Nocturne by Alyssa Wees

I picked this book to read because of the ballet aspects but ended up being more interested in the magical aspects. Not to mention it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling!!

Up and comer Grace finds herself as the new prima ballerina and with that comes a mysterious benefactor, Master La Rosa. A new ballet is being created for her in which the heroine finds herself pulled between Death and Sleep. Grace quickly realizes that it is a reflection of her current life and must determine how to set herself free.

A super neat read, Nocturne released last week 2/21, make sure you add it to your TBR!

Thanks @netgalley and @delreybooks for this advanced reader!

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I went into Nocturne expecting a retelling of The Phantom of the Opera. There are aspects of that story, and there are also aspects of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Death and the Maiden.” However, Wees has created an entirely unique story that surpassed my expectations and even managed to surprise me. When Grace Dragotta is chosen as the new prima ballerina of the Near North Ballet Company, she believes it is because of her skill and hard work. In truth, she has been specifically chosen by a mysterious patron, Master La Rosa, who insists she come live at his mirror-filled house and dance with him every Sunday at midnight. As time passes, she begins to learn the Master’s secrets and is introduced to the city of Noctem, where the souls of the dead gather. Grace is left with a choice: marry the Master and become the queen of Noctem or continue on with her life that has brought mostly hardship and sorrow. As I said, Wees managed to surprise me with the ending. I’m not going to give anything away, of course, but just know that this doesn’t go how you think it will.

Wees is a very lyrical writer, which will work for some people and not for others. For me personally, it worked quite well. Lush descriptions and metaphors always pair well with stories about music and dance in my opinion. It contributes to the fairy tale feel Wees is clearly going for and just creates a rich and beautiful reading experience. There were some times I got a bit lost in her language and lost the thread of what as actually happening, but those were few and far between.

My only complaint is that Grace doesn’t have much of a personality. She definitely has a history, which is one part of a fascinating character. I enjoyed learning about her life before the ballet company, and the tragic backstory certainly made me feel for her. Her backstory also suggests a personality that I ultimately felt we didn’t get to see in the main story. This girl survived by herself on the streets, playing her violin for money. She forced herself into a ballet company and trained hard to become just as good as girls who had been dancing their whole lives. All of this suggests she’s a fighter, but that isn’t reflected in her interactions with the Master. She gives in to everything so easily, and I would have liked to see more of the strength and will suggested by her backstory. It does come out at the very end, but that didn’t feel like enough for me.

Overall, Nocturne is a lyrical fantasy that blends music and fairy tales to create a beautiful story. While I wanted a little more from the main character, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it for fans of S. Jae-Jones’s Wintersong.

MY REVIEW: 2 Stars

The audio narration was quite good. Unfortunately, the book itself was not for me. I have seen a lot of great reviews and I’m sure there will be many more.

Nocturne is a whimsical little book.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Randomhouse for a digital copy of this book.

This was like a cross between ACOTAR, Phantom of the Opera, and Beauty and the Beast. It had a very strong storyline but unfortunately the author seemed to have had a quota to fill when it came to descriptive words. It became so distracting while reading that I eventually had to DNF.

This book was not for me. I likely would have not finished it but I pushed through because it was an ARC. I was initially interested because the book was a fantasy and about ballet. However, the introduction was so incredibly slow that I thought I had misread the synopsis and that this was historical fiction instead. It wasn't until 1/3 of the way in that some of the plot points, conflicts, and magical elements are revealed. At that point, I was already feeling a bit bogged down with the writing. The pacing for the rest of the story seemed off too with much plot repetition. I wasn't a fan of the writing style either. I love lyrical writing in some instances, but the author here tended to recap everything in lists that we had just gone over, and I found it irritating. Overwritten and underplotted.

My likes: I do love a ballet setting, and that felt so realistic.

Dislikes: Writing style, pacing, plot predictability so sheer that when the author made it out to be a big reveal it felt insulting.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy. 1.5/5 stars overall.

I won’t lie, they did not have me in the first half. The writing is rich with beautiful, sprawling descriptions and analogies, like trying to read a ballet. It’s gorgeous, but it takes a bit longer than I would like. Because of this, it took me a while to get into the book. However, once Grace is essentially sold to her patron, Master La Rosa, the book finally gripped me.

I must say, when this book turns, it goes in a direction I never expect. The deeper Grace got into Master La Rosa’s world, (and the further she got from the ballet company) the more I enjoyed her journey. The exploration of her childhood feels like obligatory character-fleshing in the beginning, but when Grace encounters her mother’s wondering spirit in essentially the underworld, everything made sense and I was full crying. Not only was I fully invested in Grace’s feelings and values at that point, but it’s also such a heart-wrenching spot to put yourself in. We’ve all experienced painful loss at some point, but being able to see that person again, only to have to send them on their way for the good of both of you, that kicked my ass.

I won’t give everything away, but I loved the reveal of Master La Rosa’s brother while being simultaneously very pissed off about the ending of this story. I got so attached to where I thought the Master and Grace’s relationship was going, that when his brother tricks her into what she ultimately does, I had myself fully convinced that it was a dream because WHAT THE FUCK, GRACE!

I’m still mad and it’s been weeks since I finished the book. But definitely read it - it’s definitely worth it.

I also want to shout out Alyssa Wees’s concept of the underworld, it was so unique and terrifying and gorgeous and just felt so perfect. I would honestly love to read more about this world, and love to see a visual depiction of this story.

Even though for a few days I felt robbed of the ending I thought should have happened, that’s simply a testament to how good this book really is. Any book that keeps you feeling for days after is a great read in my book. Lol.

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!