Review: Midnight in Everwood

Midnight in Everwood
By MA Kuzniar

Published By: HQ
Publication Date: October 28, 2021
Date Read: December 22, 2021
Genre: Adult – Retelling
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 384

From Goodreads:
A spell-binding retelling of The Nutcracker, filled with enchanted toys, decadent balls, fierce feminine friendships and a forbidden romance. For fans of The Toymakers, Caraval and The Bear and the Nightingale.

There’s nothing Marietta Stelle loves more than ballet, but after Christmas, her dreams will be over as she is obligated to take her place in Edwardian society. While she is chafing against such suffocating traditions, a mysterious man purchases the neighbouring townhouse. Dr Drosselmeier is a charming but calculating figure who wins over the rest of the Stelle family with his enchanting toys and wondrous mechanisms.

When Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, she discovers it carries a magic all of its own. On the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, she is transported to a snowy forest, where she encounters danger at every turn: ice giants, shadow goblins and the shrieking mist all lurk amidst the firs and frozen waterfalls and ice cliffs. After being rescued by the butterscotch-eyed captain of the king’s guard, she is escorted to the frozen sugar palace. At once, Marietta is enchanted by this glittering world of glamorous gowns, gingerbread houses, miniature reindeer and the most delicious confectionary.

But all is not as it seems and Marietta is soon trapped in the sumptuous palace by the sadistic King Gelum, who claims her as his own. She is confined to a gilded prison with his other pets; Dellara, whose words are as sharp as her teeth, and Pirlipata, a princess from another land. Marietta must forge an alliance with the two women to carve a way free from this sugar-coated but treacherous world and back home to follow her dreams. Yet in a hedonistic world brimming with rebellion and a forbidden romance that risks everything, such a path will never be easy.

“In Everwood, we say when the forest sings with life, you may bide your time for its attentions are elsewhere. It is when the forest falls silent that it has turned its eye on you.”

Midnight in Everwood was one of my most anticipated books of 2021. From the moment I saw that absolutely stunning cover, I knew I just needed to read it. As an adult retelling of the Nutcracker, I knew it would just be a perfect Christmas/December read. I had such high hopes for it… and I wish I could say it lived up to them. Unfortunately I was super disappointed in this one. A part of me feels like that cover totally catfished me. A beautiful exterior hiding a mediocre story at best.

I was initially super intrigued by this whimsical and fantastical book. Now, let me start by saying I don’t actually know the story of the Nutcracker well. I’ve never read anything related to it, nor have seen it. The most I knew about it is that it’s a winter-themed ballet. I have never been into ballet and maybe that’s why I struggled to connect with the story. I feel like the author really expected readers to have some form of knowledge or love for ballet and/or dance beforehand and as someone who doesn’t, I really struggled to follow some of the very specific ballet elements at the start.

Saying that however, I did really enjoy the first 100-or so pages of this book. It was intriguing, fantastical and it really did grip me. Then we got to Everwood… the part of the book I was dying to get to and then I just lost interest. I grew bored. I didn’t connect with any of the Everwood characters and I really struggled to find the motivation to continue reading. I ended up skim reading the rest of the book. The romance I found bizarre and unbelievable. Everything just really fell flat for me. I didn’t get emotionally invested and everything just seemed kind of forced.

I really wish I had loved this one. I see so many people loving this book and I wish I understood the hype… but I don’t. It’s not one I will re-read and I will probably rehome my copy because I just don’t have the space to keep a book for a pretty cover. It has actually put me off reading any other Nutcracker retellings. Maybe they just aren’t for me. Unfortunately this one just didn’t do it for me.

“Only the most magical things happen at midnight. When mortal folk are dreaming, safe in their beds, it is then that the sprites and goblins creep out and the air crackled with wild magic.”

Follow K-Books on WordPress.com