Nocturne was not what I expected in a fairy tale. story. It was a long winded book I really didn't expect all the dying and feelin the cold as much as I felt it. I felt so sad for Grace.c

The cover is gorgeous and yet haunting and when I heard this was like beauty and the beast and phantom of the opera, I knew I had to read it.

While the twisty, dark, and magical storyline had me intrigued in the beginning, I felt such lackluster in getting to the meat of the story that it made some of the book difficult to enjoy. However, mid-Act Two I finally started to get momentum and excitement. I think there was a lot that needed to be set-up in the beginning to have the proper outcome in the end so that redeems much of my initial grumblings.

Grace is an interesting lead character, her performance on the stage sounded like it would be truly mesmerizing to watch and I love how Wees went into the details of the ballet. Those were probably my favorite parts of the book! Add in the Master and all his mystery, as well as Mr. Russo who's character you can never quite pin down and you've got an intriguing read!

Overall, I liked this book. I don't know that I would recommend it to just anyone though.

Grace Dragotta is a ballerina who grew up under the ownership of the mistress of the ballet company. When a mysterious patron comes in, he selects Grace, and she’s forced to give up everything she knows and owns to live with him. Within Master La Rosa home secrets lurk and Grace really wonders where she belongs and who she can trust.

This story has a major undertone of dedication to Phantom of the Opera. A mysterious man who falls for a young woman and wants to keep her for himself. It was chilling, yet lyrical. It gave such a deep tone to the time period and characters. The writing had such magical realism, that I felt the dances come to life.

I really enjoyed this book and the characters. Grace was nothing short but the heroine I love to read.

This was my first book by Alyssa Wees. I’ll start out with what I like about it. I absolutely love the gorgeous cover, the atmosphere and the beautiful, descriptive writing. I really like the idea behind the story, it’s kind of a mashup of Beauty and the Beast, The Phantom of the Opera, and Hades and Persephone.

I didn’t like that the beginning of the story was very slow-paced, and a little too descriptive at times. Things don’t really pick up until about halfway through the book either. I felt that it read more like a YA, than an adult story as well.

The main character Grace Dragotta has had a tough past. Her brother is killed on the street by the mafia, her mother dies, and her friend and neighbor that taught her how to play the violin passes away as well. She had always wanted to be a ballerina, and so when she is orphaned, she chooses the ballet as her home.

Years later at the height of the Depression, Grace is chosen as the company’s new prima ballerina, though achieving her lifelong dream is not as triumphant as she one envisioned it. Time and familiarity have tarnished the vision, and it now means the loss of her best friend, that’s like a sister to her. She then attracts the attention of her personal patron, Master La Rosa. She begins to wonder who he is and works on unlocking his secrets. She sees that there’s also beauty and light in the darkness, and that there may be a way to achieve the transcendence she always sought.

I didn’t think there was much to the romance in this book, as we don’t get to know Grace’s love interest as much as I would have liked. There was potential that just wasn’t explored. I would have liked to have known more about his backstory especially. I didn’t really feel any real connection to him.

I felt dissatisfied when I reached the ending of the story, as I really was expecting more from it.

I would still recommend this book to those who are looking for something a little different and unusual.

It might be time for a moratorium on Young Adult “Dark Ballet” novels. Also Beauty and the Beast retellings. If that’s even what this is, because despite that description being used, it’s pretty tough to get there from wherever this book wandered.

I love ballet novels so I’m generally not that picky about them, especially the YA offerings, but this one was a really tough hang. The supernatural elements of the plot don’t play well at all. That part of the book is unfocused and undercooked yet somehow also overwritten.

The plot and the setting both suffered from the vague, um, romance with death (I don’t know what else to call it). It takes over the narrative yet never finds its way in any clear direction. There are lots of novels focused on a personification of death as a love interest, and most of them were far more successful at making it interesting than this was.

