I love a good book set in the ballet world and City of the Night Birds by Juhea Kim is definitely a good book. I enjoyed the setting of the Russian Ballet world and enjoyed watching the main character Natalia as she traversed the personal and professional challenges.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of City of Night Birds in exchange for an honest review. This book is available now.
4 Stars

I tried. I really tried. But I had to DNF this. I was really excited by the premise but it was just too slow and confusing, and lacking action or progress for me. Maybe I was just missing some things but I finally gave up on this after more than a month.

Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Now available.

Time moves both immeasurably slow and in a blink of seconds in Juhea Kim's second novel City of Night Birds. Through gorgeous details, we follow the triumphant yet pained life of Natalia Lenova from her humble beginning to her ascent as the prima ballerina in St Petersberg and Paris. Though the ballet takes center stage in this novel, Kim also speaks to current day issues such as the Russian Ukranian war & the two countries' complicated histories. Sometimes we spend chapters on a single day and sometimes entire days, weeks, and years are jumped over - creating an ethereal otherspace where we slowly unspool Leonova's many psyches. An enjoyable task indeed.

Just as she demonstrated in her previous work, Beasts of a Little Land, which dealt with the history and people of Korea during the Japanese colonial period, Juhea Kim demonstrates a vivid skill with character and setting in her latest novel. Here she details the worlds of ballet in Russia and Paris as she tells the story of a poor but talented Russian girl, Natasha, who rises above her circumstances to become a top ballerina. Kim also explores personal and historical trauma, the frustration of artists, and the resilience in overcoming it all in this story of Natasha and her fellow artists, Sasha, Dmitri, and Nina. The novel explores the daily lives and the ups and downs inside a renowned ballet company as it prepares various ballet repertoires, and it also reflects the impact of historical developments such as Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the war in Ukraine in 2022 how they impact the protagonist. Readers who enjoy reading about ballet and music, and those who enjoyed Amor Towles's A Gentleman in Moscow or Marie Benedict's The Personal Librarian should add this to their reading list.

In this fascinating and interesting new novel, readers follow prima ballerina Natalia Leonova as she returns to St. Petersburg and the ballet world two years after an injury stalled her career. Struggling to cope with her injury and her loss of fame as the most celebrated dancer of her generation, she must face her ghosts -- an absentee father, a difficult mother, and two dancers who contributed to her downfall. One, Alexander, was the transformative love of her life while Dmitri was a dark genius who has offered her her signature role for her return to the stage. In bringing the isolating and ambitious Russian ballet world to life, this novel follows Natalia throughout her career and the emotional (and physical) highs and lows of such a competitive world. The character development is absolutely fascinating because the characters are so complex, but readers should be aware of Natalia’s issues with substance abuse throughout the novel. Complicated and emotional, the novel is a deep and thoughtful read that readers will find to be thought-provoking and intriguing. Intense, emotional, and unpredictable, this novel is a challenging but immersive read that readers who love complex characters, nonlinear elements, and character development will really enjoy.

Was I totally skeptical because it's a Reese's pick... definitely. Was I shocked and blown away with this masterpiece of a story... also definitely. I am obsessed! I mean, wow, where do I even begin!? This was absolutely incredible. Probably the most tabbed book now in my collection.

The characters felt intensely real, alive with raw emotion and flawed depth. Their complex struggles made for many points of connection. I became fully immersed in the setting and the fascinating world of ballet. The way the story developed drew me in and I was wholly invested in the journey.

It's going to be in my top favorites for the year without a doubt. I can't wait to see what this author does next. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing company for this Advanced Readers Copy of City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim! Can't wait to do this one for Book Club!

When Natalia Leonova (Natasha) is being raised by a single mother in St. Petersburg, Russia, Natasha's Mama supports them with her job as a costume maker for the Mariinsky Ballet. Soloists come to their apartment for fittings, and Svetlana Timurevna (Sveta) is a regular visitor. One day in 1992, seven-year-old Natasha is mimicking a ballet dancer on television, and Sveta marvels that the child is a 'jumper' and should start taking ballet as soon as possible. Natasha is further inspired by a young neighbor boy called Seryozha, a talented lad who aspires to be a ballet dancer.

A few years later, Natasha auditions for Vaganova Ballet Academy, an elite school that auditions thousands of girls each year and takes thirty. Natasha is accepted to Vaganova, runs out to hug her mother, and later recalls, "What I felt then was the purest happiness I've ever known. And the purest love I've ever known or will know." Seryozha is accepted to Vaganova as well, and the two friends embark on a long journey in each other's company.

