I struggled with this book. The writing was so overdone that I found myself skimming instead of reading. While I found the premise interesting, overall it just wasn't for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

A lush, dreamy historical fantasy set in the ballet world, full of dark magic and forbidden love. The atmosphere is gorgeous and haunting. A little slow in pacing, but the payoff is beautifully bittersweet.

I am really unsure how to review this book. The setting had me hooked before I ever started reading, but the story is confusing, and there were too many unanswered, half-explained situations.

Nocturne is Phantom of the Opera meets the Persephone & Hades myth. Instead of a young budding opera singer, we have our barely legal prima ballerina. Enter a mysterious, tall, dark, and handsome patron who we're not sure is the villain or not; chaos subsequently follows.

It's been so long since I did ballet (10 years of it but over 20 years ago LOL) that I had to look up a bunch of the terms used but I love when technical language is used to immerse the reader in the specific setting; it makes it feel real since a professional wouldn't dumb down their language for their internal monologue. And I'd say a majority of Nocturne is internal monologue so if that bothers you, I'd suggest not reading this. I did need to remind myself a couple times that Grace is for most intents and purposes a child, a deeply troubled one at that, when she became a bit whiny.

Overall, I thought this storyline was unique especially with using the ballets performed as devices in the plot. I was able to put most of the pieces together before the reveals near the end but some were definitely meant to be obvious to the reader vs Grace so it didn't affect my enjoyment of the story as it unfolded. Grace's character development was solid and consistent as well.

I did feel like the pace became a little slow at some point and a couple of things could have been explained better. I also felt that some of the historical references were thrown in more to make the reader remember it wasn't modern day, instead of always being relevant to the plot or setting which made it a little disjointed at points.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this copy.

I want to love Alyssa Wees. I keep buying her books hoping I will love them. But her atmospheric prose goes nowhere. There is never effective payoff. Deeply disappointing.

2 stars- this wasn't for me. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I picked this one up because I'm trying to get through my backlog of ARC copies this year and this was one of the oldest books on the shelf. I don't know what story this book was supposed to tell. Look, sometimes the beautiful prose is a key part of why I love a book, but this book had no real plot. Just completely overwritten, overblown prose. I didn't need 12-15 words when 3 words would suffice. This was a disappointing read and if this is the style that Wees prefers, I don't plan to pick up any more of this author's work. I should have DNF this book, honestly. Very disappointing first read of the year.


A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Enjoyable with a gothic feel. Characters were unique, but it felt like their story wasn't over yet. Would love to see a sequel.

[Digital ARC provided by NetGalley and Random House Publishing. Thank you! -- This is a late review pulled from my reading journal and rewritten for goodreads and NetGalley]

I'll start off by saying that, if you can't handle purple prose, this isn't a book for you. This book is highly descriptive and lyrical, turning even the narrowest alleys in the poor section of the city the MC lives in into something like a winter wonderland where magic is hidden in every drop of snow and barred doorway. And THAT is something I love. Love, love, love, love, LOVE!

The story is primarily historical fiction, but it blends a bit of dark fantasy/fairytale/folktale and a dash of romance into the mix. Normally, I'm not a fan of romance, but in this case, I could swallow it just so I could follow Grace's adventure into the world of ballet and the dreamworld of Nocturne. While Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera are cited asthe main inspirations for this book, I couldn't help but make some comparisons to the Nutcracker due to elements of the plot and its setting.

The story follows Grace, an impoverished orphan girl who has survived multiple tragedies by the time we're introduced to her at the beginning of the story. She makes her coin by playing her violin on the streets, but she finds her true solace in dancing. Through a series of events, she's picked up by the Near North Ballet Company, and is trained by the mistress of the company itself to become the Prima Ballerina. At first, Grace believes her turn of fortunes is due purely to her skills and hard work finally being recognized. However, it turns out that there's more to her promotion than meets the eye, and the answer to that and many other mysteries are held by her mysterious benefactor, Master LaRosa, with whom she now must live to show her gratitude for his patronage. What follows is a tale wherein Grace must contend with what price she is willing to pay, be it her freedom for perceived power, or perceived power for freedom.

I highly suggest this book for readers who enjoy descriptive writing and would like a wintry fairytale to read while curled by the fire.

"Instead of choking me with dread, this revelation gave me hope: All curses could be broken. A curse that couldn't be broken was called fate, or destiny, and I could not-- would not-- believe that this was mine."

It's 1938 in Chicago. The Depression rages, and Grace Dragotta toils as part of the corps in the Near North Ballet Company. It's not the future she imagined as a dancer... Not until the Mistress of the Company summons her and elevates her to prima ballerina. While the Mistress might say Grace was plucked from obscurity, that doesn't give our protagonist enough credit. Completely alone in the world and imagining a better, brighter existence under the stage lights, she showed up at the studio as a teenager with no formal instruction and asked for lessons.

This fantasy leans into its horror elements. Grace learns that her role as prima was determined by a generous patron, a Master De La Rosa, who toasts her first performance by sending her a gift-- the violin of her neighbor and one-time teacher, the same violin she saw buried with him. At each successive performance, she receives a beautiful rose that smells of rot. And though her best friend Emilia spins her a story of the romantic prince who would spend a fortune to see her as prima ballerina, Grace becomes riddled with fear, seeing a monster of shadows in the place of Emilia's prince.

