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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
4/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, Hades and Persephone, ballet, magic, curses, fairytales
Big thanks to Netgalley, Del Ray, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This book has aspects of several different fairytales/myths rolled up into one beautiful package. There's Hades and Persephone, Death and the Maiden, and Beauty and the Beast. The book was a bit predictable, though I feel like that's my adage for a lot of books. There was a good mix of things I was able to guess and things that surprised me. The ending did surprise me, and I thought the way Wees wrote it was very interesting.
The book does have a lot of descriptions and purple prose, but I liked it. I enjoyed the descriptions and found they helped emphasize certain strange and magical instances throughout the book. It also serves to indicate when something Isn't Right, because there will be gaps in the description (such as the trip to/from Master La Rosa's house).
Grace is someone who's faced a lot of loss in her life. The ballet and her best friend, Emilia, are her only solaces. Grace is an interesting character because she simultaneously has so much fight in her but also a desire to just give in to the magic surrounding her at Master La Rosa's house. I will say this: whatever she decides, she throws herself wholeheartedly into it. There were some moments when she did something that made me go really, but overall she was good at sorting through her thoughts and coming to a conclusion that would meet her needs and wants.
Emilia is only a side character but she's such a good friend. She's excited over Grace's accomplishments and supports her through her journey in this book. No matter how crazy things seem, she's more than willing to reach out a hand to help her friend. She seems like a solid person to have on your side, and I'm glad that she was continually there for Grace.
Master La Rosa is somewhat of a mysterious figure even after Grace begins living with him. His role is pretty obvious from that point on, but I don't really feel like we get to know him even as Grace feels like she does. There's also the situation with how he acted in the private box vs. how he acts in virtually every other scene after that. I think it would've been better had he been developed into a more well-rounded character. As it stands, I sort of get the appeal, but don't really feel that connection. I liked the magic in the book. The other world, where Noctem is located, is interesting. I liked the take on death and spirits, and the 'monsters' had an interesting connection.
This is a little nitpicky of me, but some of the ballet stuff was a little off. For one thing, Firebird was first performed in the US in 1916, not in the 1930s. Second, Grace at one point mentions she dances 12 (I think, maybe 10) performances of Firebird and used 7 pointe shoes...except full solo/prima performances usually wear out pointe shoes, and that's today. In Grace's time, pointe shoes were less sturdy, so she really should've gone through at least a dozen pairs, if not more during the show's running. There were some other things that I noticed, but the timeline and pointe shoe thing particularly stood out.
I think the ending is satisfying as well. It isn't a traditional HEA, but I think it fits. It also really reinforces that Grace's decision is her own and not her being wrapped up in love or lust or whatever.
Overal, I enjoyed the book and think Grace's story is interesting. I liked the ending both because it's satisfying and because I think it matches well with a lot of ballet endings, which kind of fits the theme.
Recommended if you like: fantasy, Hades and Persephone, ballet, magic, curses, fairytales
Big thanks to Netgalley, Del Ray, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This book has aspects of several different fairytales/myths rolled up into one beautiful package. There's Hades and Persephone, Death and the Maiden, and Beauty and the Beast. The book was a bit predictable, though I feel like that's my adage for a lot of books. There was a good mix of things I was able to guess and things that surprised me. The ending did surprise me, and I thought the way Wees wrote it was very interesting.
The book does have a lot of descriptions and purple prose, but I liked it. I enjoyed the descriptions and found they helped emphasize certain strange and magical instances throughout the book. It also serves to indicate when something Isn't Right, because there will be gaps in the description (such as the trip to/from Master La Rosa's house).
Grace is someone who's faced a lot of loss in her life. The ballet and her best friend, Emilia, are her only solaces. Grace is an interesting character because she simultaneously has so much fight in her but also a desire to just give in to the magic surrounding her at Master La Rosa's house. I will say this: whatever she decides, she throws herself wholeheartedly into it. There were some moments when she did something that made me go really, but overall she was good at sorting through her thoughts and coming to a conclusion that would meet her needs and wants.
Emilia is only a side character but she's such a good friend. She's excited over Grace's accomplishments and supports her through her journey in this book. No matter how crazy things seem, she's more than willing to reach out a hand to help her friend. She seems like a solid person to have on your side, and I'm glad that she was continually there for Grace.
Master La Rosa is somewhat of a mysterious figure even after Grace begins living with him. His role is pretty obvious from that point on, but I don't really feel like we get to know him even as Grace feels like she does. There's also the situation with how he acted in the private box vs. how he acts in virtually every other scene after that. I think it would've been better had he been developed into a more well-rounded character. As it stands, I sort of get the appeal, but don't really feel that connection. I liked the magic in the book. The other world, where Noctem is located, is interesting. I liked the take on death and spirits, and the 'monsters' had an interesting connection.
This is a little nitpicky of me, but some of the ballet stuff was a little off. For one thing, Firebird was first performed in the US in 1916, not in the 1930s. Second, Grace at one point mentions she dances 12 (I think, maybe 10) performances of Firebird and used 7 pointe shoes...except full solo/prima performances usually wear out pointe shoes, and that's today. In Grace's time, pointe shoes were less sturdy, so she really should've gone through at least a dozen pairs, if not more during the show's running. There were some other things that I noticed, but the timeline and pointe shoe thing particularly stood out.
I think the ending is satisfying as well. It isn't a traditional HEA, but I think it fits. It also really reinforces that Grace's decision is her own and not her being wrapped up in love or lust or whatever.
Overal, I enjoyed the book and think Grace's story is interesting. I liked the ending both because it's satisfying and because I think it matches well with a lot of ballet endings, which kind of fits the theme.
I DNF’d this one at about 20%. The synopsis was interesting and the writing is lovely but the plot/pace was slow and I was bored, just couldn’t get into the book. The chapters are long and this just wasn’t the book for me right now. I might come back to it later, but for right now I’m moving on.
i’m not sure how to rate this because it goes both ways for me. i feel like i kinda got increasingly uninterested during the second half, and i grew more disconnected from the story. i found myself skipping the incredibly descriptive paragraphs in this book. i don’t know if i’d say it was overwritten, because there still were some beautifully written sections in this ! i’m not sure if i’d consider this a beauty and the beast retelling, because it was like a mixture of so many different things. a bunch of random plot points started happing during the last 10% and also just so much happened during the second half. i felt like a lot was going on, and i wanted more of some characters and less of others. still, i enjoyed the themes and plot of this story. the beautiful cover drew me in as well as the description (ballet, magical realism, and just everything). it had darker themes than i thought it would, and i wasn’t as fond as the themes of death (plus the portrayal of death personified) and such in this book (also just the dude’s name being master la rosa, i don’t know why). overall, i would give this 2.5-3 stars. i could see someone else really enjoying this. this just wasn’t for me, and that’s okay !
thank you to netgalley and ballantine for providing me with an eARC of this book !!
thank you to netgalley and ballantine for providing me with an eARC of this book !!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have very mixed feelings about this book. The overwhelming feeling is that I loved it, but I do have a few complaints. I'm not sure I can address all of them 100% spoiler-free so be cautious with this review. To start, the book began VERY slowly. Like DNF slowly. It definitely wasn't a "hook me from the beginning" kind of book. I wasn't really hooked until about halfway through, but when that happened I was already well past my bedtime and still couldn't put the book down. I was only able to go to bed once I finished, that's how hooked I was. I do think the ending could have used some improvement. I didn't like that it took Grace so long to put the pieces together, and that she let Mr. Russo sway her decision so suddenly, but I understand that it was used to progress the story and that it helped emphasis the power of Death vs Sleep. I wish though that there had been more with Death after the big moment. There was an emphasis on giving up his mortal human form and I was yearning for an appearance in the afterlife so that everyone got their HEA. I felt like Grace deserved more than what she got.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I still don’t know how I feel about this one. Reading it sometimes felt like a nightmare. It had a lot of fairytale elements that I loved, and I really enjoyed the first half especially. I think the second half lost me a little bit, and I wish the plot had been more clear. The writing was beautiful but sometimes overwrought. Overall though, it wasn’t like anything I’ve read in a while and it was definitely worth the read.
