Thanks to the publisher for sending me this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Enchanted Sonata is an intriguing retelling of the Nutcracker and the Pied Piper. It follows Clara as she is whisked into a magical world that she must save with the magic of music.

I think I owe The Enchanted Sonata all the credit for getting me into the Christmas mood this year. I’m usually somewhat of a Grinch who wants to love Christmas, but just can’t. I think that might be due to the lack of Christmas books in genres I love to read (hit me up if you have any Christmas book recs), but all that has changed this year thanks to this beautiful Nutcracker retelling. I managed to read this one in a few days, and it kept me interested the entire time. The Enchanted Sonata even got me into the most Northern Christmas mood I’ve ever been in, unfortunately now I really want a winter Christmas.

As I mentioned before, aside from the cover, one of the key reasons I requested this book was because it is a Nutcracker retelling, and I love the Nutcracker. Thankfully, The Enchanted Sonata is very faithful to the story that I know, so it was well and truly a delight to read. Of course, it’s not just a rehashing of the story, the inclusion of a little Pied Piper retelling made the plot very intriguing. Though I did find it slightly predictable, I never found it boring, and I was always excited to continue on when I picked it up every night.

Another thing I really loved about The Enchanted Sonata was the pacing in the beginning. I really appreciated that the book didn’t take too terribly long to get into. I personally hate books with slow beginnings, and for some strange reason, I thought this book would have a slow beginning, but it didn’t and I was absolutely delighted. The pacing was generally good throughout the whole book. Though there were a few moments that I thought it was slightly slow, it never slowed down enough for me to be dissatisfied with it, and as I mentioned before, I was constantly excited to continue on.

For some reason, I feel like this book was super short, but I just looked on Goodreads and it’s listed as 375 pages long, so it’s by no means a short book, however, for the length, I felt like the characters were quite underdeveloped. I really wanted to learn more about them, and dig deeper into their psyches. I feel like I didn’t form a really tight connection with them, and I also wish the plot was just a little bit deeper and more complex. Having said that, I understand this is probably more of a light, happy read, and a deeper plot is probably not what the author was aiming for.

All in all, The Enchanted Sonata is an enchanting read, and that’s what I enjoyed most. The world is immersive and magical, it’s like reading a Disney movie. I wish the book would open a magical portal and suck me in, just so I could roam the snowy streets, and maybe spend an inordinate amount of time at Polichinelle’s Candy Emporium. The Enchanted Sonata is everything I could have asked for at this time of year, and I’ll probably end up rereading it closer to Christmas. But for now? I think I’ll go and get myself some candy canes and dig out that Nutcracker candle I have tucked away in a box somewhere.