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A review by raven168
A Curse of Frost and Fate by Verika Sloane
3.0
All in all, this was only just good for me. It wasn't bad by any means, but it also didn't suck me in at all and make me want to keep reading. While some of the characters were interesting (the watchers in particular) I just never found myself caring all that much about what happens to them. I can't say anything about it being a spin on the nutcracker though because I've never read or seen it.
Klara is more or less a normal girl who finds herself in anything but a normal situation. Targeted by some crazy dude who controls mice for reasons unknown (until the end), Klara ends up being transported to a completely different realm. One filled with magic and things from fairy tales. For a while, she's not even convinced it's anything but a dream.
Jaemis is a fallen, cursed prince. He was away trying to save a princess he was friends with (not knowing to do so would transfer her curse to him) when his kingdom was overtaken by the mouse king and his parents thrown into the dungeons. Since then dark magic has plagued the kingdom and darkness continues to creep over the lands. Before the curse overtakes him, Jaemis is determined to free his parents if nothing else. But a chance overhearing of the usurper's plans is going to change everything.
Jaemis and Klara first encounter each other in Klara's parent's home. Jaemis had followed the mouse king and they fought, but Klara gets caught up in it all. Only to wake the next day thinking it was all in her head. Later, Klara gets pulled from her world and lands next to Jaemis who is currently fighting a bunch of the mouse king's minions. From there the two of them travel together trying to figure out why Klara is so important to the enemy and how they will get her sent back home before she destroys the balance there. You would think that this sets up the story for quite a bit of excitement. And I guess it occasionally does. But so much of the story is just slow. And while I am not a huge fan of fated mates, I wouldn't have minded a whole lot here. The problem was that Jaemis was so determined to not find any happiness that even their relationship was tediously slow. Which is unfortunate.
On this journey we meet a bunch of other people of different kinds, Jaemis nearly drowns for some self discovery, Klara finds out she has elemental powers, and of course these two obviously start falling for the other. When the finale starts, Jaemis is so easily fooled by an obvious trap. Then Klara also gets fooled by an obvious trap. Up until that point I did not consider these two people stupid, but boy did I after these events. All ends up well enough for them in the end though. That is until their happy together is literally snatched from them when Klara is abruptly pulled back to her own world. Where she wallows in despair at having lost the greatest love of her life. Until she finally realizes why she was brought back when she was and how she can still save Jaemis's life. I'm not sure how much I liked the very end. While it was expected that Jaemis and Klara would find themselves back together, and I did hope that Klara's parents were able to reunite with their best friends, I don't know how I feel about Klara's siblings now being involved. On one hand, I get it. They're family. On the other, I didn't really like them and they were never a part of it before so why should they be now.
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.
Klara is more or less a normal girl who finds herself in anything but a normal situation. Targeted by some crazy dude who controls mice for reasons unknown (until the end), Klara ends up being transported to a completely different realm. One filled with magic and things from fairy tales. For a while, she's not even convinced it's anything but a dream.
Jaemis is a fallen, cursed prince. He was away trying to save a princess he was friends with (not knowing to do so would transfer her curse to him) when his kingdom was overtaken by the mouse king and his parents thrown into the dungeons. Since then dark magic has plagued the kingdom and darkness continues to creep over the lands. Before the curse overtakes him, Jaemis is determined to free his parents if nothing else. But a chance overhearing of the usurper's plans is going to change everything.
Jaemis and Klara first encounter each other in Klara's parent's home. Jaemis had followed the mouse king and they fought, but Klara gets caught up in it all. Only to wake the next day thinking it was all in her head. Later, Klara gets pulled from her world and lands next to Jaemis who is currently fighting a bunch of the mouse king's minions. From there the two of them travel together trying to figure out why Klara is so important to the enemy and how they will get her sent back home before she destroys the balance there. You would think that this sets up the story for quite a bit of excitement. And I guess it occasionally does. But so much of the story is just slow. And while I am not a huge fan of fated mates, I wouldn't have minded a whole lot here. The problem was that Jaemis was so determined to not find any happiness that even their relationship was tediously slow. Which is unfortunate.
On this journey we meet a bunch of other people of different kinds, Jaemis nearly drowns for some self discovery, Klara finds out she has elemental powers, and of course these two obviously start falling for the other. When the finale starts, Jaemis is so easily fooled by an obvious trap. Then Klara also gets fooled by an obvious trap. Up until that point I did not consider these two people stupid, but boy did I after these events. All ends up well enough for them in the end though. That is until their happy together is literally snatched from them when Klara is abruptly pulled back to her own world. Where she wallows in despair at having lost the greatest love of her life. Until she finally realizes why she was brought back when she was and how she can still save Jaemis's life. I'm not sure how much I liked the very end. While it was expected that Jaemis and Klara would find themselves back together, and I did hope that Klara's parents were able to reunite with their best friends, I don't know how I feel about Klara's siblings now being involved. On one hand, I get it. They're family. On the other, I didn't really like them and they were never a part of it before so why should they be now.
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.