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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Nocturne, by Alyssa Wees, is a historical fantasy set in the 1930s, and it follows a young ballerina named Grace Dragotta who gets swept up in a dramatic tale of death and love.
When I noticed the book on Netgalley I was intrigued, and when I saw Booklist’s starred review, I thought I had to read the book.
“An utterly unique, lyrical play on the Persephone and Hades myth for fans of Neil Gaiman or Madeline Miller.”—Booklist (starred review)
I love historical fantasy more than anything, I’ve done ballet my whole life, and I’ve been obsessed with Greek mythology since I stumbled across my family’s illustrated copy of D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths which wasn’t all that long after I learned to read.
So Nocturne should have been perfect, right?
Wrong.
I loved the idea, and I really wanted to love the book. But despite an interesting premise and an almost vibrant cast of characters, the writing, confusing pacing, and unclear plot made this book fall short of its tantalizing promise. The book seemed so set on being a literary masterpiece that it forgot to focus on what should have been the center of the novel: the story itself.
Grace Dragotta, known as Little Bird to some, has been surrounded by death her whole life. After the deaths of her brother and mother, she wanders into a dance studio one day and is taken in by the ballet Mistress, who teaches her ballet.
Seven years later she is finally promoted to prima. For her first season in that position, she is set to play the lead role of the Firebird in the ballet Stravinsky ballet of that name.
But, as it turns out, she wasn’t just promoted for her skills. A mysterious man, the secretive Master LaRosa, requested she be given the role, in return for him being the struggling ballet company’s new patron.
After the shows of the Firebird are over, she learns that part of the deal with Master LaRosa was also that she must live with him in his palace, and that she must dance with him once a week.
The premise itself is interesting and is where the first star of this two-star review comes from.
The reason for the second star was that the characters aren’t totally flat. Grace, Emilia, and even more minor characters like Beatrice had depth, and felt recognizable despite the distracting and convoluted prose.
Emilia was the prima ballerina in the company before Grace but is leaving to go get married and raise a family. She’s Grace’s best friend, but also is much more. The book gives her a personality, a life not only outside of Grace’s story but outside of ballet as well.
I appreciated that she, along with Beatrice, another dancer, and Mr. Russo, who works for Master LaRosa, feel like real people, not just unimportant side characters.
Yet the writing of Nocturne is the reason that I can’t give this book more than two stars out of five.
The prose wasn’t just distracting – the page-long descriptions of the most trivial things were unbearable and made it a chore to get through the book.
Fixing the pacing could have partially made up for the overly ornate writing, but instead made the story drag on forever until the whirlwind ending.
The last chapters of the book were a jumble of plot twists and drama, but it all felt very rushed. If the pacing had been better, I would have enjoyed the book a lot more, but there was so much setup and description in the first part of the book that it was hard to get through.
The plot was also very confusing. It was partially a Hades-Persephone retelling, but there wasn’t enough of the myth there to make it recognizable as so. In fact, at one point Grace describes the master not as Hades, god of the underworld, but as Thanatos, death himself. The Greek myth of Hades and Persephone is a fascinating one and has been retold countless times. It’s an interesting story but just isn’t obviously present in Nocturne.
Perhaps the Hades-Persephone effort is incomplete because the book is also a clumsy and half-hearted retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Master LaRosa gave Grace roses, and his beastliness was constantly reappearing in Grace’s inner monologues, all making the reader think of the princely beast who kept Belle in his castle, dancing with her until they fell in love. Oh, and did I mention that Master LaRosa has claws?
Worse still, the romance in the book, between Grace and Master LaRosa, was creepy, and not at all romantic. I just couldn’t tell what this sort of Stockholm syndrome story was intending to make the reader feel.
The incompleteness of both retellings pulled the reader in all sorts of directions during the book, with no coherent path from beginning to middle to end.
All in all, I was disappointed with Nocturne and felt that although it has an interesting premise, the execution just wasn’t there.
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review on my blog: https://booknookbits.home.blog/2023/08/08/nocturne-by-alyssa-wees-review/
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review on my blog: https://booknookbits.home.blog/2023/08/08/nocturne-by-alyssa-wees-review/
This book felt like it was trying to retell so many stories ( phantom of the opera, hades and persephone, the red dancing shoes) and yet none of these retelling were complete. And it was surrounded by a weak story with a main character that did not have much of a personality and the main love interest if you can call him that having even less of one. The conclusion is so strange and convoluted I wouldn’t even dare to call it one.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
4.5 This was a dark, haunting, atmospheric, and lyrical fantasy. It's a beauty and the beast reimagining with a little bit of greek mythology influence and some phantom of the opera vibes. I loved it!
