Beautiful. Magical. A real treat. I was kindly granted a wish by @hqstories via @netgalley for this one, and I am so so grateful. I really enjoyed it and it has pulled me out of my reading slump. Part One has a real flavour of Bridgerton, and Part Two gave me all the magical vibes that Caraval did. Mix in a little action, rebellion, revenge and ballet, and there you have it!
Part Two may have been a little drawn out in places and had a few inconsistencies, but I can forgive that. I really loved the three female lead characters in Neverwood and the bond they built. I also thought Legat was a great character, but I would love to have found out more about him and his story (possible spin-off??)
A great addition to your fantasy, new release wishlist. Highly recommend. Publication date: 28/10/21

In this grown-up alternative take on the ballet classic The Nutcracker, Marietta Stelle is dreading the end of her life as a ballet dancer. She loves ballet and would love to join the regional ballet company, but her parents want her to put away childish things and accept that her future is to become a wife and mother and tie her life to a man of good social standing.

When toy inventor Dr Drosselmeier moves in next door, Marietta's mother quickly has her sights on him as a good match for her daughter. But, while Marietta is intrigued by his clever clockwork toys and inventions, she is suspicious of the man himself, and on Christmas night her fears are proved justified when he chases her through a Grandfather clock door and into a new world, the world of Everwood.

I think I like the idea of this book more than I enjoyed it in the actual reading, unfortunately. It's set in Edwardian times, and is in familiar territory with the high class daughter feeling trapped in the bounds of parental expectation. When the action steps over to Everwood and Marietta finds herself trapped in the court of a malevolent and terrifying king, it begins to feel quite repetitive. There she is able to dance, but she still has no choice, forced to dance through pain and fear and exhaustion at the will of a madman. The action proceeds against the backdrop of a seemingly never ending series of grand balls, all of which seem to blend in with each other, and even the magic quickly becomes dull with the descriptions of dresses and dances, all of which are just padding to eke out the actual plot about a planned rebellion against the king.

I was looking for more of a sense of magic and fantasy than I actually found here. The actual story doesn't have the depth or wonder that I was looking for, so while it is a decent story it's not one that I felt hugely engaged in nor would ever feel the need to revisit.

"Ida’s brows drew together in the vaguest semblance of a frown. Once, she had smiled freely, only frowning whenever life conspired to displease her. Once, her emotions had tumbled across her face with abandon. That was before the fine lines had started their creep over her features. They dug in like sharp-fingered goblins and gnawed at her youthfulness, encouraging Ida to close her face off to the world. Witnessing this, Marietta felt she almost understood the lengths lengths Countess Báthory had resorted to in her battle for youth. As reading the Aeneid would have her believe, the descent to the underworld was easy."

My notation for the above quote in my ARC was simply a bewildered 'What?" which sums up almost the entirety of my review. Midnight in Everwood just didn't appeal to me. The novel is drowning in so many new writer pitfalls that it is a chore to wade through, which is unfortunate because with better execution I may have enjoyed it. Adapting a beloved classic is already a tall order, so I expected more even from a YA novel. The author tries to write expressive prose but instead of being eloquent it is excessive. Dialogue is stilted and even for the 19th century reads unrealistically. There is a lack overall of varied sentence structure so many descriptors are oft repeated such as 'fine' and 'the finest' to denote quality. There's a lot of talk about eyes, and also hair. Many foreheads are furrowed and many brows wrinkled.

There have been excellent retellings of old stories like Tangled, Uprooted and of course Wicked so it can be done. I believe there is the seed of a great idea in Everwood but it hasn't yet been realised.

Gorgeously whimsical with confectionery descriptions that made me devour this book from start to finish.

Midnight in Everwood is set in Nottingham in 1906 and follows Marietta who is passionate about her dancing. A ballet is coming up and she is set to give her final performance before she turns 21 and is forced by her family to say goodbye to her dreams. One day, a mysterious stranger moves in next door and begins to build this elaborate set for her performance. But there's something not quite right with it as Marietta discovers when she enters through a door to the enchanting, but oh so dangerous world of Everwood.

This is an adult 'The Nutcracker' retelling by E.T.A. Hoffmann (as well as the retelling by Alexandre Dumas), and you can feel the inspirations of the magic that is established in The Nutcracker without being too overwhelming. 'Midnight in Everwood' stands on its own, so reading The Nutcracker first isn't a requirement, but I'm so glad I did because I could see the nuggets of inspiration that lent itself to this story. Kuzniar establishes her own world and imagination with a writing style that will rival some of the literary greats - at times I felt like I was reading a novel by Oscar Wilde or something!

Marietta is a strong and proud protagonist who is determined to achieve her dreams and to not be oppressed by the people around her. Sometimes she gets into trouble because of this, but she's a character that stays true to herself all the way through, even when a romance blossoms for her. It's a romance that doesn't hinder the plot or the characterisation of Marietta, and I love when a romance doesn't try to steal the show. I also loved the depiction of female friendship in this too, and there were many moments when Marietta and her new friends are empowered by each other in order to face their obstacles.

A gorgeous world is built in this in Everwood, and I felt that spirit from the Kingdom of Toys in 'The Nutcracker'. The descriptions are sensory and confectionary (if that's even a word) and there were a lot of moments where I wanted to curl up with a hot drink and read about the frosty settings. This world does have its dangers though, making it somewhere I kind of wish I could go, but also I don't think it would be a good idea if I did. Not everything is as lovely as it first appears to be, but it's so fun to discover everything along the way.

We also have a cruel and vindictive villain in this who I hated. It was very easy to feel for these characters, whether it's compassion for our protagonist, or a sense of loathing for our antagonist, it was a beautifully constructed world filled with a colourful cast of characters.

This book is a performance of the highest calibre with show-stopping moments that are gorgeously written. You can see the attention to detail throughout this and 'Midnight in Everwood' is a book I would whole-heartedly recommend to everyone when it arrives in October 2021. A huge thank you to HQ Stories for sending me a gorgeous ARC copy of it.