Well, that was fun! I'm a sucker for dark fantasy/fairy tales and sociopathic-men-in-love in my fiction, and this little novella gave me both.

Picking up eight years after the Ballet/Original Story of The Nutcracker leaves off, this novella takes the classic dark-reimagining method of starting us off with: "The story you know is a happy ending to make people feel better. But that's not how it really happened."

Though, it probably would have helped if I was more familiar with [b:The Nutcracker and the Mouse King|28758526|The Nutcracker and the Mouse King|ETA Hoffmann|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1453838238s/28758526.jpg|48950080] when it comes down to it. I've seen adaptions, and I read a quick summary before starting this book, but I still found myself squinting at a few characters, trying to remember who they were, or if they were new. But aside from that, it was all pretty straight forward and I enjoyed it quite a bit!

From there, we get a delightfully dark sequel with a Candy Kingdom thriving off a supply of the blood from the living, and a Nutcracker Prince determined to be King at any cost.

The Nutcracker's descent into sociopathy as his hands become bloodier and bloodier with the deaths of his "enemies", is easily the highlight of the book. I rather adored his still loving dedication to Marie (despite her horror with him growing and growing), and how well he maintained a certain sense of charisma despite it all. One particularly favorite scene involved his one-sided chats with the captive Princess Pirlipat.

His endless love for Marie, despite being twisted and drowning in personal delusions, was also rather captivating. I almost felt sad for the poor man, even as he turned into a total monster.

Speaking of Marie, it was hard not to feel for her. Her little dream world and nightly wonders transformed into a nightmare, and you really got a feeling for her helplessness. What was she supposed to do? Tell people that the nutcracker toy was killing people? They'd think her mad, and the story did a great job of portraying that without coming straight out saying that word for word.

Even when she did get Fritz and her new suitor Heinrich on her side, it's rather fun to see them all caught off guard. Speaking, Heinrich played the part of our alternative suitor for Marie, and despite still crossing my fingers a little bit for Marie & Her Nutcracker (I know, I know--Dark Alternate scenarios do little to break my hopeless romantic interior), I did think he was a good match. I'm looking forward to his heroics in the sequel.

All in all, a great first part to this dark Prince and his kingdom. Since it's part one, it wasn't really surprising that this Novella didn't have the happiest of endings. But it was a dark, violent ride with a fantastic sociopathic prince and a heroine who's not going to give up.

I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.