If the ending was slightly different I would have given it a 5. I don't want to spoil anything.
If you like magical, atmospheric reads check this one out!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
If the ending was slightly different I would have given it a 5. I don't want to spoil anything.
If you like magical, atmospheric reads check this one out!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.
Grace Drogatta is a ballerina in 1930s Chicago. She's dreamed of becoming a Prima ballerina since being orphaned. When a mysterious benefactor arrives on the scene, Grace's life is thrown into a tailspin. The enigmatic Master La Rosa becomes her personal patron, offering her a chance at a life she' 'd never dreamed of.
This novel was so atmospheric! I loved the haunting quality of it and the play on light and dark. It was beautifully done and well written. It's a definite jewel in the books I've read so far this year!
Grace Drogatta is a ballerina in 1930s Chicago. She's dreamed of becoming a Prima ballerina since being orphaned. When a mysterious benefactor arrives on the scene, Grace's life is thrown into a tailspin. The enigmatic Master La Rosa becomes her personal patron, offering her a chance at a life she' 'd never dreamed of.
This novel was so atmospheric! I loved the haunting quality of it and the play on light and dark. It was beautifully done and well written. It's a definite jewel in the books I've read so far this year!
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. The following review is my honest and voluntary review.
Grace Dragotta had one dream, to be a ballerina. However, life had other plans. Her family was poor and she was orphaned at a young age. She played the violin on the streets until her dreams of becoming a ballerina came true. Eventually, she finds herself at the North Ballet Company. She was allowed to train there and was eventually promoted to prima. Soon after, she discovers that she has a patron. Who is this patron? A mysterious stranger that Grace is determined to meet. The patron then claims her and forces her to live with him and dance with him once a week, on Sunday night at midnight. Grace discovered his true identity, Death. He wants her to become his queen and rule over the kingdom with him, however, she doesn't want to marry him.
The writing style is very descriptive and read like a non-fantasy historical fiction novel for the first third. Sometimes the descriptions were a little much and sometimes (in my opinion) unneeded. I found myself skimming ahead to read through the long descriptions because I was bored. This became less frequent in last 2/3 of the book, but I still caught myself doing it. The last 2/3 of the book is where the fantasy aspect comes into play. Death takes Grace to Noctem, the city of the dead essentially, every night, but Grace is not allowed to enter until she dies. This section of the story went the fastest for me in terms of reading, but I still had to power through in some parts.
The story itself gives Phantom of the Opera/Hades and Persephone/Beauty and the Beast vibes, but also not. Death was the mysterious patron of the ballet and claimed Grace, but we never find out why. He fell in love with "her death" but no other explanation is given. The "deaths" are seen in the living in different locations, but that is all the information that is given and can cause some confusion while reading.
Overall, I give this story 3.5 because it sounded very interesting, but the plot could flow better and add more elements to it to make it less confusing in some places. I was bored at times and sometimes the flow of the story would stop or jump.
Grace Dragotta had one dream, to be a ballerina. However, life had other plans. Her family was poor and she was orphaned at a young age. She played the violin on the streets until her dreams of becoming a ballerina came true. Eventually, she finds herself at the North Ballet Company. She was allowed to train there and was eventually promoted to prima. Soon after, she discovers that she has a patron. Who is this patron? A mysterious stranger that Grace is determined to meet. The patron then claims her and forces her to live with him and dance with him once a week, on Sunday night at midnight. Grace discovered his true identity, Death. He wants her to become his queen and rule over the kingdom with him, however, she doesn't want to marry him.
The writing style is very descriptive and read like a non-fantasy historical fiction novel for the first third. Sometimes the descriptions were a little much and sometimes (in my opinion) unneeded. I found myself skimming ahead to read through the long descriptions because I was bored. This became less frequent in last 2/3 of the book, but I still caught myself doing it. The last 2/3 of the book is where the fantasy aspect comes into play. Death takes Grace to Noctem, the city of the dead essentially, every night, but Grace is not allowed to enter until she dies. This section of the story went the fastest for me in terms of reading, but I still had to power through in some parts.
The story itself gives Phantom of the Opera/Hades and Persephone/Beauty and the Beast vibes, but also not. Death was the mysterious patron of the ballet and claimed Grace, but we never find out why. He fell in love with "her death" but no other explanation is given. The "deaths" are seen in the living in different locations, but that is all the information that is given and can cause some confusion while reading.
Overall, I give this story 3.5 because it sounded very interesting, but the plot could flow better and add more elements to it to make it less confusing in some places. I was bored at times and sometimes the flow of the story would stop or jump.