This was a fun story! Very Hades and Persephone meets Beauty and the Beast meets Death and the Maiden.

I enjoyed the story, the romance, and the fantastical setting. This is not a story for those who don’t live very descriptive and waxing purple prose. It’s pretty, but it’s not for everyone.

Felt like a really pretty fever dream. Am I still dreaming? I must’ve pinched myself.

Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey Books (imprint of Penguin Random House) for giving me a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sadly I had to DNF. I'm not into dark romance, plus I thought this was a dark academia-ish historical fiction drama set at a ballet studio, not a Hades & Persephone retelling. I was looking forward to being immersed in 1930's Chicago, Illinois. There's also too much descriptive language used that was unnecessary. I really wanted to like this but I can't.

In 1930s Chicago, Grace Dragotta settled on ballet as her emotional home when orphaned in the Great War. Becoming the Near North Company's prima ballerina took sacrifices, including losing her best friend. But getting Master La Rosa as her personal patron opens her world wider. As Grace uncovers the Master's secrets, she finds beauty, truth, and that there might be another way to achieve the resplendent world she always longed for.

Grace goes through a lot by the time she gets to be a prima ballerina. She lost all of her immediate family by the time she started formal ballet training "late" at 13, and in the next seven years worked constantly to improve, setting aside her violin training. Her best friend retiring to get married and have children leaves the Prima spot open for her, and even that doesn't ease the desire to have more in her life. That desire leads her to wonder why Master La Rosa chose her for patronage when he refused to meet her in person, why he would send an incredibly personal gift, and then remain silent.

The sense of loss and want permeates this novel, to the point that I have a hard time connecting with Grace. Anything she has is questioned and never enough, making her feel sorry for herself rather than taking whatever time she has left with Emilia before her retirement. The Master just as deliberately cultivates the eerie persona that causes others to talk about him in whispers; he drops incredible amounts of money to get whatever he wants, and no one seems to question his motives but Grace. With her stuck in the house, the story takes on a Beauty and the Beast tone, with more overt magical elements. Once that happens, it all clicks into place. Now the mood and tone make sense, and it starts coming together as if part one was an elaborate prologue to the true story.

That being said, it's a necessary start to see Grace in action, to see her world and what matters to her. Those connections show up again and are the links and reminders of her humanity in the face of magic, ghosts, beasts, and Noctem, the city of the dead. I really enjoyed that part of the story, the way the ghosts moved and the way time and space flexed. Ballet and music are languages and magic of their own, and Grace has both. She is caught in a supernatural game but has tools of her own to fight back once she figures out the truth. Nocturne is defined as a short piece of music suggestive of night, which is often both the realm of death and sleep in fairy tales. This is an aptly named and lyrical novel.

I was really looking forward to NOCTURNE as I adore the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ fairy tale and usually the various retellings. It always reminds me of how the soul of a person is more important than any external beauties. However I had difficulties in losing myself in the story.

This is not to say that NOCTURNE was poorly written or edited as that is far from true but more about my personal quirks. I tend to have issues with books that I find overly descriptive or wordy. I find myself wanting a red pen to pare the story down closer to its essence.

I am sure that readers who enjoy descriptive writing will really enjoy this book. So don’t let my quirks steer you away from a beautiful story that brings an extra touch of magic to the ballet.

I did receive this book at no charge from NetGalley in exchange for a review. This in no way influenced said review though.

This book drew me in with the beautiful cover and lyrical writing. But I felt the story never pulled me in the way I was expecting it to. I did finish it, but based on the storyline, I was hoping to love it more. It is set in the 1930’s in Chicago with Grace, an orphan ballerina. She has a secret patron that she is expected to please. It was a fantasy novel that reminded me of a tragic fairy tale with a little reminding me of Beauty and the Beast. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

It took until I was 60% through the book before it started to grab me, however, I wish it went deeper. I didn’t care enough about the characters and I think I just needed more from them. The writing was absolutely beautiful, though. I could picture every scene in my head and I could even sense the grayness portrayed. I enjoyed it enough but it left me wanting more from it. Also, I was not a fan of the end. It felt like it was missing something. It wasn’t enough of a conclusion.

3 ⭐️

This was an interesting fantasy about a prima ballerina in 1930s Chicago, who meets a very mysterious stranger. The vibes were very much of Hades and Persephone (which is even mentioned in the book), Beauty and the Beast, and a bit of Phantom of the Opera.

I was very interested in the first part before the fantasy actually kicked in. I loved getting to read about ballerinas from the 1930s, and the friendships that the book was setting up for.

