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The Dark Chocolate Nutcracker
Embark on a whimsical adventure with Clara in The Dark Chocolate Nutcracker. As the enchanting tale unfolds on Christmas Eve, Clara finds herself caught between the realms of reality and magic. Joining forces with Prince Ungraceful, a nutcracker with a mysterious past, Clara faces the evil Rat Queen, battling through vibrant jungles and sweet kingdoms. Filled with playful tiger cubs, mischievous rat soldiers, and the delightful fairies, this enchanting tale explores courage, friendship, and the power of love. Will Clara and Prince Ungraceful triumph over darkness, or will the Rat Queen's curse prevail? The Dark Chocolate Nutcracker weaves a magical narrative that will captivate readers of all ages. Discover the magic within these pages, where dreams come alive and the spirit of Christmas shines bright.
67 pages, Paperback
Published January 12, 2024
1 person want to read
About the author
Jane Johnson
120 books560 followersJane Johnson is an English writer of books for adults and children and fiction book editor. As a writer she has used the pseudonyms Gabriel King, jointly with M. John Harrison, and Jude Fisher, as well as her real name.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 21, 2025
1.5 stars
I have some notes.
...
Just because it's supposed to be a children's book doesn't mean you can put out shoddy work.
Okay. So it's a bit early for me to start reading Christmas books but the cover looked cute so I picked it up...
The pictures are cutesy, but they are AI which I know irritates some people. and they get really repetitive. It's the same image of Clara and the Prince just with slight variations, ditto with the rat queen. Given that this is a children's book pictures are a part of world building. They inform on the story and make it more enjoyable. Every single one of these was a portrait shot basically. People only with very little of the world Clara finds herself in.
I don't know if it was the formatting of my kindle book, which might have made it worse. But the story was extremely choppy and there were plot holes everywhere. I just read an ABC book about the letters of the alphabet with less words that was more coherent then this! They were climbing a coconut tree and it was cute and I enjoyed that book way more than this one.
While reading I had to repeat pages to figure out if I missed something. No it just wasn't there. For example. Spoilers , by the way, At the end of the book or i guess about halfway. The rat queen goes to attack the kingdom. A small rat stays behind to tell her captive orphans (who appeared out of previously) the queen is headed to destroy the kingdom. The orphans then tell the prince she's on her way. When and how did the orphans get a message to the Prince before the rat queen got there? not to mention he hasn't met them yet, but the story implies they know him personally. When did they have a good-bye scene where he said they would meet again soon? It wasn't until the last page I realized the Kingdom of Sweets and the Land of Dark Chocolate were two different places. I just thought since this was a black-centric version of the nutcracker, the authors were changing the names of things to suit their narrative. Like the prince being called Ungraceful or the snow king. B. Sincere.
As someone who is terrible at grammar, the fact I picked up on grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, not to mention awkward sentence structure, that often means it is truly terrible. (To be fair the story may be better read aloud, but I doubt it.)
And considering the end for the Rat Queen. Why can't villains be villains anymore? The rat queen apparently was under a curse that caused her to be evil. So now the curse is broken somehow. ( Clara randomly broke a red amulet that apparently was the key to the Queen's power) She frees the orphans, becomes an angel and flies away into the light. To be fair the queen wasn't all that evil. Her plans being foiled and her tricks being averted are mentioned consistently but all I could see was the two kids going on a low-stakes journey. No idea what the rat queen's plans were or how they managed to circumvent them. Maybe by singing and dancing for the most part.
Overall I did see glimpses of a decent story. Ungraceful's lost memory slowly returning as he journey's home. Clara being a true companion and friend along the way. (like say when she sings to lift his spirits in the Forest of Doubt, or remembers the Rat Queen likes to dance (no idea when or where she picked up that information) so plays a flute that leads to her defeat.)
So recommended? No.
For the majority of this I just wanted to re read the original, or another version that had beautiful artwork and a cohesive story. I do not mind Nutcracker adaptations. I even enjoyed the horribly animated Nuttiest Nutcracker Ever. but this isn't one I'll ever revisit.
Buy/Borrow? Don't waste your money on this one.
I have some notes.
...
Just because it's supposed to be a children's book doesn't mean you can put out shoddy work.
Okay. So it's a bit early for me to start reading Christmas books but the cover looked cute so I picked it up...
The pictures are cutesy, but they are AI which I know irritates some people. and they get really repetitive. It's the same image of Clara and the Prince just with slight variations, ditto with the rat queen. Given that this is a children's book pictures are a part of world building. They inform on the story and make it more enjoyable. Every single one of these was a portrait shot basically. People only with very little of the world Clara finds herself in.
I don't know if it was the formatting of my kindle book, which might have made it worse. But the story was extremely choppy and there were plot holes everywhere. I just read an ABC book about the letters of the alphabet with less words that was more coherent then this! They were climbing a coconut tree and it was cute and I enjoyed that book way more than this one.
While reading I had to repeat pages to figure out if I missed something. No it just wasn't there. For example. Spoilers , by the way, At the end of the book or i guess about halfway. The rat queen goes to attack the kingdom. A small rat stays behind to tell her captive orphans (who appeared out of previously) the queen is headed to destroy the kingdom. The orphans then tell the prince she's on her way. When and how did the orphans get a message to the Prince before the rat queen got there? not to mention he hasn't met them yet, but the story implies they know him personally. When did they have a good-bye scene where he said they would meet again soon? It wasn't until the last page I realized the Kingdom of Sweets and the Land of Dark Chocolate were two different places. I just thought since this was a black-centric version of the nutcracker, the authors were changing the names of things to suit their narrative. Like the prince being called Ungraceful or the snow king. B. Sincere.
As someone who is terrible at grammar, the fact I picked up on grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, not to mention awkward sentence structure, that often means it is truly terrible. (To be fair the story may be better read aloud, but I doubt it.)
And considering the end for the Rat Queen. Why can't villains be villains anymore? The rat queen apparently was under a curse that caused her to be evil. So now the curse is broken somehow. ( Clara randomly broke a red amulet that apparently was the key to the Queen's power) She frees the orphans, becomes an angel and flies away into the light. To be fair the queen wasn't all that evil. Her plans being foiled and her tricks being averted are mentioned consistently but all I could see was the two kids going on a low-stakes journey. No idea what the rat queen's plans were or how they managed to circumvent them. Maybe by singing and dancing for the most part.
Overall I did see glimpses of a decent story. Ungraceful's lost memory slowly returning as he journey's home. Clara being a true companion and friend along the way. (like say when she sings to lift his spirits in the Forest of Doubt, or remembers the Rat Queen likes to dance (no idea when or where she picked up that information) so plays a flute that leads to her defeat.)
So recommended? No.
For the majority of this I just wanted to re read the original, or another version that had beautiful artwork and a cohesive story. I do not mind Nutcracker adaptations. I even enjoyed the horribly animated Nuttiest Nutcracker Ever. but this isn't one I'll ever revisit.
Buy/Borrow? Don't waste your money on this one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review