Midnight in Everwood

By: M.A. Kuzniar

Narrated by: Tor Leijten

‘A glittering rush of sugar-sweet enchantment’ Stephanie Garber, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Curse for True Love

In the darkness of night, magic awaits…

Nottingham, 1906

Marietta Stelle longs to be a ballerina but, as Christmas draws nearer, her dancing days are numbered – she must marry and take up her place in society in the New Year. But, when a mysterious toymaker, Dr Drosselmeier, purchases a neighbouring townhouse, it heralds the arrival of magic and wonder in Marietta’s life.

After Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate theatrical set for her final ballet performance on Christmas Eve, Marietta discovers it carries a magic all of its own – a magic darker than anyone could imagine. As the clock chimes midnight, Marietta finds herself transported from her family’s ballroom to a frozen sugar palace, silent with secrets, in a forest of snow-topped fir trees. She must find a way to return home before she’s trapped in Everwood’s enchanting grip forever.

In the darkness of night, magic awaits and you will never forget what you find here…

Tropes:
Finding the magic of Christmas
True love
Festive fun!

Your favourite authors have fallen under the magical spell of Midnight in Everwood:

‘The perfect winter fairy tale’ Sarah Morgan, The Christmas Escape

‘A deliciously dark retelling of The Nutcracker’ Jennifer Saint, Atalanta

‘Sumptuous and spellbinding’ Heidi Swain, Underneath the Christmas Tree

‘Beautifully spun and wildly imagined’ Cari Thomas, Threadneedle

‘Enchanting! The perfect Christmas treat’ Veronica Henry, Christmas at the Beach Hut

©2021 M.A. Kuzniar (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

A wonderful holiday confection of a novel

I have always loved the Nutcracker, in both its ballet form and the original Hoffman story. This novel allowed me to luxuriate in that fascination again—it’s the perfect listen for readying the house for the holidays! To be clear, this is a light story, meant more to evoke joy and wonder than to secure a place among the literary greats. There are certainly moments when one might wish for the author to delve deeper into certain mysteries and character motivations, but overall, the story is enchanting and sure to be a holiday classic I will return to each year!

Whimsical story

Brilliant narrator. A magical story of a little girl becoming a woman... Perfect to read at winter

Not what I was expecting but good nonetheless! Although not much of a Nutcracker retelling

I tend to like romantic book where the leads end up together and everything is prefect (as can be) this one I still actually like. This one had a bit of a bitter sweet yet realistic ending . However my main problem of this story is that it's not really a nutcracker story, or at least missing a lot of parts to make it so.

Perfect Christmas Fairy Tale

This was a beautiful nutcracker retelling! The world was so full of magic and wonder, and the atmosphere was rich and gorgeous! Midnight in Everwood is a perfect Christmas fantasy read! The character development was so good too! Our MC goes through a JOURNEY lol. She learns some very poignant life lessons with such grace and elegance while remaining fiercely independent. I was also so impressed with the fact that this is a standalone! Kuzniar did such a great job taking us through this story and giving us action, romance, world building, character development, friendship bonds, and so much more and tied it up with a perfect bow at the end! If you love retellings and are looking for a holiday theme, this is your next read!

Will reread

I do plan on rereading this simply because I don't remember much of what happened. I feel like I enjoyed this, but nothing stuck, and I'm not sure if it's just my own brain working against me or if this book was just lacking on hooks. It felt right for the season, though, and I feel like if it was bad I would have hated it, so I'm willing to give it another chance.

Nutcracker retelling missed the mark with me

This is my first book by the author. This book is just not for me.

Midnight in Everwood has a magical premise. I’m sad to say this Nutcracker retelling missed the mark with me.

I picked this book up multiple times and put it down. The pacing is a bit too slow. I’m consistently waiting for something to happen.

Yet, I will say this, the author is good at writing cliffhangers moments and building anticipation. There is an abundance of world-building, cliffhangers, and edge of your seat moments only to fall short.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper 360 for the opportunity to read and review this magical book.

An ill-fated winter fairytale

What a disappointing book. Seriously, I can’t recall the last time I’ve had such a hard time finishing a book. Basically, I forced myself to read it because this had been on my TBR for years and I kept expecting it to get better. It doesn’t.
The first 100 pages are pure purple prose, glittering words that tell you nothing. The author paints this vivid picture of Marietta and her life but there is nothing going on. There is no action. I felt like I wasn’t reading a book at all but looking into an abstract painting I couldn’t understand. All these descriptions left me with a headache and I had to put it down several times.
I kept wanting her to go into Everwood and move on with the story. Once she gets there, it gets significantly better for like 5 chapters until it gets boring again. Marietta doesn’t explore Everwood; there are no Snow Fairies( isn’t that part of the Nutcracker???) and the actual Nutcracker is so bland and dull (he is Marietta’s predictable live interest, who is a soldier and who knows- for no apparent reason- to dance ballet). Marietta is locked in this place with a mean, petulant king who wants to possess her (it gets a bit scary but all Drossameirer’s scenes are creepy and I kept thinking he was going to rape her somewhere). Then Marietta meets characters who only tell their past and they spend entire chapters talking and talking and nothing is going on!
The plot twists are predictable, everything is predictable. The problems are solved in seconds and Marietta finds a key, an armor and a wand in a single chapter? And is there a scene when a man is watching her have sex with another man???? Did this really happen?
I’m left numb and confused after finishing it, so so so glad I’ve finished this tale. I have no idade what I had in mind when I added this to my TBR. I hope I know better next time

Had potential but disappointed

The story had great potential but it fell short for me. Would have been better as a series in my opinion.