Seen at Bookish Antics! 
 **This review is slightly spoilery. Proceed with caution** 
 Though I have never seen The Nutcracker before, I was extremely excited to read Winterspell. This retelling was definitely one of my most anticipated books of the season, but it really disappointed me in so many ways. Winterspell is unnecessarily long, has an extremely irritating heroine, promotes problematic messages and is deadly slow-paced. I couldn't bear to keep reading this book and nearly quit several times because I dreaded reading another page. 
 When Clara's father is abducted and brought to Cane, a fairy world, Clara and Prince Nicholas travel to this land to save him. Nicholas was formerly a statue before the curse was lifted from him and so, Clara doesn't really know much about him. Can Clara trust Nicholas and will they be able to escape Anise, the evil witch? 
 Clara is one extremely irritating character and I constantly wished someone would call her out on her irrational behavior. At the beginning of this novel, Clara is constantly lusting after a statue and imagines herself in the statue's arms repeatedly. There is even a flashback in which Clara is kissing the statue, which is just wrong on so many levels. Clara didn't know that Nicholas was an actual person, as far as she knew he was just a statue and yet, she was fantasizing about an inanimate object. Her attraction to a statue is explained, but it still didn't work for me due to unhealthy relationship dynamics. I couldn't respect Clara after learning about her fixation with a statue, it doesn't help that her character arc is inconsistent. One second Clara is the fierce warrior her godfather trained her to be and the next, she acts extremely frail and needs to be saved by Nicholas. 
 I couldn't support this couple by any means because I absolutely hated Nicholas as well. It was very obvious to me that Nicholas was bad news from the start and that he was hiding vital info from Clara. Even when Clara rejects Nicholas's advances in one scene in the book, he continues to try to force himself on her. Though Nicholas is stopped before he actual rapes Clara, he still tried to take advantage of her. I was extremely angry because Clara forgives him one second later and acts as if it's no big deal; if I hadn't been reading this on my Kindle, I probably wouldn't have tossed this book to the side in a fit of rage. 
 I can't stress enough how slow-paced Winterspell and dull was for me, I struggled to get through this book. I put down this novel several times and I never really had any interest in continuing this book; I could've left it unfinished and it wouldn't have bothered me. I ended up reading nearly 80% of this book before skimming the ending and I truly was so apathetic towards the resolution. There are just so many sections in this book in which the story just drags on and on. 
 With irritating characters, a revolting romance and an uninteresting plot, I definitely wouldn't recommend Winterspell. I'm not sure if this part of a series, but if it is I can't imagine reading a sequel to this novel. All things considered, Winterspell definitely had potential but it didn't properly execute its intriguing premise.