtime fan of The Nutcracker, from the ballet to the Barbie adaptation, Andrewson truly brings new life to a timeless story. The illustrations sometimes veer more towards explosively expressive, but that shouldn't deter older readers at all - after all, these give the characters such life that practically jumps off the page.

I feel like this was a nice retelling of one of my favorite stories. I am a huge fan of graphic novels and always tell my tweens to give them a try, especially the ones that hate reading. I loved the art style, I feel like it keeps in touch with what our generation sees animated on tv today.

As the story of the Nutcracker is fairly well known, I’ll spare the synopsis. I didn’t love Andrewson’s rendition of the story. I get that a few aspects need to be updated to be more suited for a graphic novel, but it just wasn’t for me. It would likely appeal to younger kids, however. Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of the art in the book either. Nothing particular wrong with it, it’s just not the style I usually like. I had a beautifully illustrated picture book of the Nutcracker growing up, and this just didn’t compete.

Thanks to First Second and NetGalley for the eARC.

I knew vaguely of this tale, but most of what I know is from the ballet. This is a fun, fantastical story about adventure and I,agitation. Marie is given a nutcracker for Christmas. She loves this nutcracker more than anything and will protect it from the mouse king, there is a story within a story, where we learn the history of the nutcracker. The art is really neat and eye-catching. The story is fun. I'd hand this to children ages 8-11, who are looking for a fun adventure.