Once the fantasy kicked in, I found myself getting a bit confused. I think this book held so much lyricism in the words and beautiful meanings, that I found I had to pay very close attention or I would misunderstand what was happening. Unfortunately I did lose attention a bit and didn’t feel as connected with the story as I had hoped I would.

I would overall recommend and I may reread myself so I can catch everything that I missed!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This fairytale is so beautifully written. It’s a haunting story that mixes Beauty and the Beast and the Persephone legend together for a very atmospheric book. I found parts of the book engaging and other parts — especially the romance — fell very flat. I do think that a YA audience might be a good fit for the book since the romance seems somewhat superficial.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book is what originally caught my eye, but the minute I started reading, I was immediately captivated. I read the entire book in nearly one sitting and can honestly say I would read Alyssa Wees' grocery lists! Her writing is beautiful and this story is one that is going to stick with me! I highly recommend!

Richly imagined and heartbreakingly told, Nocturne is a lush gothic romance that will sweep you away with its captivating story. From its vivid characters to its enchanting setting, this novel will leave you dizzy with delight.

The whole time I read this, I was reminded of Phantom of the Opera lol. Couldn't help it. This novel is very descriptive and a little dark. The author, I think, did a nice of job of setting up the scenery and the mood of the book. Gave it an otherworldly feel. Not a bad read at all and the cover art is GORGEOUS

This is such a surreal, beautifully written story. Not a book to fly through quickly but a story and words to be savored.

The first half especially I was entranced by, the story has such a bleak, aching sadness to it that really pulls at your heart. Midway everything goes through a kind of hazy but significant shift and it took me a minute to settle into it. The biggest thing that bothered me throughout is the Chicago setting…I would have really preferred an unnamed place/world. The real world-ness felt like too stark a contrast to the surreal otherness of the story. Maybe that was intentional but I found it jarring in a way that kept taking me out of the story instead of being able to fully lose myself in the beautiful writing.

If you prefer fast paced, plot driven books and want to be able to analyze and make sense of everything that happens while you’re reading - this book may not be for you. If you like slipping into beautiful, lyrical writing and slowly falling through, like a surreal dream of beautiful words and feelings without needing everything to make perfect sense - then this is something you may like. I personally really enjoyed it and have added the author’s previous book to my tbr so I can read that too!

An adult fantasy (although I’d argue it’s more YA), this one took place in 1930s Chicago and centered around Grace Dragotta, a young ballerina who is elevated to prima ballerina as her best friend, Emilia, retires to marry.

She is taken up by a mysterious benefactor/patron, Master La Rosa, and comes to realize that all is not what it seems (both of La Rosa and her dream position). As she is basically “sold” by her dancing Mistress, she is forced to live in La Rosa’s house, a shrouded Gothic-style relic where she is essentially under house arrest, with only La Rosa and his enigmatic “assistant” Mr. Russo as her companions. She is allowed to perform a new ballet, commissioned by her Master which begins to eerily reflect her own life situation. At home, La Rosa asks only that she dance with him at midnight every Sunday. As he begins to explain some of his circumstances/responsibilities, Grace begins to soften toward him. However, each time he asks her to marry him and live with him in his world, she says no. And as his and Russo’s association builds into volitivity, she must make a life-changing decision or risk losing herself.

I enjoyed the lyrical and sometimes poetic nature of the prose although at times it was too over-the-top and dense. The Gothic-like atmosphere was well-done, and the story had a heavy, dark overlay throughout. But this one was difficult for me in a couple of ways. First, while yes, this was a fantasy with elements of Beauty and the Beast, The Phantom of the Opera and Hades/Persephone, it was darker and harder to follow than those stories. The characters, especially La Rosa and Russo, felt underdeveloped and stereotyped and also too easily dispatched considering their power over Grace. And while yes, Grace does ultimately grow into her own power (at a steep price), I was left with only sadness and just plain mental exhaustion getting to that point.

While I wanted to wholeheartedly love this book, I found myself ambivalent and just plain confused by a lot of the plot and actions of the characters. I think lots of folks will enjoy this, but for me, it was just an OK read.

My thanks to the author, Del Rey, and NetGalley for providing the free early arc of Nocturne for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Nocturne is a very slow moving novel following one ballerina's promotion to prima of her company. As a former dancer/lifelong dance enthusiast I was really looking forward to a fantastical take on ballet. I appreciated that this novel is broken down into 3 parts each very distinct which I found closely resembling the acts of a ballet.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I felt the first part dragged on a lot longer than was really necessary. I felt that it was mainly getting to know our main character. By the end of the first part I did not care for our main character at all. I felt she was acting very immature and overdramatic for her age. I also feel the author did her a disservice by not making the true gravity of her situation as obvious or dire as it was portrayed later.

