The Kingdom of Sweets Book Review

This book has a lot going on and is a bit of a challenge to unpack. I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh take on a classic story. There were parts of the book that I loved, but I was mostly left with conflicting feelings about it. Let’s dive in.

This is a twisted tale of sibling rivalry. Twin sisters, Clara and Natasha, were doomed for strife when their godfather Drosselmeyer deemed Clara to be the light and Natasha to be the dark. This manifested itself in more than just their personalities, but their appearances and how they were treated by those around them. Clara was beautiful, the center of attention, and got everything she could ever desire. Natasha was Clara’s complete opposite and received Clara’s hand-me-downs. This was a recipe for resentment.

Like the ballet, the book is broken up by acts (the book also has an overture and a curtain). Act I is all about setting the scene, introducing the characters, laying the foundation for why Natasha is so resentful towards Clara, and how Drosselmeyer fits into the twin’s lives. The story is told to us from Natasha’s perspective. While she loves her sister, she resents how easy everything is for her. At first, Natasha annoyed me. Yes, she was cursed to darkness. Her parents, along with everyone around her, raised her in such a way that this became her identity. The victim mentality that I felt she had didn’t make her an endearing character to me. However, Natasha is not at all what she appears to be inside or out. When she’s given the opportunity to change her circumstances, she takes it without hesitation.

Every Christmas Eve, Clara and Natasha’s family have a party that has become tradition for their inner circle. Godfather Drosselmeyer always makes an appearance whether people like it or not. This particular Christmas Eve, Drosselmeyer arrives at the party with his entourage of men and extraordinary gifts. He gifts Natasha a clown and Clara a nutcracker. Both toys magically come to life. While Natasha is disgusted by the clown, Clara is pleased by the nutcracker. The crowd around them find both toys to be of poor taste, but little do they know that each toy serves a particular twisted purpose. This part of the story is similar to the one we know from The Nutcracker, but there are liberties taken to make the scene appear to be more sinister than the scene in the ballet.

After the spectacle of the toys, Drosselmeyer makes an announcement that absolutely crushes Natasha and solidifies her resentment towards Clara. Strangely, what comforts Natasha is the magical nutcracker. The announcement causes a lot of drama, but eventually the party ends and Natasha, who can’t sleep, wanders around the house. She begins to see shadows taking the form of a giant rat and the clown. She runs to the living room where she finds Clara sleeping on the sofa and backs into it. The nutcracker then comes up to Natasha and beckons her to lift him. When she does, she’s transported into another world.

Act II is really when the book starts to pick up. Natasha is transported into a world that at first glance looks like it’s bright with snow. On closer inspection, Natasha realizes it’s sugar. She spots Clara in a carriage with the nutcracker and decides to follow them. The vivid descriptions as we start to explore the Kingdom of Sweets allow me to visualize this other-worldly place where everything, including the animals and men, are made from sweets. Natasha, however, almost immediately notices that something’s off with this world. It just suits Clara too perfectly. Almost as if it was crafted just for her.

Natasha’s efforts to follow Clara lands her at the gate of a castle. While Natasha sensed that something was off about the land as she was exploring it, her interaction with the soldiers at the gate confirms her suspicions and she has a foreboding feeling that something is not right with this world. The soldier in charge takes Natasha into the castle where she attends a very weird ball that seems to be perfectly tailored for Clara to be the center of attention. This is when we’re introduced to the Sugar Plum Fairy who is not at all what she seems.

While everything around Natasha was bright and light, she couldn’t help but feel fearful about her surroundings. Especially after her interaction with the Sugar Plum Fairy. The interaction was cryptic and darkness crept from the Sugar Plum Fairy’s facade. However, this interaction is the start of Natasha’s quest to enact her revenge on Clara. The drama that happened at the Christmas Eve party was the final nail in Clara’s coffin and when Natasha was presented with the opportunity to enact her revenge, she took it without hesitation.

After this climactic scene, everything changes for Natasha. She does not return to her world the same as she left it. We begin Act III and the book starts to slow down. We’re back in the “real” world and we’re basically reading about Natasha acclimating to her new life. There is a bit of excitement when the “Sugar Plum Fairy” calls on Natasha to hold up her end of their bargain, but this act does slow down the pace of the book.

In Act IV, the pace begins to pick up again as we’re re-introduced to a character we met in Act I - the true maker of the nutcracker. This toymaker causes quite a stir among the society that Natasha is a part of by introducing new toys that can move without any mechanical intervention. Natasha knows exactly who this toymaker is while he is a mystery to the rest of society. She resolves to find him. This is when the story takes an odd turn into historical fiction. Political undertones are peppered into the story that initially feel like Natasha coming into her own mind as she discovers who she is a person, but are actually setting the foundation for the rest of the story.

As we continue through Act IV, we’re reacquainted with Clara. Clara’s reappearance is a conflict for Natasha (when you read the book, you’ll understand why). So Natasha goes on a quest to figure out how to resolve this conflict. What she learns along the way is more insidious than she could ever have imagined. She learns more about the “Sugar Plum Fairy” who we learn is actually called the “Queen of Spades” and she realizes that this Queen is actually her nemesis.

In Act V, Natasha confronts the Queen with all that she’s learned and the Queen returns in kind by filling in Natasha’s outstanding gaps. The book then takes an odd turn towards mythology. We learn more about the Queen and her land. We learn more about the Queen’s intention, which is not to incite chaos but to provide choices that one must live with no matter the consequences. In this act, Natasha is forced to confront her choices and the consequences that came from her choices. She’s forced to make another choice: continue to resent Clara or forgive her for her selfish ways. Natasha ultimately makes a decision that angers the Queen and confines Natasha to her castle.

The rest of Act V is a weird resolution to the story. The insidious nature of godfather Drosselmeyer’s intention for the twins is revealed and Natasha is rescued from the castle, but the twins leave their relationship at an impasse. While Act V resolved most of the story, there was a Curtain - the finale. This finale is the true resolution to the story.

If you made it down this far, you can tell that this story has a lot going on. The unique take on The Nutcracker is really creative and I love the vivid descriptions of the other world each time we’re transported there. But the characters aren’t completely likable, the pace of the book is inconsistent, and it isn’t completely clear what Natasha is meant to accomplish. Is she meant to vanquish the Queen of Spades? Or is she merely meant to discover who she is outside of her sister’s shadow? The book’s summary made it seem like she was going to be conflicted about which world she wanted to be a part of, but I feel like that was answered pretty early on in the book. In the end, this book feels like an extra long cautionary tale about avoiding the comparison trap and taking the time to figure out who you are rather than spending time wishing to be someone else.