Setting is an issue here too. This is important for ballet novels, and it’s tough to justify setting one in Chicago. I guess sometimes an author picks a location because they just *want* to set a book there. Because ballet exists almost everywhere, it’s not impossible to make this work, but why you would skip over, I dunno, New York or Paris is quite a mystery to me. It’s not that one can’t set a ballet book in Chicago or create good atmosphere in a book set there. It’s just that this one didn’t, and there were easier paths that might have helped it out a bit by picking a more slam dunk setting for this subgenre to engage the reader.

Wees isn’t a bad writer. But the concept here was a big flop, and the story is hazily untethered and unengaging. Go read Phantom of the Opera instead. Or one of the many excellent ballet books that are out there.

Parts of this book's writing are magical, parts are laboured. I loved the concept of the plot but bit of the book were very hard to get through, while others were imminently quotable.

Nocturne by Alyssa Wees is a haunting story about one young woman and a mysterious benefactor which changes her life. Grace Dragotta grew up in Chicago’s Little Sicily and dreamed of becoming a ballerina. After losing her family, she finds herself orphaned and without a home. She chooses the North Ballet Company as her home and begins to imagine her life center stage. As the Great Depression is in full swing, Grace becomes the company’s new prima ballerina. Soon she attracts the attention of the mysterious and secretive Master La Rosa as her personal patron and she will learn the world is far greater than she ever realized. Who is Master La Rosa? What does he want from Grace? As she begins to learn about her patron, she discovers there is another way to find the excellence she desires.
I don’t know anything about ballet but Nocturne has it all. It has a mysterious patron a la The Phantom of the Opera, a deal a la Beauty and the Beast and a mix of legends and myths woven into a magical story. As I started the story, it was hard to get into it; however, once I truly sat down to read the story opened up and I couldn’t put it down. The story flowed from the pages and would not let me go. I needed to find out who Master La Rosa was, who his equally mysterious assistant, Mr. Russo was and what role did Grace play within the mystery. It was beautifully lyrical with hauntingly detailed imagery. The beautiful cover drew me in and the story kept me there until the very last page. I highly recommend Nocturne.

Nocturne is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

This book is completely unique and pretty difficult to sum up into words!
There were aspects of it I really enjoyed like the magical realism, the MC and overall themes throughout the book.
The were parts that just seemed over descriptive which didn't add to the story and honestly took away from the plot and the engagement level. I think this could turn people away from reading it.
I don't typically love star ratings but I would give this 3.75 - I liked it.

1930s Chicago, Grace a ballerina is on the cusp of achieving everything she’s ever dreamed of after becoming prima ballerina of her company thanks to her mysterious new patron.

The whole story gave me very gothic vibes, she’s swept away to live in her patron’s cavernous mansion when the matron of the ballet basically trades her for his patronage. The most succinct way I can describe it is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, with some Hades and Persephone vibes. So right away I was very drawn in by the premise, Grace is an orphan that literally clawed her way into a spot in the ballet after her whole family died. Unbeknownst to her Master La Rosa has been pulling the strings to her life for years.
There was so so much potential to this story and their dynamic… I wanted to know more and was drawn into this world right off the bat!

Unfortunately I couldn’t really connect with Grace as the main character… throughout the whole story she really is nothing more than a pawn and I don’t feel the sparks between her and her beast… and even her tragic back story kind of pales in comparison to what we could learn about everyone else. The other characters in the book should have had more of a chance to shine. Master La Rosa’s history and story should have been a much bigger plot point considering his importance to human kind in general...
The relationship between the matron of the ballet and Mr. Russo, the masters mysterious servant also needed to be expanded on more; I was more intrigued with their back story than anything that had really happened to Grace.

It was so so close to being such an amazing gothic fairytale retelling. Thank you NetGalley and Delrey Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What happens when you move a story from La Belle Époque and Paris to Chicago in the Great Depression? You get Nocturne by Alyssa Wees. It's not just any story--it's a transmogrification of Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera. That in itself should interest the prospective reader.

