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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
I was interested in reading this tale because I grew up in the Chicagoland area and am usually drawn to historical fiction/fantasy that takes place here.
Grace is a ballerina who is chosen by an unseen patron to be the prima in her dance company. What seems an odd choice for an untrained dancer proves correct when she is essentially sold to her benefactor who in turn is actually Death itself.
Despite its lyrical prose, Nocturne fell flat for me in its plot development. A patchwork quilt of elements from Phantom of the Opera, myth of Hades and Persephone, Beauty and the Beast and maybe The Red Shoe, the author doesn’t seem to be able to settle on any one retelling and as a result, the story felt incredibly disjointed. Grace was not a particularly likeable character and the ending did not make much sense given her established personality. Through much of the novel I was left confused as to how and why events were unfolding.
Fans of lyrical retellings may enjoy this one, however for me there were just one too many plot points that were beyond suspension of disbelief, even for a historical fantasy.
Thank you to NetGalley, Alyssa Wees, and Del Rey for this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
Grace is a ballerina who is chosen by an unseen patron to be the prima in her dance company. What seems an odd choice for an untrained dancer proves correct when she is essentially sold to her benefactor who in turn is actually Death itself.
Despite its lyrical prose, Nocturne fell flat for me in its plot development. A patchwork quilt of elements from Phantom of the Opera, myth of Hades and Persephone, Beauty and the Beast and maybe The Red Shoe, the author doesn’t seem to be able to settle on any one retelling and as a result, the story felt incredibly disjointed. Grace was not a particularly likeable character and the ending did not make much sense given her established personality. Through much of the novel I was left confused as to how and why events were unfolding.
Fans of lyrical retellings may enjoy this one, however for me there were just one too many plot points that were beyond suspension of disbelief, even for a historical fantasy.
Thank you to NetGalley, Alyssa Wees, and Del Rey for this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
I read an eARC of this book so thank you to Net Galley, the author and the publisher for allowing this.
This book contains so many things I love so was primed and ready to adore this book. The setting is one I enjoy, it’s got ballet, violins, elements of fairy tale and gothic horror. However, the overall narrative just didn’t quite work for me.
It felt a little unbalanced. There were times where it was very over descriptive, with entire paragraphs describing things that only needed a sentence in a way that was quite jarring and took me out of the overall narrative. On the other hand there was content I really wanted to hear more of, and it was glossed over.
The choice of 1930s Chicago as a setting was a clever and interesting choice. The way this is presented as a culmination of so much death worked within the context of the story. I thought this was a great choice but we didn’t see the setting explored enough. This made the story feel unique and I wanted to see more of it.
Our protagonist Grace would have benefited from more character building. There were some good foundations but we didn’t see enough personality. She has very little agency in this book and is just being told what to do. She seems to be dreaming of escape no matter where she is, but doesn’t act on it. She’s a wonderfully talented individual, a ballet dancer and violinist and there was an undercurrent of anxiety that could have been explored more. She had the makings of an interesting character but it was too paper thin. This wasn’t a long book so there was definitely space to give us more depth on Grace and the setting which would have helped the author’s wonderful ideas come to life better.
The book is in three parts. The first part I found quite dry and it felt too long in the overall structure of the book. The second part was best and started to build some great tension to the narrative, this is where we start to see the overall ideas of the book come to life and this for me is where I felt most engaged. The third part however, was confusing. The ending felt quite rushed and chaotic.
I thought the author had some really fascinating ideas within this book and there was a lot to like. I just needed more character and world building and less description of details that didn’t add to the story to have really enjoyed this book.
This book contains so many things I love so was primed and ready to adore this book. The setting is one I enjoy, it’s got ballet, violins, elements of fairy tale and gothic horror. However, the overall narrative just didn’t quite work for me.
It felt a little unbalanced. There were times where it was very over descriptive, with entire paragraphs describing things that only needed a sentence in a way that was quite jarring and took me out of the overall narrative. On the other hand there was content I really wanted to hear more of, and it was glossed over.
The choice of 1930s Chicago as a setting was a clever and interesting choice. The way this is presented as a culmination of so much death worked within the context of the story. I thought this was a great choice but we didn’t see the setting explored enough. This made the story feel unique and I wanted to see more of it.
Our protagonist Grace would have benefited from more character building. There were some good foundations but we didn’t see enough personality. She has very little agency in this book and is just being told what to do. She seems to be dreaming of escape no matter where she is, but doesn’t act on it. She’s a wonderfully talented individual, a ballet dancer and violinist and there was an undercurrent of anxiety that could have been explored more. She had the makings of an interesting character but it was too paper thin. This wasn’t a long book so there was definitely space to give us more depth on Grace and the setting which would have helped the author’s wonderful ideas come to life better.
