This was SO good. I have been looking for a nutcracker retelling for AGES and all the ones I've encountered have been childish in nature. But this was haunting and dark -- I couldn't put it down. Imagine if I read this in December... It might have ended up being one of my all time faves but unfortunately I read it in july

Thank you to netgalley for giving me this arc. Erika Johansen is one of my favorite authors and I was so excited when I saw this as an option.

it did not disappoint AT ALL!
If you liked queen of the teirling, you will enjoy this. it captivates it from the first page.

As soon as I saw that this book was a dark retelling of the Nutcracker, I was hooked. While this genre can be overdone, they always seem to grab my attention. And this book did not disappoint!

This book was non-stop twists and turns. Every time I thought I knew where the story was headed, it veered off into a completely different direction. The characters are complex and well written, and I found myself rooting for different characters throughout the story.

The only thing keeping me from giving this book 5 stars is that I found the middle of the book seemed to drag on a bit. I wanted more time in the Land of Sweets and was a bit disappointed that it was a little short lived and seemed to quickly veered off from the Nutcracker story.

However this does not change the fact that I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in a dark fairytale. I can’t wait to check out more of Erika’s work!

The Kingdom of Sweets is a delightfully dark retelling of The Nutcracker.

Some highlights:
✍️ fresh-take on a classic
👤 complex characters
🎁 moody holiday vibes
✨ captivating magic

Big thank you to the Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.

Don't get it twisted - this novel isn't a typical retelling. The Kingdom of Sweets is a darkly original fantasy horror that uses The Nutcracker as a jumping-off point for a tale of violence, curses, and vengeance that centers the story of Clara's twin sister Natasha, the shadowy counterpoint to her guileless innocence. A tiring flaw in the trend of recent retellings is a dearth of complex characters. I don't just mean "complex" in the sense of the pseudo-first wave feminist sheen given to classic heroines in many recent books -- Natasha and Clara are, at alternating moments, bitter, angry, greedy, and aggressive. There are times you root for Natasha with both hands in the air, and there are times you cannot begin to stomach her behavior. The sisters are "complex" in the sense that they are women allowed the full spectrum of ugly, human emotion and forbidden desires, made all the more real for their failures and flaws.

This story takes the whiff of fear I felt at the appearance of the Mouse King the first time I saw the Nutcracker in the theatre as a child, and snowballs that feeling into a haze of terror, ecstasy, and drunken revelry. Nothing in this story was as expected, and I was repelled and enchanted in equal measure by Johansen's vivid descriptions and oppressive atmosphere. My one complaint was the attempt to position the story in the context of real world politics. It isn't especially successful, and I generally feel like you have to go all-in on that angle a-la Deathless for it to land in a fairy tale retelling Beyond a few Lenin jumpscares and vague rumblings of revolution, all it does is draw the focus away from what's happening to the characters. Still, if you've ever been creeped out by a haunted-looking puppet, or appreciated the horror inherent in a party bloated to bitter excess, this might well be a book for you.

I really wanted to love this. I love the zaniness of the nutcracker and the whimsy of fairy tales in general. I love a tale of sisters and family and all that but this.... I think this book didn't know what it wanted to be. It took on so many different plots but didn't really deliver on any of them. In the author's note at the end the author implied thi book was hard for her to write and I could feel that throughout.

Nat, our protagonist, is a wandering soul who says she's healed by the end but we never see her earn that. Honestly a lot of this book is just telling us that characters are good, but now bad, but now forgiven, but now... it's so much telling and very little showing. There was SO much potential here and I'm disappointed that it didn't deliver for me. I'm all for dark and twisty but it has to go somewhere.

I really enjoyed this dark, fairytale-esque and twisty story! The atmosphere is chilling and transportive and I love how the original elements of The Nutcracker were incorporated into the story. I think this will be the perfect read for wintertime. I found the writing and elements of the story to be reminiscent of The Bear and The Nightingale, The Night Circus and Niomi Novik's standalone fantasy novels.

A twist on the tale of the Nutcracker. This story is both more dramatic and darker than either the ballet or the original fairy tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. I was a good third of the way into The Kingdom of Sweets and about to abandon it when the story took a turn and both the plot, and the characters, became much more interesting. If you choose to start this book, please read it to the end. It is worth finishing.

This is a dark, complex retelling of The Nutcracker, peopled with multilayered, thought provoking characters.

It is thought provoking and wonderfully written. I highly recommend this book to all readers who love fairy tales and dark magic.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me this chance to read the ARC.

I never tire of fairy tale retellings and this is no exception. This is well-written, dark, moody, and imaginative Nutcracker retelling.

This is my first book by Johansen and certainly will not be my last. The book is paced nicely, the characters are well done and have a lot of depth to them, the setting is immersive and easily imagined. I can't really ask for more for. This will be a perfect fall/winter read!

