If a modern Anne Rice rewrote the nutcracker, this might be it. I somehow expected a LOT more Christmas and/or cozy. There is none of that. There were some scenes where I couldn’t decide if it was parody, but I’m afraid it’s written in earnest. The sex situations varied from very hot to laughable. I suppose there’s something for everyone? (Not really. While there is mention of sexual/identity diversity, the actual sex is cis-het). The middle lagged a little. The action at the end was great, but the “moral of the story” at the end felt heavy-handed and tacked on. This book was so close and going the right direction, but just didn’t quite stick the landing for me.