Friends, I have never been so conflicted about how to review a book. A Court of Sugar and Spice by Rebecca F. Kenney is so cringe but also a delightfully good time. This is my second The Nutcracker retelling that I’ve read this month; with the first being the Nutcracker of Crystalfall by Kay L. Moody. The Nutcracker of Crystalfall was a sweet story while this one is… not. This review will have slight spoilers.

I like to give a heat level rating for all books with romance. If you’re curious about my rating system, you can check it out here.

Synopsis:

With their inheritance restricted until their marriage, sisters Clara and Louisa, both in their twenties, must live with their godfather Drosselmeyer. One night, an accident brings to life one of the strange wooden dolls in Drosselmeyer’s mansion. The Nutcracker doll is a cursed Fae prince, and he pleads for the sisters’ help. During the ensuing journey into the Fae realm, Clara encounters the handsome Sugarplum Faerie, and he promises her the chance to enact all the forbidden. fantasies she has dreamed of. Meanwhile Louisa and the Nutcracker Prince battle and bicker over everything, despite the growing attraction between them. And to make matters worse, the entire Seelie kingdom is under threat of conquest by the Rat King, ruler of the Dread Court.

This is a spicy, adult, fantasy romance retelling of “The Nutcracker” fairytale.

Trigger warnings are available on the author’s website and in the front matter of the book.

My Thoughts:

• Rating- 
• Heat Level- 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I really struggled with what to rate this book because some aspects were five star worthy while others were one star. The cast of main characters is small and the world isn’t that expansive either so I’m going to talk about everything separately.

• Fin– ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh my goodness, I adored Fin. I loved everything from his pink hair to how ferocious he was. He was sweet, charming and the best character this book has to offer. I’m thinking of reading the second book just because he’s in it.

• Lir– ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Coming in at a close second is Lir. He was a bit more stuffy and rude than Fin but still swoon worthy.

• Clara– ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I liked Clara on her own but I loved her with Fin. Their relationship was very instalove, which I typically hate, but it worked.

• Louisa– ⭐

Louisa was such a gross character. She was so overly sexual and it added nothing to the story. She was crude, rude and completely unlikable. I skimmed most of her chapters because I couldn’t stand her. I also hated that she ended up with Lir. I didn’t enjoy their relationship dynamic and I never believed that they fell in love with each other.

• The Plot– ⭐⭐⭐

This book actually had a much more interesting plot than what I was expecting. The focus was definitely on the relationships and spicy scenes but the journey to defeat the Rat King was pretty good.

• The 🌶Spice🌶– ⭐⭐

I’m not here to yuck anybody’s yum but I don’t love books with explicit sex scenes. I’m not really holding that against this book, though, because I went into it knowing that those scenes were there. I much preferred the overall story and relationship development to the sex scenes, however.

• The World– ⭐⭐

I really wish the world building was better because the few details given sounded really interesting but again, the focus was on the relationships and spice.

• The Cover & Title– ⭐⭐⭐

I LOVE the cover of this book but hate the title. Can we please stop ripping off ACOTAR?

Final Thoughts:

If I could rate with half stars, this would be a 2.5 but I’ve decided to round up. The potential for a great story was there but it was smothered by all of the sex. The sex scenes didn’t add to the story, they took away from it. I’ve heard that the second book in this series, A Court of Hearts and Hunger, is more story driven so I might read it but I’m not sure. If you’ve read this book, please tell me what you thought. Thanks for reading and have a great day!