After years at Vaganova - experiencing the trials, tribulations, jealousies, rivalries, crushes, betrayals, etc. - of ballet school, Natasha is talented enough to enter the Mariinsky Ballet Company as corps de ballet. Rising in the company is challenging, and principal dancers aren't eager to help younger dancers take their place. So when Natasha approaches prima Katia Reznikova, and says, 'Ivan Stanislavich [the Mariinsky director] said I should ask you to help me with the Second Shade variation in La Bayadère', Katia simply replies, 'Oh, no. I couldn't possibly.' Regardless, Natasha eventually becomes a soloist who's much sought after in the ballet world.

During her school days and subsequent career, Natasha has romantic relationships with two male ballet dancers - one of whom is 'electric' onstage, and clearly marked for superstardom. Both men are important in her life and work.

Ballet is a cut-throat profession, with a small number of places at the top, and many talented dancers vying to get there. Thus ballet companies are fertile ground for envy, sabotage, treachery, enmity, back-biting, etc. and Natasha suffers her share of ugly behavior from others.

The book mentions a number of ballets, including La Corsaire, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, and more -with descriptions of roles, variations, movements, and so forth. Though I don't know too much about ballet, I found it interesting, and ballet aficionados would appreciate it even more.

At the height of her career, in her mid- twenties, Natasha has a serious accident that results in her retirement and subsequent descent into alcohol and drug abuse. Then, after two years, an old frenemy SURPRISINGLY asks Natasha to come back and dance Giselle.

Dancing once again requires retraining almost from scratch, and the book alternates back and forth between Natasha's past and her current preparations to return to the stage. During Natasha's current training, she reconnects with former teachers, friends, and other people in her life, and she even learns more about the father who left when she was a baby.

Books about ballet are always filled with drama, and there's plenty of angst and tears in the story. Still, I felt like Natasha's ascent and romantic entanglements had an almost mythic arc, as if a fairy godmother was gently pushing her along. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book, and appreciated the incentive to read the stories of several famous ballets.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Juhea Kim, and Ecco for a copy of the book.

Natalia Leonova returns to St. Petersburg two years after a devastating accident that stalled her career. She was an accomplished Prima Ballerina and the time off from preforming has given her time to think about her life, past & present and her future. She has always held tight to growing up, with her mother and their first apartment. The town haunts her though and staying in the neighborhood offers her no peace. She drinks more than she should and has started taking pills and is frankly a mess. She can’t stop thinking about the two men from her past. Alexander and Dimitri are the two men that made her better. Made her reach for her dreams and take chances. Each one has left a place on her heart. Natalia must get herself together, face her ghosts and perform one last time. Juhea Kim, did such a great job writing this story. She was able to set such a beautiful setting. I also felt she was able to describe the Russian Ballet scene. The trial and tribulations of being an elite dancer and family. This was a very good read. I want to thank Netgalley & the author for my copy of City of Night Birds, for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review this story.

I've realized that stories set in the ballet world is a micro genre that I adore. This book was no exception. I liked the ballet studio setting, the Russian history and culture (tea with jam sound very intriguing to me), and I loved this story of a determined young lady making her way in the world of competitive dance. There's a lot of things happening in this story (a father she never knew, two love affairs, a friendship that ebbs and flows, but it worked for me. If you like drama, found families, and of course, ballet, I think this will work for you, too!

4 stars- This is definitely one I need a physical copy of, for my bookshelf. this is gorgeously written with such detail and precision. its inspiring me to go to the ballet myself. thanks netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The book starts out promising. It has a cool premise and the writing is descriptive. Unfortunately, the story is dull and lacks momentum. Natalia is so talented that she never has to put in much work. It's one victory lap after another. As a result, it's hard to stay invested. I also think it's a mistake to include Russia's invasion of Crimea and Ukraine in the story. The author doesn't have much to say and ends up skirting around the topic anyway. Admittedly, no one would be happy no matter what she does. Still, she would've been better off had she just set the book in another period. My last complaint is that the ending is such a copout and doesn't feel earned. It's as though the author is too lazy to write out what happen so she includes a timeskip instead.

The world of ballet has always fascinated me and I couldn’t wait to dive into this Reese Weatherspoon Book Club Pick. The City of Night Birds explores the ballet world, the sacrifice and the discipline along with the loves and the dreams of the dancers.

The story begins when the main character, Natalia, is a young ballerina at a dance school in Russia learning to balance the demands of ballet. The fictitious characters resemble real-life figures from the world of dance. The ballet world setting is described in such detail it’s obvious this author has extensive knowledge of this world. The result is an authenticity and depth to the novel adding a deeper level to the plot. More than just a story about ballet, City of Night Birds is a story of heartbreak, resilience, artistry and passion. Beautifully written and beautifully told.

Thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy.

I featured this book in a new release video prior to publication and was very excited to read a contemporary story about ballet AND set in Russia. My buzzwords just had an orgasm. This is kind of giving Black Swan but if it were set after the events happened and was less scary and more emotionally provoking. Plus this cover is gorgeous. Will update when final review posts, but I'm expecting 5 stars!

Book Review: City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim

Juhea Kim’s City of Night Birds offers an enchanting exploration of the world of ballet, where dreams and discipline intertwine to create a life of both ecstasy and sacrifice. The story centers on Natalia, a young ballerina, and her close-knit group of friends as they navigate the arduous demands of a life dedicated to dance. Through love and heartbreak, moments of frustration, and the soaring highs of performing on stage, their passion for ballet remains unwavering.

Kim’s prose is elegantly crafted, immersing readers in the vivid, kinetic world of ballet. The author’s profound knowledge of the art form is evident, bringing authenticity and depth to the narrative. Dance lovers will delight in spotting characters inspired by real-life figures, such as Sasha, reminiscent of Sergei Polunin, adding another layer of fascination to the story.

This novel is more than a tale about dancers; it’s a celebration of resilience, artistry, and the human spirit’s capacity to push beyond limits for the sake of beauty and expression. A truly delightful journey, City of Night Birds is a must-read for anyone enchanted by the stage or inspired by stories of passion and perseverance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for providing this book, with my honest review below.

I have to admit, I wanted to read City of Night Birds after seeing the accolades through Reese’s Book Club and finding out it was a story about the ballerinas (the ballet and those who commit to it fascinate me). I’m so glad I did because this is the perfect not to heavy to read this but beautifully written story that we hound all feast on.

We follow the extraordinary life of Natalia/Natasha (still confused on why she went by both) as she grows up being told she’s essentially ordinary while feeling a fierceness from within. This alternates by current day Natasha who is back at the first ballet company she started our in, striving to, and fighting against, performing for the first time in 2 years following a devastating injury and subsequent toxic relationship with pills and alcohol. It’s amazing to read about Natasha knowing she does make it big but experiencing the hard work and discipline it took her to get there. Even more it’s fascinating to learn about what she had to deal with to get there, including some remarkable men and women in her life. It’s hard to explain why this book is so significant in a way that truly captures its spirit, but it left me feeling both heartbroken and motivated, and of course throughout passionately protective of Natasha and her dreams and experiences. This is a must read for a reason, and I’d encourage you to pick it up understanding it’s a rare example of beautiful prose being leveraged perfectly to tell an equally beautiful story, but not completely drowning in the words and metaphors. They’re truly the perfect foil.

City of Night Birds by Jukea Kim is everything I hoped for a so much more. This novel appealed to my nostalgia as a dancer practicing ballet in the 1980s because is brought back so many memories of ballet, performances, politics, white nights, Baryshnikov and similar leading men.

Natalia Leonova is presented in two timelines – one as a rising star at Mariinsky (and its “rivalry” with Bolshoi) and one as a prima ballerina coming back from a devastating injury and a more devastating broken heart. I find myself drawn to stories with strong characters but Natalia and her classmates at Mariinsky are presented as stereotypically Russian, meaning there is a distance that is cultural and protective. It is how I remember the Russian performers when I was younger, and I developed an affinity for Natalia, Nina, Sofiya, Seryozha, and Sasha. (If you get a chance, I recommend watching Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in White Nights for a glimpse into Russian politics, ballet and its performers.)

“When you have more life ahead than behind, dreams are more real than reality.”

Natalia was raised by her single mother, a seamstress for Mariinsky, but was unable to develop a real bond as her mother was ruined by the abandonment by Natalia’s father. However, she was close with her “aunt” Sveta, a ballerina and her closest confidant throughout her life. She shows promising ballerina characteristics without training and is accepted to the school, where she rises in the ranks. Soon she is winning a grand prix and being recruited in Paris. Throughout her career, Natalia is plagued by trust issues. Her fellow dancers make varying life choices, and she questions hers at every turn. However, her determination and discovery of herself help her find her way.

“Who are the people we truly love? I don’t think it’s people we like, but the ones we keep thinking about. I have met scores of wonderful people, men and women, with whom I shared intimacies, laughter, goodwill – and then never thought about again after I moved on to the next theater and engagement …They hadn’t taken up any room inside of me. Then some others occupy a huge part of your mind, and your heart, for years and maybe your whole life. Maybe they take up space inside your soul, so you can never really lose them without losing yourself, too.”

