Why I picked up this book:

I adore the Nutcracker, especially when the holidays come around. Years ago when Battle of the Nutcrackers became a show, it was amazing to see how many different versions were out there, all surrounded by the beauty of Tchaikovsky’s music. As part of a personal project, I wanted to read the original German tale that Tchaikovsky’s work is based off of.

This review may contain spoilers.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

On Christmas Eve, Marie finds a Nutcracker doll among the family’s gifts and is charged by her parents to take special care of it. Under the cover of darkness, the Nutcracker comes to life, along with an evil Mouse King with seven heads, introducing Marie to the magical world of toys, and the brave Nutcracker who will change her life forever. E. T. A. Hoffman’s timeless and whimsical tale has become a Christmas classic since it was first published in 1816. It has been adapted numerous times, most notably for the ballet scored by Pyotr Ilyich Tchikovsky in 1892. Though the ballet was not immediately a success, it has become immensely popular since the late 1960s and is performed every year during the holidays by ballet companies around the world.

What I loved:

I LOVE the history of where the Nutcracker originated. This is something that’s never really explored in the modern ballet, the prince’s deep origins and how tragic his history is to bring him across Maria’s path. I would love to see a modern retelling rooted in this part of the tale.

Which brings me to Maria. I’ve grown up with Clara as the heroine in this tale, so it was a surprise to discover that Maria is the family’s daughter and Clara is simply one of her dolls. But it was the moment Clara the doll tried to get the Nutcracker to see her as a potential mate, and the Nutcracker was in love with Maria that it kind of excited me for a love triangle. This didn’t play out in the end, but again all I could think was how fun a modern version of Maria & Clara would be.

Areas needing a touch of refinement:

This might be part of the era when this was written, as Austen’s tales tend to do this as well, but the end was rushed. Maria falls in love with her nutcracker and breaks the spell, then in the span of a few chapters at the end is the entire saga of them growing into adults, the land of the sugarplums, and basically almost the entire modern ballet. By this point I was really invested in the characters and would have loved to see a larger, more expansive world for them to explore and grow into.

Overall:

This book is really geared toward a younger audience, and yet I was drawn almost immediately into Hoffman’s narrative. Not because I love the ballet, but because of the way he pulls readers into Maria’s world, her plight with her family and her uncle, and how desperately this little girl just wants to protect the toys she loves so much. There are so many wonderful bits to this original story that my fingers are crossed someone writes those modern versions, and maybe add a few spaceships too. ^_^

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