The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen (The Fate of the Tearling; The Queen of the Tearling) transforms the classic Christmas fantasy The Nutcracker into a dark and gripping fable of envy, greed, and betrayal, all contained within a shell of decadent, twisted whimsy.
The wizard Drosselmeyer, whom everyone calls "godfather," comes to the Stahlbaum twins' christening like Sleeping Beauty's wicked fairy and names baby Clara "light" and baby Natasha "dark." Says narrator Natasha: "Clara could not see the hidden darkness of the world.... I was cursed to see." Clara grows up beautiful and favored, unlike her "short and lumpen" sister. The strain between siblings crescendos when Drosselmeyer announces at a Christmas Eve party that Clara will wed a handsome nobleman who has trifled with Natasha's affections. The magical nutcracker that Drosselmeyer gifts to Clara takes both girls into a magical land of gumdrop trees, living gingerbread men, and a candy castle housing the realm's beautiful but perilous queen, the Sugar Plum Fairy. She offers Natasha revenge and her heart's desire in return for helping the fairy access Drosselmeyer. Natasha accepts the bargain but soon learns the fairy's sweet facade hides a hungry darkness, and the desires of a rotten heart will bear only rotten fruit.
Johansen's stunning fantasy is set in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution, and weaves sinister magic into real-world events. Powerful character development keeps Natasha sympathetic, despite some of her less savory choices. This fractured fairy tale luxuriates in stunning set pieces; wild, brutal magic; and a surprisingly redemptive finale. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads