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sunnybopeep 's review for:
Nocturne
by Alyssa Wees
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.