"A Single Twin could be a very dangerous thing."

"Was anyone ever content with the choices they made in youth? Perhaps not, or perhaps it had nothing to do with age. Perhaps we were all fools until life taught us better, showed us what had been before our eyes all along."

"I had warned her, but what did warnings matter if the listener was deaf to caution?

Firstly, thank you to Batnam Books for a copy of the physical Arc in exchange of my honest opinion.

This book came at the perfect timing for me as I've fallen into a hole of obsessively reading Fairy Tale Retellings and this one is based on The Nutcracker. While I've never been too into The Nutcracker fairy tale story, this book definitely did it justice in my opinion. There's a lot of mixed reviews on it and I definitely can see that its not for everyone BUT I would give it a chance if I was you!

GENRE: Fantasy
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
FORMAT: Physical Arc
Would I recommend to others?: Yes, but it isnt for everyone! Read it if you love fairy Tale Retelling that are Christmas Focused!

I got this book with a letter from the author, which states that she grew up around The Nutcracker but as she got older, started seeing the injustice in it. This book is based on twin sisters: Natasha and Clara, who are destined to be dark & light, respectfully. As they grow up, their destiny given to them by their magical godfather, Drosselmeyer, shapes their whole lives.

The book is divided into Acts, with a title just as it would be in a play and I loved that! Each divison comes with a quote that just feels so Fairy Tale & Christmas themed, lining up with the book's purpose.

Everything changes in a plot twist, when Drosselmeyer re-appears and gives Natasha & Clara a gift, a Nutcracker. Obviously, this is no normal nutcracker and the decisions Clara & Natasha make in this moment change their lives for years to come. With the nutcracker gift, they are transported to a land of Snow & Sugar, where they meet The Sugar Plum Fairy, who grants Natasha a "gift".

To me personally, I liked watching Natasha be the "dark" aspect as she is bestowed with a knowledge her sister isnt but due to life's hardships, she is unable to appreciate this until later on, when she is forced to give the "dark" aspect of her life up. Here is a quote that describes Natasha in a perfect way:

"I could look into a man's heart and know his most terrible secrets. I saw the hidden contempt of husband for wife and wife for husband; the fear of the merchant whose business was collapsing; a mother's jealousy of her daughter's youth. They did not trust me, our friends and neighbors, for they knew I knew them, and people dont wish to be known. They need their secrets, just as they need their illusions"

And Clara, who is the light, definitely lacked a lot of things and the middle of the plot will show some character development in which she grows and matures (this isnt focused on a lot, as the primary focus of the story is Natasha).

And finally, I think The Kingdom of Sweets subtly addresses alot of issues that pop up in the book, such as what women are forced to do, lack of understanding consequences as humans and so on! Here are quotes to show that:

"Of course no one had forced her to marry Father ... but in another, truer sense, we were all forced to it. What else was there for women, for any of us?"

"Perhaps, long before, he had even made such a deal himself, not wholly understanding what it might mean, because of course we couldn't; we were human, unable to see the entirety of consequence."

"Clara had not encountered such problems before, did not know how to meet them and so I began to see that what Drosselmeyer called Dark was actually a source of great strength."