The book is in three parts. The first part I found quite dry and it felt too long in the overall structure of the book. The second part was best and started to build some great tension to the narrative, this is where we start to see the overall ideas of the book come to life and this for me is where I felt most engaged. The third part however, was confusing. The ending felt quite rushed and chaotic.
I thought the author had some really fascinating ideas within this book and there was a lot to like. I just needed more character and world building and less description of details that didn’t add to the story to have really enjoyed this book.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow! What on earth did I just read????
I’m just in shock. I went into this book knowing the bare minimum that this is about an orphaned ballerina named Grace would gets a mysterious patron. Best thing was going into this book slightly blinded because there is a fantasy element to it and it’s just wild. Not what I was expecting at all.
The actual writing is so lyrical and haunting, I loved the descriptions and especially the metaphors, everything synchronized so well. All the characters were well developed and I can picture them in my head. But most strikingly is just how vivid this novel is to me, and the emotions throughout. The plot is really well developed and unexpected, most of the plot twists were so wild to me, and they made sense and I love how everything connected in this story - from symbolism to characters.
Part 1 was my favorite this atmosphere of desperation and passion intertwined was so breathtaking and the author is able to seamlessly bring flashbacks into the present. Part 2 was crazy. I was just like what the hell is happening, did not expect the novel to go into this path. Part 3 was sad but beautiful.
Really glad I picked this novel up, main things are crazy plot didn’t expect it at all and such beautiful, magical, haunting writing. This book felt a lot like a Tim Burton movie. I’d sum this book up as Tim Burton meets ballet.
I’m just in shock. I went into this book knowing the bare minimum that this is about an orphaned ballerina named Grace would gets a mysterious patron. Best thing was going into this book slightly blinded because there is a fantasy element to it and it’s just wild. Not what I was expecting at all.
The actual writing is so lyrical and haunting, I loved the descriptions and especially the metaphors, everything synchronized so well. All the characters were well developed and I can picture them in my head. But most strikingly is just how vivid this novel is to me, and the emotions throughout. The plot is really well developed and unexpected, most of the plot twists were so wild to me, and they made sense and I love how everything connected in this story - from symbolism to characters.
Part 1 was my favorite this atmosphere of desperation and passion intertwined was so breathtaking and the author is able to seamlessly bring flashbacks into the present. Part 2 was crazy. I was just like what the hell is happening, did not expect the novel to go into this path. Part 3 was sad but beautiful.
Really glad I picked this novel up, main things are crazy plot didn’t expect it at all and such beautiful, magical, haunting writing. This book felt a lot like a Tim Burton movie. I’d sum this book up as Tim Burton meets ballet.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was just lovely, in some surprising ways. The plot was often predictable in a fairy tale-ish way (reminded me of parts of The Starless Sea in the way it sometimes felt inexorable, or like fate) but not always, sometimes Grace's choices and their consequences were surprising to me, but the end felt appropriate to the rest of the story anyway. I also appreciated Grace as a character, as she consistently chose kindness and warmth where she didn't have to, but also did the best she could to stand up to people when she thought she should. She lived up to her name, in a way that really contributed to the fairy tale-ness of the story.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
5.5/6
This is a weird rating for me, I feel because this book had things I usually dislike/that annoy me. Like the flowery language and constant metaphors and ambling prose. Most of the time I dislike it cuz I'm like "just get on with it!" lol But this time, idk what it was, but I really enjoyed it. Maybe it was the slightly overcast-then-sunny day, maybe it was that I read all day on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Or maybe it was because the book wasn't very long. Regardless, I loved it. It was haunting, and it really felt like a slushy, dreary winter, exactly when the story took place, it captured the essence well!
I was able to make some guesses about the story that I was surprised that Grace didn't make herself. And I was so so happy with the fairy tale/magic piece of the story, if that wasn't there, I think the book would have been lacking that. This would have gotten a perfect 6/6 score for me if the story hadn't ended the way it did. It was not as HEA as I was hoping, it was more bittersweet, which left it feeling incomplete to me. I hope in the future that the little white dove leads Grace back to the Master
This is a weird rating for me, I feel because this book had things I usually dislike/that annoy me. Like the flowery language and constant metaphors and ambling prose. Most of the time I dislike it cuz I'm like "just get on with it!" lol But this time, idk what it was, but I really enjoyed it. Maybe it was the slightly overcast-then-sunny day, maybe it was that I read all day on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Or maybe it was because the book wasn't very long. Regardless, I loved it. It was haunting, and it really felt like a slushy, dreary winter, exactly when the story took place, it captured the essence well!