If you're familiar with the style of books from the turn of the 20th century, the main character may spend more time in rumination than what you're used to. So it is with Grace, who rises from a wretched childhood to dance as a prima ballerina in a small troupe based out of Chicago. However, that's just the build-up to the main story.

Grace has a benefactor. Grace has a very scary benefactor. And the benefactor is making demands of Grace.

The question is-does Grace break free of her benefactor? Does Grace really want to break free, and is there any way she can without destroying everything she's worked for and everyone she cares about?

Rating: four stars, Recommended, especially for anyone who has read Leroux

What drew me into this book from the synopsis, was that this is a Fantasy set in Chicago, 1930. I wanted lush, old school, dressy, dreamy, party type of book. And this was. Kind of.

It did delivery the lush, descriptive, setting. Though very focused on the dance school, and performances themselves. It focused on the poverty, and surviving after the prohibition. The Chicago setting was very minimal, and though I did recognized town name, etc, it could have been set anywhere and it wouldn't have made a difference.

The tale itself, was kind of pointless for me. Nothing much happens in the first half. And the second goes off really fast, and is kind of confusing on what the stakes are, etc. It was darker, and more focused on the Fantasy, but it kind of fell flat for me there.

Now, I WAS NOT a fan of Night Circus. And this book reminded me of that so much. First, the over descriptive writing, and then the pointless romance that felt forced almost?

I'd say this is a 2.5 rounded up for me. I'm sure there are people that will love this book. It just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Del Rey and PRH Audio for my gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

For the most part, I enjoyed the story. And at the beginning, I was fully entranced by the beautiful descriptions. However, as the plot progressed, or did not progress, I thought the pace was just too slow for my taste. The writing seemed to capture the aesthetic and atmosphere of the setting. Still, it lacked the urgency and high stakes that usually keep me turning the pages, especially in a YA fantasy story.

Despite the pacing and long descriptions, I love that it reminded me of a mix of the movie version of The Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and the book, The Night Circus. I also really enjoyed the focus on ballet and how the author was able to describe the movements fully. As a former dancer myself, I found the dance and performance descriptions the most fun to read about.

To summarize this book, I'd say this was slow-paced but beautiful.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A little bit of phantom of the opera, some hades/Persephone vibes, and a dash of gothic imagery are thrown into a stockpot for this title. It was not what I expected, as I thought it would be similar to Midnight in Everwood in a nutcracker-type theme. You can very much tell the inspiration it comes from but not mentioned. At the same time it was very dark and was its own story as well. I highly recommend the spotify playlist the publisher created to go along with it. I think this is a novel I will enjoy more on a second read-through once some of the themes have sunk in. All gothic literature fans should try it out!

Mystical, mysterious - black swan meets fantasy! I really enjoyed the dark side of this book and had me wondering how it was going to end until the very ending. Great job!

What's it about (in a nutshell):
Nocturne by Alyssa Wees is a historical fantasy that is more than a story. Instead, it's a unique experience in music and dance that I rarely experience in prose form.
My Reading Experience:
This story took quite a bit of adapting for me as a reader. I was expecting an immersive tale about a ballerina in the 1930s and her mysterious benefactor. I got a fever dream experience that reminded me of what I remember about sections of works such as Dracula. It's sometimes linear. It only sometimes falls under any logical construct. But it does offer an experience that will leave you utterly breathless with anticipation and wonder.
Characters:
The characters are developed surprisingly well in this story. Because it is so atmospheric, I didn't think about the character development while reading it. Though, because it is a character-driven story, growth is essential. And looking back on it, each character was developed exquisitely and in keeping with the story.
Narration & Pacing:
The pacing is also interesting. I argue that the reader controls the pacing. If you give yourself up to the experience and stop worrying about details, it reads quickly. If you must follow the story's elements, the pace slows considerably. I allowed myself to experience it as if I was at the theater, and this was a performance being put on for my enjoyment. I let it flow through me and surround me with all its poetic beauty.
Setting:
The setting was one of the most intriguing aspects of the story. It is set in 1930s Chicago, which was a very dark time. Gangsters were in charge, and the government was corrupt. Things like violence and prostitution were running rampant. The effect of the 1918 flu outbreak was still being felt, and polio outbreaks were also on the rise. Most families on the wrong side of the tracks knew loss, like the main character, Grace, who lost her whole family. But amidst all the darkness were still small kernels of beauty in the arts like ballet. This is the world that Grace escaped to and the one that protected her for as long as it could.
Read if you like:
• Lyrical stories
• An artistic experience
• Ballet