This was wonderful and will definitely be a featured weekly tiktok giveaway (@hauntedhousebooks) around release date. Thank you so much for the ARC!

Kingdom of Sweets is a fairy tale retelling of The Nutcracker. This would be the perfect story for someone looking for a Christmas story that isn’t cheesy romance like most are. It has an air of fantasy and darkness about it. The story had depth and emotion and I enjoyed it

I was so happy to read another novel from Erika Johansen. The Nutcracker stories have always intrigued me and The Kingdom of Sweets was a treat.

The Kingdom of Sweets was macabre, engrossing, and adventurous. This story is a long form of what I would picture the Brothers Grimm stories to be like if they wrote this tale.

I recommend this book to people who love dark fairy tales, The Nutcracker and Alice in Wonderland.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for this wonderful ARC!

The Kingdom of Sweets is an interesting and thought provoking retelling of The Nutcracker. It took the ballet story line and turned it completely on its head, and then continued to expand on it from there. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone looking for a new take on a Christmas classic!

Erika Johansen's novel of the The Nutcracker, The Kingdom of Sweets is a masterpiece. The respectful adherence to the bones of the original story in no way detracts from the ingenious and astonishingly original crafting of her delightfully terrifying version of this iconic Christmas ballet. Johansen's Nutcracker is truly a Kingdom of Sweets for readers in which nutcrackers will attack perfectly innocent ottomans with their sabres and ballerinas and gingerbread men can and do run amuck. A guaranteed page turner will have readers looking at their Christmas decorations with a new respect.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this novel. It was well-written and imaginative. A dark and twisted tale between two sisters, this Nutcracker retelling took me for a captivating ride!

Kingdom of Sweets tells the tale between Natasha and Clara, who were cursed at birth on Christmas Day by their wizard of a godfather. One sister is consumed by jealously while the other has everything she could ever want out of life. That’s until they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and things get interesting.

I’ll definitely be checking out the author’s other novels. I would recommend Kingdom of Sweets to Fantasy lovers like myself!

Engrossing retelling of a classic tale we all know so well. Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the advance copy!

I admit to being tired of fairy tale retellings. There is a whole wave of them, varying from feminist to queer to dark retellings to whole shades in between. When publishers see a trend they beat it to death. But dark fiction is about more than murder and blood, a fact a lot of dark retellings tend to overlook in their derivative pursuits.

“Kingdom of Sweets” caught my eye because it was a Nutcracker retelling, which I haven’t seen much of. It was truly a dark retelling, too, with complex, unlikable characters driven to their basest natures. It tells the story of twins Clara and Natasha, cursed by their godfather, a wizard, to be light and dark sisters. Natasha becomes consumed by jealousy and an obsession with a boy who toys with her fragile feelings.

The two become caught up in the dark, twisted world of the Sugar Plum Fairy, of the old world and old beliefs and the deadly magic of vengeance and fae bargains.

In this world the family’s annual Christmas soiree is one of drunken, decadent revelry with a bitter edge. Natasha’s mother is addicted to laudanum and mysticism. Her father is a whoring drunk. And her imagined future with the boy she once thought was kind becomes a vapid prison of her own foolish, naive rage.

This is my first exposure to Erika Johansen and I’m definitely checking out the Queen of the Tearling series. The characters in this were wonderfully dark, complex and twisted and she led me down paths I did not expect from the dark to the light again and embracing, in the end, the freedom of the dark. This truly is a story of strong women making their mark in a world that sought to use them, a feminist fantasy in which women take control of their destinies.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What an fascinating and dark retelling of the nutcracker. The perspective from the Natasha and themes of the book are very interesting and quite mature. The novel was an extremely enjoyable and pleasant read from beginning to end. The world of the book is greatly immersive and keeps you engaged the entire time through spectacular prose and fascinating characters and lore. I would absolutely recommend reading this book when it fully releases later this year. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC and review this book early.

The Kingdom of Sweets is a dark, creepy twist on the Nutcracker. I've only ever come across a few Nutcracker retellings, but I always really enjoy them. This book goes a slightly different direction by allowing us to see through the eyes of Natasha, Clara's twin sister. I really liked the way Johansen wove the fraught relationship between the twins in with the horrifying Kingdom of Sweets. I didn't like Natasha, per say, but I don't think she's meant to be liked. I do think that she grows significantly by the end of the book, and her moral failings can be justified by her upbringing. I think this is probably Erika Johansen's best book yet, and while it's definitely a standalone, I would love to see her write other fractured fairy tales and retellings.

I enjoyed this retelling. The nutcracker is a story that is near and dear to my heart. I enjoyed the new elements to the story and the edition of a new main character.