I was able to make some guesses about the story that I was surprised that Grace didn't make herself. And I was so so happy with the fairy tale/magic piece of the story, if that wasn't there, I think the book would have been lacking that. This would have gotten a perfect 6/6 score for me if the story hadn't ended the way it did. It was not as HEA as I was hoping, it was more bittersweet, which left it feeling incomplete to me. I hope in the future that the little white dove leads Grace back to the Master
***ARC received from Del Rey Books and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***
Nocturne in the sophomore novel from Alyss Wees set in Chicago during the depression era of the 1930s. It follows Grace, a ballet companies newest prima ballerina who must unravel the mysteries of her new patron, Master La Rosa. The books draws inspiration from Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast with a sprinkling of the myth of Persephone. Yet for all those inspirations it still does feel like its own story when it wants to.
Grace as a main lead is not strong enough to carry this book on her own. She is consistently being told what to do by others and has little agency as a character. When she does finally come into her own it, feels to abrupt and to close to the end of the book. We don’t really get to follow along with her on that journey because even almost to the end of the book she is still more than willing to do what others want of her and not trust her own heart. What I did like about Grace was when she was interacting with other characters, in particular Emilia and some of the other ballerinas. The friendship between Emilia and Grace is beautiful, Emilia is the supporting family that Grace needs after the loss of her own family. I wish the book had focused more on their friendship as when they are together is a wonderful read. There is a romance but its not really fleshed out enough to root for them. In fact, Emilia’s romance with her fiance felt more fleshed out and realistic than the main romance.
The writing is beautiful but it is heavy. At times it is lovely and lyrical, bringing scenes alive with beautiful descriptions until it becomes convoluted and heavy handed. When the book is going over ballet and taking place in Chicago its great you can feel the authors love for Chicago and brings it alive. Yet in the second part it spends less time in Chicago and starts to get too heavy. There were whole sections that I simply got lost at what the author was trying to do. Its not bad just that the descriptions become so much, the details written in these long over the top sentence that cause the details to get lost, trying to be beautiful and hiding the fact that its not really doing anything.
It was in the third part that the book really lost me, it felt like it was trying to break away from those stories it was drawing inspiration from. I didn’t hate it but I felt like there wasn’t much build up to it because everything is jammed into the end of the book instead of developing over the book. Maybe if the book had been longer or maybe spread out more it would have been better.
Overall its an unbalanced book with a strong start, shaky middle section and overwhelmed ending with beautiful but at times heavy writing.
Nocturne in the sophomore novel from Alyss Wees set in Chicago during the depression era of the 1930s. It follows Grace, a ballet companies newest prima ballerina who must unravel the mysteries of her new patron, Master La Rosa. The books draws inspiration from Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast with a sprinkling of the myth of Persephone. Yet for all those inspirations it still does feel like its own story when it wants to.
Grace as a main lead is not strong enough to carry this book on her own. She is consistently being told what to do by others and has little agency as a character. When she does finally come into her own it, feels to abrupt and to close to the end of the book. We don’t really get to follow along with her on that journey because even almost to the end of the book she is still more than willing to do what others want of her and not trust her own heart. What I did like about Grace was when she was interacting with other characters, in particular Emilia and some of the other ballerinas. The friendship between Emilia and Grace is beautiful, Emilia is the supporting family that Grace needs after the loss of her own family. I wish the book had focused more on their friendship as when they are together is a wonderful read. There is a romance but its not really fleshed out enough to root for them. In fact, Emilia’s romance with her fiance felt more fleshed out and realistic than the main romance.
The writing is beautiful but it is heavy. At times it is lovely and lyrical, bringing scenes alive with beautiful descriptions until it becomes convoluted and heavy handed. When the book is going over ballet and taking place in Chicago its great you can feel the authors love for Chicago and brings it alive. Yet in the second part it spends less time in Chicago and starts to get too heavy. There were whole sections that I simply got lost at what the author was trying to do. Its not bad just that the descriptions become so much, the details written in these long over the top sentence that cause the details to get lost, trying to be beautiful and hiding the fact that its not really doing anything.
It was in the third part that the book really lost me, it felt like it was trying to break away from those stories it was drawing inspiration from. I didn’t hate it but I felt like there wasn’t much build up to it because everything is jammed into the end of the book instead of developing over the book. Maybe if the book had been longer or maybe spread out more it would have been better.
Overall its an unbalanced book with a strong start, shaky middle section and overwhelmed ending with beautiful but at times heavy writing.
medium-paced