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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
slow-paced
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
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
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel.
2.5/5 stars.
Things I liked about Nocturne:
1. The writing style. It was magical and really brought me into the world. Very descriptive.
2. The dance references. The author either did research very well or knew this from her own experiences. I loved the use of proper terminology and helped me imagine the scenes. However, if I didn’t already know what the steps looked like, I would be confused. They were just name dropped for effect and never really explained. I mainly wanted to read this book because of the dance aspect, as I am a dancer.
3. The ending. I liked how all the characters and little things we had learned throughout the book connected at the end.
Things I didn’t like as much:
1. The plot. The main storyline started around page 80, which in a 227 paged book is a little later than I expected. I was also confused a lot during the later chapters, and it felt rushed at the end.
2. The romance. I thought that Grace disliked the Master, but they acted in love very soon after.
3. The setting. Early 1900s Chicago, but it could have been anywhere in the world after the beginning of the book. There was nothing that distinctly felt like Chicago to me. Noctem was interesting though, and I think that a book told entirely in Noctem would be cool.
Overall, there were just more cons than pros in this book. I did really enjoy the beginning where it was focused on Grace becoming prima ballerina, but once the fantasy elements came in, everything got confusing.
2.5/5 stars.
Things I liked about Nocturne:
1. The writing style. It was magical and really brought me into the world. Very descriptive.
2. The dance references. The author either did research very well or knew this from her own experiences. I loved the use of proper terminology and helped me imagine the scenes. However, if I didn’t already know what the steps looked like, I would be confused. They were just name dropped for effect and never really explained. I mainly wanted to read this book because of the dance aspect, as I am a dancer.
3. The ending. I liked how all the characters and little things we had learned throughout the book connected at the end.
Things I didn’t like as much:
1. The plot. The main storyline started around page 80, which in a 227 paged book is a little later than I expected. I was also confused a lot during the later chapters, and it felt rushed at the end.
2. The romance. I thought that Grace disliked the Master, but they acted in love very soon after.
3. The setting. Early 1900s Chicago, but it could have been anywhere in the world after the beginning of the book. There was nothing that distinctly felt like Chicago to me. Noctem was interesting though, and I think that a book told entirely in Noctem would be cool.
Overall, there were just more cons than pros in this book. I did really enjoy the beginning where it was focused on Grace becoming prima ballerina, but once the fantasy elements came in, everything got confusing.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
"All vibes no plot" girlies rejoice! Nocturne is just the book for you. This was so lovely and atmospheric and evocative that I adored it even though I had no idea what was going on in the 2nd half of the book. I didn't even care that nothing made sense because all I knew was how it was making me feel, and I love books that can just sweep me away like that.
Purple prose haters, this is NOT the book for you... while you could definitely call the writing overly descriptive/flowery, I thought it worked super well in this story and made everything feel so lush and romantic. I also really liked Grace as a character and thought the story's focus on her friendship with Emilia was beautiful. This book was like... the plot of Beauty and the Beast with the vibes of Hades and Persephone and the style of The Night Circus... but set in cold and dark 1930s Chicago with a fairytale flair. I ate it the hell up.
"All vibes no plot" girlies rejoice! Nocturne is just the book for you. This was so lovely and atmospheric and evocative that I adored it even though I had no idea what was going on in the 2nd half of the book. I didn't even care that nothing made sense because all I knew was how it was making me feel, and I love books that can just sweep me away like that.
Purple prose haters, this is NOT the book for you... while you could definitely call the writing overly descriptive/flowery, I thought it worked super well in this story and made everything feel so lush and romantic. I also really liked Grace as a character and thought the story's focus on her friendship with Emilia was beautiful. This book was like... the plot of Beauty and the Beast with the vibes of Hades and Persephone and the style of The Night Circus... but set in cold and dark 1930s Chicago with a fairytale flair. I ate it the hell up.
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
mysterious
sad
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:
No
Thanks to #Netgalley and #RandomHouseBallantine for the advance copy. The opinions are my own.
I struggled with this story. Verbose, overly descriptive and not in a pretty way, confusing motivations - I found it challenging to stay engaged with the story. A story of a young girl's surviving a difficult childhood, orphaned young, taken in at a small ballet school, eventually becoming a prima ballerina, finding a patron who ends up being 'Death'. Sounds like it should be interesting, but it mostly wasn't. I found a few nuggets of well turned phrases, but to me that isn't enough to pull the book out of the average range.
Ultimately, the book isn't for me.
I struggled with this story. Verbose, overly descriptive and not in a pretty way, confusing motivations - I found it challenging to stay engaged with the story. A story of a young girl's surviving a difficult childhood, orphaned young, taken in at a small ballet school, eventually becoming a prima ballerina, finding a patron who ends up being 'Death'. Sounds like it should be interesting, but it mostly wasn't. I found a few nuggets of well turned phrases, but to me that isn't enough to pull the book out of the average range.
Ultimately, the book isn't for me.
slow-paced
I have read the book, I have read the summaries and blurs, I have read the reviews. I cannot for the life of me tell you what the author’s purpose is with this book. This reads like a 1950s translation of an 1800s French novel and I do not mean that positively. The first person POV actually makes it all worse?? It’s one thing to read a book that’s overwrought but it’s something entirely different when it’s first person narration. It’s like sitting at dinner with your friend’s insufferable boyfriend who took a sommelier class that he bought off Groupon and is now trying to teach you about tannins only he keeps pronouncing Merlot wrong.
Don’t trust the five star reviews. They’re lying.
Thank you/I’m sorry @ Del Rey for the eARC. This was one of my biggest wishlist books of the year and I’m so thoroughly disappointed. 1.5 rounded up because I was at least able to finish it.
Don’t trust the five star reviews. They’re lying.
Thank you/I’m sorry @ Del Rey for the eARC. This was one of my biggest wishlist books of the year and I’m so thoroughly disappointed. 1.5 rounded up because I was at least able to finish it.