The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika JohansenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Kingdom of Sweets is a beautiful retelling of the Nutcracker-one I never thought I needed until now. It was a very fast-paced read, and I enjoyed every bit once I finally dug into it and read till the last word. Making Clara have a twin and then do that switcheroo, that twist made me go, "Hold on, hold on, hold on..." Mrs. Johansen, you have a new lover of your writing on your hands. Because I wasn't even expecting it, wasn't even aware of it, but when it happened....I was hooked, I was in, and I wanted to know more.
Clara and Natasha are sisters who were cursed by a man named Drosselmeyer. Every year it seemed like Clara was the favorite, and Natasha was being pushed into the dark, never to find any love or anything in her life ever again. Natasha hated that, and that one Christmas Eve party, when everyone was having a good time and Natasha was trying to look for her beau, Drosselmeyer comes in and gives them gifts: Clara a nutcracker and Natasha and clown that was supposed to kill her, get rid of her. But it didn't work out like Drosselmeyer wanted, even though he announced that Clara and Natasha's beau, Conrad, were to be married, because sadly Clara in this version of the book is pregnant with another man's baby.
Natasha was upset, even when Clara tried to tell her before Drosselmeyer announced it. But then everything changed when the sisters went to the Kingdom of Sweets. Clara was with her nutcracker while Natasha was on the road following them, meeting the gingerbread men and the other nutcrackers and seeing the sweets fall apart because of Clara eating them as much as she could. They reach the Sugar Plum Fairy's castle where Natasha makes a deal with the Sugar Plum Fairy, who really isn't the Sugar Plum Fairy at all--she's actually someone called The Queen of Spades, and what she wants is Drosselmeyer, and what Natasha wants is Clara dead.
Well she got her wish, and that's when the twist happened--and this is what made me read more.
Natasha "killed" Clara...and woke up in Clara's body.
That was when I wanted to not sleep and know more, because OMG yes? I need more? Please?
And you see Natasha, as Clara, married to Conrad and how she's dealing with her life and her marriage, how she's secretly doing things that is kind of Clara like, like buying up chocolates, going to the slums, and throwing the candy to the poor so they can eat and have money to do so. But the Sugar Plum Fairy wants the price to be paid...and she does pay it, with Drosselmeyer's death. But then, that's when things start to become weird, when Clara shows up again, and now the Sugar Plum Fairy wants Natasha now.
Natasha was worried about the turn of events, so she does everything to tie up loose ends, even meeting with Ozov I believe his name is, to get a nutcracker and give it to her sister, so when they finally see each other again, Natasha does the reverse and they went back to their bodies and Natasha stayed in the Kingdom of Sweets, and Clara went back to the real world.
I have to say, not catching on about the Russian Revolution was pretty smart to me, and how Natasha prepared for it, even when she ran away from the Sugar Plum Fairy. Going to America to escape it all and read what happened to Clara in the newspaper was pretty smart too, until the end, when both Clara and Natasha met back in the Kingdom of Sweets again. It was sad and fun and I wish it didn't end like that, but the twist was so much fun and I enjoyed myself reading it.
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