The second part (over 50% through the book) is where we finally get to the fantastical elements of the novel. If you like hard magic systems and clearly defined world building this book is definitely not for you. The second part takes us on a rushed journey through our .main character's exploration/possible acceptance of the new fantastical elements of her life. At this point I still couldn't tell you the point of the journey.

The final part of the book is short, the most action packed part of the novel and still left me wondering what was the point?

Overall, I did not hate this book nor did I love it. I found a lot of it overly descriptive and a bit boring. I would recommend this to people who like slow books and those who prefer a limited fantasy within the real world. I imagine a literary fiction reader who occasionally reads fantasy would enjoy this book.

Thank you to net galley for providing an ARC of this book for me to review.

Alyssa Wees' Nocturne (with the gorgeous cover art) is a fascinating fantasy story, one that I think might work really well for many readers who like the blend of fantasy and reality and for readers who like heavy prose writing. It really is an interesting story and I wanted to like it more than I did. I think this is a case of me as a reader just not getting absorbed into the story they way others may, fantasy admittedly is not my usual genre and not my favorite; I did find the plot intriguing and thoughtful and the mysterious nature of the second part of the story was effectively written.
So do I recommend this? yes because I think a lot of fantasy/historical fiction readers will connect with this and I think the story really honors those themes and is the perfect read for genre fans. 4 stars (the writing was a little much for me at times so that did impact my enjoyment as well)

In music, a nocturne is a short work evocative of night, and that’s exactly what the reader gets with this fantasy. Grace Dragotta lives in a boardinghouse in Chicago during the Great Depression and spends nearly every waking hour dancing in the Near North Ballet company. Her best friend Emilia, soon to be married, is the ballet’s prima ballerina, and Grace is chosen to be her replacement. But she soon finds out that this choice may not have been due to the ballet mistress’s appreciation of her talents, but rather the intervention of a mysterious patron named Master La Rosa, who is keeping the struggling company afloat. As Grace’s life becomes more entwined with La Rosa’s, the gothic fantasy elements of the book blossom darkly.

Likes: Nocturne contains many gothic and fairytale elements that are sure to please fans of those genres: a mysterious missing girl, a haunted house full of mirrors that only show the dead, a dancer who must perform endlessly despite her bleeding feet, a man who may be a beast, doorways to other realms. The fantasy world that Grace enters is beautifully rendered and creative. I enjoyed getting bits and pieces of Grace’s backstory, which tied in nicely to the rest of the plot. And Grace and Emilia, the friends at the heart of the book, are strong, independent women, who know that love should enhance and not erase their individuality.

Dislikes: the middle section of the book was a bit slow for me, as well as heavy on the romantic elements (not my cup of tea but may be yours!). At times (particularly at the end) the story seemed to cross over from fantasy to allegory, which I didn’t mind, but which may feel awkward or heavy-handed to some readers. The writing style is highly descriptive − I mostly found it quite enjoyable but occasionally thought it weighed down the narrative.

FYI: death of family members, death of friend, murder, chronic illness, fantasy monsters.

2.5 Stars rounded up to 3

Though not written specifically for a YA audience, teens are going to be drawn to Nocturne. The book’s cover alone is enough to draw them in, then add in a young ballerina and a mysterious patron, and they’ll be scrounging to open the cover. And, as far as content goes (some romance, but mostly death), there’s nothing in Nocturne that strays very far from YA. In fact, I read it assuming it was YA.

The problem is, YA or not, Nocturne is just sort of so, so.

While author Alyssa Wees does a good job of setting the tone — sort of dark and moody — her writing is languid and heavy handed. And for a story about a ballerina, I expected to get a sense of the dancing, but was instead handed a mashup of flowery, overly descriptive words.

Grace isn’t a particularly strong main character — she gets pushed around a lot and just kind of goes along with it. Although if you do stick with her, she grows immensely by the end of the book.

Nocturne isn’t horrible — I don’t feel any worse for finishing it. But tighter editing could have created broader appeal. Still, it will appeal to readers who enjoy melodramatic nods to Phantom of the Opera or the Hades and Persephone myth.

Reading Nocturne feels like being lost in a fever dream. Surreal. If you’re looking for a coherent story told in a straightforward manner and you’re annoyed by purple prose, this is not the book for you. If you love myths and fairy tales and poetry and immersive dream-like experiences, then you might enjoy this.