I still don’t know how I feel about this one. Reading it sometimes felt like a nightmare. It had a lot of fairytale elements that I loved, and I really enjoyed the first half especially. I think the second half lost me a little bit, and I wish the plot had been more clear. The writing was beautiful but sometimes overwrought. Overall though, it wasn’t like anything I’ve read in a while and it was definitely worth the read.
This book is being marketed as a ballet version of Phantom of the Opera, but it bears hardly any resemblance to that story at all. It feels most similar to Beauty and the Beast. There are also elements of Greek mythology and fairytales that just felt like a mishmash of too many ideas for me. Grace, the protagonist, even has a scene where she attempts some kind of religious reconciliation between her own Catholic faith and the Greek mythology she seems to be living.
The premise of the story was okay. I thought the execution was very choppy and disjointed. In many moments, I was confused about why things were happening or what a specific flashback had to do with the story. Unfortunately, I also thought that the entire book felt very “low stakes.” Even when some tension had successfully been built, problems were resolved quickly and simply. The only big consequence was during the climax of the story.
On top of the flawed storytelling, there were too many descriptions of things that didn’t add to characterization or mood, while at the same time, there were virtually no descriptions of the characters themselves. And I found that there was an excess of similes using “like” on each page. They honestly weren’t there to clarify any difficult or nuanced ideas, so I can only imagine the author used them to try and make her prose more beautiful.
I don’t think this book was terrible, but I did feel that it was incredibly juvenile. Why this is being marketed as “adult fantasy” is beyond me. Disregarding Grace’s age, this would fit very snugly within the YA fantasy category. And to be honest, Grace referring to herself as a “girl,” as well as her thoughts and actions, made me think she was very young.
The premise of the story was okay. I thought the execution was very choppy and disjointed. In many moments, I was confused about why things were happening or what a specific flashback had to do with the story. Unfortunately, I also thought that the entire book felt very “low stakes.” Even when some tension had successfully been built, problems were resolved quickly and simply. The only big consequence was during the climax of the story.
On top of the flawed storytelling, there were too many descriptions of things that didn’t add to characterization or mood, while at the same time, there were virtually no descriptions of the characters themselves. And I found that there was an excess of similes using “like” on each page. They honestly weren’t there to clarify any difficult or nuanced ideas, so I can only imagine the author used them to try and make her prose more beautiful.
I don’t think this book was terrible, but I did feel that it was incredibly juvenile. Why this is being marketed as “adult fantasy” is beyond me. Disregarding Grace’s age, this would fit very snugly within the YA fantasy category. And to be honest, Grace referring to herself as a “girl,” as well as her thoughts and actions, made me think she was very young.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book has so much going on, but none of it feels fully fleshed out. The love interest feels more like a concept than a character. The 1930s Chicago setting consists of a few mentions of Al Capone and not much else. The author uses her knowledge of ballet to throw in a bunch of dance terms in passing, but doesn’t actually give any meaningful descriptions of the kinds of choreography they did, the way they conducted ballet class, the clothing they danced in, or the contemporary choreographers or ballet stars of the time.
It’s being marketed as “Phantom of the Opera” inspired but it’s actually that plus Beauty and the Beast… and Russian folklore… and Greek mythology. Honestly, it’s too much.
Overall this felt like the author had a lot of interesting ideas but never really figured out what story she wanted to tell, and the result is disjointed and unsatisfying.
Content Warnings
Minor: Gun violence, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
*Review Coming Closer to Release Date*
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced