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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
Another soft DNF— it’s just not the vibe right now.
the writing style was overdone & the story just wasn’t interesting to me. unfortunate because the premise seemed interesting to me
medium-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:
Yes
Dear Nocturne,
You had all of the things that I thought I would love. Ballet, music, mystery, you had all the parts of a beautiful story. Unfortunately, you really fell down on the writing for me. There were so many similes that it was distracting. Grace was also a bit dense when it came to putting together what was happening around her. It was painfully obvious to me who Mr. Russo was, but Grace simply could not see it. I often found myself rolling my eyes or yelling at her, because it was so apparent to me. You really tried to be mysterious and lyrically written, but missed the mark.
You had all of the things that I thought I would love. Ballet, music, mystery, you had all the parts of a beautiful story. Unfortunately, you really fell down on the writing for me. There were so many similes that it was distracting. Grace was also a bit dense when it came to putting together what was happening around her. It was painfully obvious to me who Mr. Russo was, but Grace simply could not see it. I often found myself rolling my eyes or yelling at her, because it was so apparent to me. You really tried to be mysterious and lyrically written, but missed the mark.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An absolutely lovely dark Gothic novel. A bit slow, but would definitely recommend for anyone whose favorite scene is the ballroom sequence from the 1986 movie Labyrinth.
adventurous
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:
Yes
This is such a surreal, beautifully written story. Not a book to fly through quickly but a story and words to be savored.
The first half especially I was entranced by, the story has such a bleak, aching sadness to it that really pulls at your heart. Midway everything goes through a kind of hazy but significant shift and it took me a minute to settle into it. The biggest thing that bothered me throughout is the Chicago setting…I would have really preferred an unnamed place/world. The real world-ness felt like too stark a contrast to the surreal otherness of the story. Maybe that was intentional but I found it jarring in a way that kept taking me out of the story instead of being able to fully lose myself in the beautiful writing.
If you prefer fast paced, plot driven books and want to be able to analyze and make sense of everything that happens while you’re reading - this book may not be for you. If you like slipping into beautiful, lyrical writing and slowly falling through, like a surreal dream of beautiful words and feelings without needing everything to make perfect sense - then this is something you may like. I personally really enjoyed it and have added the author’s previous book to my tbr so I can read that too!
The first half especially I was entranced by, the story has such a bleak, aching sadness to it that really pulls at your heart. Midway everything goes through a kind of hazy but significant shift and it took me a minute to settle into it. The biggest thing that bothered me throughout is the Chicago setting…I would have really preferred an unnamed place/world. The real world-ness felt like too stark a contrast to the surreal otherness of the story. Maybe that was intentional but I found it jarring in a way that kept taking me out of the story instead of being able to fully lose myself in the beautiful writing.
If you prefer fast paced, plot driven books and want to be able to analyze and make sense of everything that happens while you’re reading - this book may not be for you. If you like slipping into beautiful, lyrical writing and slowly falling through, like a surreal dream of beautiful words and feelings without needing everything to make perfect sense - then this is something you may like. I personally really enjoyed it and have added the author’s previous book to my tbr so I can read that too!
dark
mysterious
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My gripe was the prose; it was too....poetic and lyrical. Parts one and three were snoozefest but I liked part two well enough. To me, it felt like pulling teeth partly because I'm not into books with this sort of prose. The romance?? Uh...I'm still looking for it. I felt nothing when Grace and Master La Rosa were together. The fact that it took Master La Rosa's death for Grace to realize that Sleep was actually his brother was an eye roll. I'm not sure if Wees purposefully made the signs obvious but anyone who is shocked by the revelation should work on their critical thinking skills. This book was not for me.