It was a lovely story up to before the end. I think that the last part where the nephew returns happened too abruptly and it didn't tied nicely. I would have given it 5 stars if it would have ended when Mary woke up and it looked as if she had been dreaming or if the return of the nutcracker and the wedding had been connected better. His return felt abrupt and disconnected from the rest of the story. I felt as if I was reading two different endings and one of the endings was independent or part of a different version of the same story. Other than that it is a good story. Some themes that are explored in it: dream and reality, friendship and sacrifice, unconditional love, judging people by what they do and not by how they look, making independent, critical decisions to help a friend and stand up for them even when it is not easy to do that.