Kim creates beautifully accurate worlds of ballet at the highest level in both Moscow and Paris. She has written breathtaking and very flawed characters that comprise the seemingly harsh dance world, and yet shows that the hardest and ugliest of characters can ultimately be the most understanding. Natalia’s life story is woven with threads of stories from her parents and her friends. I would like to have known more about some of the characters like Sveta, Sofiya and Léon, but they appeared when Natalia needed them, which I guess was sort of the point. This is a story about finding yourself and ballet. There are some mentions of the political history of Russia and the Ukraine, but historical perspective is not the aim of this novel.

“No matter how great a work of art is, it comes to an end. In fact, in order to be great, it must end. But life never comes to an end. When one thread is knotted, even when another is broken, it continues weaving together to an everlasting music so that the whole of it can only be seem from the height of infinity.”

Thank you to HarperCollins Press for the ARC of this book through NetGalley, which I received for my honest review. Any quoted or excerpted material in this review may differ from the final published edition.

Another terrific novel about the beauty and brutality of ballet.

I was especially interested in this because it focuses on the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi (and later, a bit on the Opera), rather than on ABC. Most ballet novels are set in New York, and while that’s with good reason and I don’t anticipate tiring of it, it’s nice to see something different.

To that end, one of the best parts of it is the opportunity to learn about how different companies function. How they choose dancers, how they train, what makes for success or failure.

The writing is beautiful throughout, and I loved how evocative the ballet-related scenes were. I was a bit less interested in what the author did with Natalia’s life off-stage, and to that end this book loses something toward the end, when we get a lot less ballet and a lot more of Natalia’s personal life. We see some of that in the earlier chapters too, but those are better woven in with the ballet.

Overall though, this is a good read if you like ballet fiction, and refreshingly unique compared to a lot of what we get in this subgenre.

At first, I didn't quite catch on to Natalia's dizzying POV of the past and present, but once I did, I enjoyed this book. I love reading about secluded and competitive worlds, such as ballet

The steep costs of attaining one’s dreams

World reknowned prima ballerina Natalia Leonova returns to the city of her youth, St Petersburg, after many years abroad. Her return is not for happy reasons…her mother (with whom she had a difficult relationship and from whom she has been estranged for years) has died. Natalia herself is not in a good place; an unspecified accident has left her so physically damaged that she hasn’t danced for over two years, and for someone whose whole life and identity were dance it has proven an impossible existence, one which she tolerates only with the aid of Xanax and alcohol. She will need to come to terms not only with the loss of the mother whom she loved deeply but with whom it was difficult for her to connect but also the many reminders of the her past in the city. When she is offered a chance to dance again with the ballet company which gave her her start by someone whom she has reason to hate, she is torn. She desperately wants, even needs, to dance again but is unsure that she is (or will ever be) sufficiently recovered to dos so as well as she once did. Can she overcome her addictions, her guilt over how she has treated others and her fear of failure in order to make a triumphant return?
This is a story both of a young girl who was never destined to be a dancer overcoming incredible odds to achieve not just a career in dance but to become one of the best dancers of her generation, and of the world of dance itself, full of passion, betrayal, ambition and sacrifice. With beautiful and evocative prose, the reader is shown the cities of St Petersburg and Paris, the pull between the needs of self and the demands of art, the brutal physical pain endured by the elite dancer, and the quest for fulfillment. Natalia is a flawed character, talented and with an amazing drive but ruthless in her quest for advancement. She leaves in her wake the mother who raised her alone in poverty, a man who loved her and her closest friend. As the story unfolds, the reader experiences Natalia’s many triumphs but also her mistakes, and not until the end do they discover the events that led to her accident and fall from the heights of success. It was hard not to picture dancers like Gudunov and Baryshnikov when reading about Natalia’s partners in dance Sasha and Dmitri, and woven into the story as well are real world events like Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the impact that had upon the world of ballet, with so many dancers of both Russian and Ukrainian roots who for years had worked and studied interchangeably but suddenly had to choose a side. I found the story intriguing, with nuanced characters living messy lives full of drama and pain as they strive for moments of perfection in their chosen art. Readers of Maggie Shipstead, Julie Kavanaugh and Lauren Willig, people who loved movies like White Nights, Black Swan and The Turning Point, and fans of ballet in general should all add City of Night Birds to their TRB pile. Many thanks to NetGalley and Ecco Press for allowing me early access to this compelling and beautifully written tale.