Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

6 reviews

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Misogyny, Death, Drug use, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

that_bitch_logan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I read it in two sittings in less than 24 hours, which says a lot. I enjoyed the first half way more than the second half, which felt rushed and jolting in its pacing. I really enjoyed the eerie descriptions of the Kingdom of Sweets and wish there had been more of that. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the following things:
- Family Drama
- Historical books
- Fairytale inspired
- Winter Horror
- Lush Descriptions
- How classics are written 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Murder, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Death, Sexism, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, and Drug abuse

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An intriguing and compelling story built from the world of The Nutcracker yet vastly different from the story told in that ballet. This wasn’t what I expected but I still found myself enjoying parts of the story. My biggest issue with the story is the writing style made it less accessible than other books I tend to read. It read like a classic novel and I had to look up several words in order to understand certain passages. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Toxic friendship, War, Toxic relationship, Murder, Classism, Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Stalking, Child death, Grief, Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexism

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I’m vaguely familiar with The Nutcracker but not enough to know if the author gave us Easter eggs acknowledging the play. I was intrigued by the “dark imagining” synopsis so I picked this up. The initial 20/30 percent of the book was intriguing. But then once the sisters actually interacted with the Sugar Plum Fairy- my intrigue started to droop. We didnt get enough info on the godfather for me to fully understand his disturbing fascination with twins and youth. Also, I didn’t get a good sense of Natasha nor Clara to care about what happened to them. Natasha did reek of “not like other women” but I wonder if that was part of the “dark” alleged ties she had with Clara’s “light.” The ending didn’t tie up anything as far as plot points. I was left confused and wishing there was more backstory and less descriptions. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Misogyny, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Classism, Confinement, Child abuse, Blood, Death, Gore, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Incest, Alcoholism, and Slavery

vicwaltz's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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 for me.  In the author's note at the end the author implied this book was hard for her to write and I could feel that throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Infidelity and Alcohol