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

Nocturne
by Alyssa Wees
Pub Date: 21 Feb 2023

First let me say, this is an absolute gorgeous cover! It is a perfect introduction into the magical, lyrical prose that follows onto the pages. The story has hints of other fairytales, all with a dream-like quality. I enjoyed the writing, but it also wasn't quite what I was expecting. While there is "romance" I wouldn't consider it truly a romance book in the traditional sense.

3.5/4 stars

This is just....bad writing. Purple to the extreme, stilted mixed with lyrical, painfully detailed and the metaphors ABOUND. I honestly am not concerned with the plot or characters - I just can't get past this style.

**Thank you NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the eARC**

Nocturne is a dark fairy tale centering around Grace, a young prima ballerina. Grace was born during the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak. As a child, her beloved older brother was killed in front of her and then she lost a cherished neighbor and her mother.

Most of her childhood Grace was surrounded by death. After Grace was left an orphan, she played her violin on the streets to make money and lived with an aunt. Grace had a dream of becoming a ballerina. She saved her money to buy a pair of ballet shoes and one day showed up at the ballet school and managed to make an impression on the Mistress at the school, who took her in for instruction.

Becoming a prima ballerina was the dream of her short life, but it’s later revealed that it comes at a heavy price. When Grace is promoted to prima ballerina, her life takes a turn she never dreamed could happen.

The story moves at a good pace, but the closer I got to the ending, things really began to be revealed very quickly. I was a bit pleased and surprised at the ending. Readers who enjoy fantasy and dark fairy tales will not want to pass up this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group—Ballantine for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

As a former professional ballet dancer (in Chicago, nonetheless!), I thoroughly enjoyed the amount of detail and realism juxtaposed with the sweeping lyricism of this dazzling novel. It's honestly tough to name a better book prose-wise, which feels deep and dark and visceral and yet still manages to sweep you off your feet with sentences that strike right to the soul. Nocturne is a perfect balance of genres: enjoyers of the fantasy genre will love the thematic elements of the mysterious otherworldly nature of Grace's secret benefactor (who contributes to her rise to stardom in the North Ballet Company) that harken back to Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast, and those who enjoy historical fiction will find themselves satisfied with the level of grittiness and authenticity that the setting of 1930s Chicago provides. I adored Grace's character development, which felt incredibly realistic and resonant; the moments of realization that she has ("When has fear ever stopped me from doing what I must do?") were impactful and Alyssa Wees has an effortless way of taking the reader through the same emotional journey. And, as a former dancer, Grace's descriptions of how intrinsic dance is who she is as a person brought tears to my eyes and made me want to get back to taking class ASAP. Without revealing too much, the benefactor's true identity was an unexpected twist and also a perfect metaphor for what the commitment to perfecting an art truly means. This book was nothing short of a spectacle and I cannot wait to read more from Alyssa Wees.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Nocturne by Alyssa Wees. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

The gothic style and dreamlike vibes work well with this writing style. I also enjoyed diving into Grace's backstory and life goals. They were engaging and kept me reading. Unfortunately, once the romance was introduced to the story, I lost interest. I give this book 2.5/5 stars.