One of the author's strengths is capturing the setting and ambiance. The grim reality of the Depression provides a gray undercurrent to the depiction of pockets of both opulence and deep suffering in Chicago-- from Hyde Park to Little Sicily. The author makes heavy use of figurative language to elicit a sense of these settings, and the incorporation of stark, creepy comparisons adds to our understanding of the otherworldly unease that Grace experiences. The heavy use of metaphor is another throughline to the dark fairy tales of classical ballet that refuse to stay on the stage in Grace's story.

For such a short read in the world of fantasy (less than 300 pages), it's a relatively slow read. I think it's not a function of the slow-moving plot so much as flowery language. What encourages tone discourages pace. It picks up in the last third with the romantic elements of the story. I hesitate to call the book a romance, though. Instead, I view this as a story about lack and want. Girl power is not cute, or at least it's not in this tale of bloody struggle and triumph. Perhaps the only pure element in a sea of ugly battles within and without is chosen sisterhood-- what we wouldn't give to see the women we love best safe and happy in a world that fights against it. Thanks to Del Rey for this haunting, gnashing book to read and review!

This book wasn't my cup of tea but the writing was still very good. I didn't like the pace but overall an okay read.

I would like to start off my review by saying thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Del Rey for giving me an ARC of Nocturne, by Alyssa Wees, in exchange for an honest review.
This was a book I truly wanted to love; I had hopes of falling in love with it all the way through to the end. However, I was unfortunately disappointed. From the start, I had high hopes for the writer’s style of writing. The figurative language was impressive in the first chapter. Although, after the first chapter, it began to feel overly used and felt as though it dragged the story out significantly longer than it otherwise would have been. This book had many interesting themes for me, especially the ballet and Chicago based aspects. I actually did enjoy those aspects. The ballet terminology was spot on, I felt as though I were in the rehearsals along with the main character herself. I didn’t enjoy much aside from that.
Overall, I cannot say that I would recommend this book because it did not hold my attention, but I am grateful for the opportunity to have read it.

This book was so overdescriptive and overwritten it was exhausting. The ending is also weird too. Like it's some kind of nod to something? Dunno know what the nod was, it was lost on me and I didn't grasp the outcome.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this because our main character— Grace— is a dancer, and it was said to have fantastical elements. This felt like phantom of the opera meshed with beauty and the beast meshed with hades and Persephone — but not meshed well. This story loses you a few times. The over explanations and Grace’s own confusion does not result in a clear story. It did take turns that I was not anticipating that was the only part I liked. It was as though the person who wrote part one was a completely different person for part two and three. Part one actually was coherent. None of the side characters have enough of a brain to ask questions. It was a frustrating read. The ending — was okay? It wasn’t my favorite. I think readers need to be forewarned that this is more “fairytale” than fantasy. I feel like the author tries to make it fantasy but it just misses the mark. I was not in love with our love interest HOWEVER I think that was the authors intention BUT that doesn’t make for a good story IMO. The arc had a few grammatical mistakes that might not be in final copies. Probably will not buy this arc in physical format.

I unfortunately had to mark this as a DNF as I could not connect to the writing. I am sure some people will enjoy the prose, but wasn’t for me. I had to reread passages at times to truly comprehend the scene.

The only reason this book caught my eye, was the ballet aspect of it. I used to do ballet when I was growing up. I also recently either a year or two ago signed up for ballet and took it for a week or two. I love love ballet, it has my heart. The front cover is so beautiful. I love that it gives beauty and the beast vibes. I give Nocturne 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🩰

I loved this book. Nocturne is a magical, darker fantasy fairy tale. Grace Dragotta is an immigrant ballerina in 1930s Chicago diligently working to move up in a cut throat dance company. When a mysterious patron takes interest in her and changes everything. I thought this book was beautifully written and enjoyed it thoroughly. It gives off serious persephone type vibes and I thought the underworld storyline well done. It wasn’t what I expected going in to it but was pleasantly surprised.

I normally love ballerina books and fairy tale retellings, but this one just fell a bit flat for me. It took me a long time to finish. So, I apologize for the delay in posting a review. The book is set in 1930’s Chicago. Grace is the MC and rises to be prima ballerina. After a performance, she is informed that she has caught the eye of one of the wealthy patrons. At first this is exciting. A beautiful, huge home, where she lives and goes back and forth to the company. She knows people are gossiping and making up rumors about her new found life. That is, until she finds out that this is not the life she had been dreaming of at all.

There are a ton overly descriptive sections, where fewer words would have gotten the point across. It was also sold as a version of a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but other than a wealthy man and large home, I didn’t really get that.

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't expect to like this story as much as I did. Nocturn is the story of a ballerina who has gone through many hardships in her life. She is someone whom death has always been close to. As the main character gets older and is more pronounced in her ballerina career she gets the chance to become the prima of her corps. This change comes about because she gains a sponsor. Later on, we find out this sponsor isn't human but rather mythic. Her sponsor has a brother/rival and they have a bet that has been ongoing for over 20 years. Instead of creating a love triangle, the author decides to have the main character overcome both the sponsor and the sponsor's brother through tenacity and intellect.
Overall this was a whimsical book with dark elements but was a good read for anyone who likes folk or myth based books.

Nocturne is a transportive historical fiction novel that elegantly captures the world of ballet and the magic of chasing artistic dreams. In 1920s Chicago, orphaned ballerina Grace finally achieves her goal of becoming prima ballerina. However, her shining vision tarnishes as hard times hit. Nocturne paints a emotional portrait of artists striving to realize their visions against the odds. An atmospheric tale for fans of history, dance, and the intersection of light and darkness.