I enjoy description and metaphor, but it felt a bit excessive here. I enjoy myths and fairy tales, including mash-ups, but I also like narratives that make sense. This felt like the author took bits of Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, Hades and Persephone, and a few other stories and ran them through a blender. Lovely ingredients, but the final product didn’t quite gel.

There were so many elements that I thought were cool: the setting in 1930s Chicago, the life of ballet dancers, the friendship between Grace and Emilia, the bits of myth and magic. But I couldn’t connect with the characters as deeply as I wanted to, and it was exhausting trying to make sense of what was happening. I don’t regret reading Nocturne, but I’m also not sure I would recommend it.

Thanks to Del Rey for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley, which I volunteered to review.

Book review time! This month, I felt like reading something in the fantasy vein, so after some searching, I decided to try out Nocturne by Alyssa Wees. It was released by Del Rey Books yesterday (February 21st). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for granting me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it!

Nocturne follows Grace Dragotta as she rises to the challenges of becoming prima ballerina at a small Chicago company during the Great Depression. It’s been her dream since she was little, her escape from a hard life, but when she finds herself practically sold to a mysterious patron, she realizes the world is much bigger than she ever dared to dream. But is it a dream or just another nightmare that she’s entered?

The plot. It’s basically a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but with throwbacks as far as Hades and Persephone. Grace is sold to the Beast (Master) who whisks her off to the land of the dead in a bizarre attempt to woo her. Things go wrong when Sleep starts meddling for his own foolish and selfish reasons. It gets a little complicated, but that’s okay. My biggest complaint with the plot is how easily Grace is persuaded to do what she does to Death. The whole time, she’s cautious and wary and does her best not to fall for any bullshit, but a two second conversation with a dude she knows is sus makes her act like an idiot. I found that a little annoying.

Characters. They were all a little flat. Not even Grace grew or changed very much. Death and Sleep didn’t have enough page time to really be explored. The bestie and the Mistress were static as well, but interesting in their own ways. But, if I’m being honest, I didn’t really expect much from them from the very beginning. Have you ever started a book and just known the characters weren’t going to learn anything? This is one of those books.

I usually save the writing for last, but it’s really the whole reason I picked up this book. The description and cover make it seem like it’s going to be poetic and lyrical and pretty. It is after a while, but it takes a few chapters to get into a groove. It’s not exactly what I was hoping for, but there are some nice phrases and musical bits. I admit that I looked at other reviews before I wrote this and one of the big complaints people have is that the prose is too purple. It’s overwritten. Well, it’s supposed to be. And for the most part, it’s lovely.

Last, the pacing is off. The beginning is super slow and a bit too firmly rooted in the real world, so when the fantasy elements enter into things, it’s jarring. But once I got past the real world and settled into the fantasy, I found that my desire to keep reading finally kicked in. From then on, I found it to be enjoyable despite the things it was lacking.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Nocturne for what it was. I was compelled to keep reading after things got interesting. But it’s not something I will ever read or think about again and that’s okay. Some books are just like that.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. My initial rating was 4, but the more I thought about it, the more issues I had with it. It’s an okay book and if you’re into fairytales, it’s worth checking out. I don’t recommend it with zeal, but I don’t think it’s something to avoid either.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey for the Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"In this haunting, lyrical fantasy set in 1930s Chicago, a talented ballerina finds herself torn between her dreams and her desires when she’s pursued by a secretive patron who may be more than he seems."

Wow, first of all, I just want share that the cover is simply breathtaking with nice little Easter eggs from the story illustrated within it. Now, onto the story! The lyrical prose is so eloquently written and I know that may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I thoroughly enjoyed it as it gave the story a breath of descriptive, fresh air. It transports the reader’s senses (all 5 of them) along with the reader throughout the book. This gives the story and its characters atmospheric texture.

The first half of the book lays the foundation of the plot with the real-world side of things then in the second half, the reader is transported into the magical. I can greatly appreciate the author’s background in ballet (as I have none.) I love myths and fantasy and stories of the seemingly ordinary become extraordinary and finding their strength within. This story fit the bill for that especially with a female lead character. I would highly recommend for fantasy / mythology lovers, as well as, those with backgrounds in dance and performance arts that love a little plot twist and magic mixed in. The romance in the book is very mild and suitable for younger readers.

I loved the strong female connection between Grace and Emilia and how the lean into each other during difficult and joyous times. Remember, sometimes family is the people you choose! I also love the themes of how darkness can be beautiful and feel like home as well as light and how the duality can exist in all of us.

Overall, this book was beautifully written and I enjoyed the premise and the author did a wonderful job of portraying the mythic themes of love, loss, friendship, dance, music and finding one’s true strength within.