A heart-breaking love story. Very insightful writing style. Really felt bad for John. It was as if Katya came into his life to cure him of one hurt only to give one more hurt. The writing style is captivating, and the story was reasonably paced. Didn't have boring moment and enjoyed reading it.

Trigger Warning (not exclusive): war themes, death of a loved one (mentioned), mass murder (mentioned), trauma.

This is a love story between a holocaust survivor and a ballerina. The story follows both POVs, and gives us an insight of their past before they met, and when they eventually do.

I love historical fiction especially one’s set in WW2, so I was really excited to read this one. Though most of the story is actually post-war.

I struggled to get into the story at the beginning since I was slightly confused but after a couple of chapters it got better. The writing is beautiful though it did have some trouble grabbing my attention at times and I found myself skimming till I saw some dialogue.
Some of the dialogue felt awkward too, and the pacing between scenes and sentences felt off sometimes. More editing would have been better since I felt turned around when a scene changes suddenly.

The story was quite emotional. Reading John’s POV and reading what he endured during the war as a child was heartbreaking.

-possible spoilers-
It was also uncomfortable to read Katya’s POV, especially when she was obsessed with a man three times her age (give or take). He literally took advantage of her. He was a pervert and a pedophile who groomed his student. And she was quite naïve and didn’t understand the big picture, to her she had a crush and her crush finally noticed her. And the fact that he was older than her father was even more disturbing!

I must say I was also disappointed with the ending, I felt like the story build up to nothing.

As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the plot (there are other reviews like that out there already).

I wanted to read this book as I have been a fan of the ballet since I was a tiny child (and indeed dreamed of becoming a ballerina!)

I'm sad to say that I didn't enjoy the novel as much as I expected - for various reasons. Firstly, there was not enough actual ballet in it for me (maybe I expected too much). I did not warm to the main characters - though they were both very well written characters, and their backgrounds were well described - heartbreakingly so in John's case. I was at a loss to understand why things worked out as they did for them in the end.

It's a fairly lengthy book to get through - at times I almost abandoned it, but persevered to the end.

Would still give this author another read in the future though.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

This novel is my favorite genre, historical fiction and took place during WWII. Fast forward to the 60s and the author takes the reader on a journey through time and follows the main characters. John and Katya through perseverance, they improved their lives. The pair retold their stories through memories, none of which were happy.
Dr. John Curtin, whose given name was Janko, and was forced by the kommandant to sing for German officers. Not only was the boy forced to sing in a cigar filled room, but these men killed his family. As a result, Janko never found pleasure in singing, which brought up horrible memories.
Katherine fulfilled her dream to become a Prima Ballerina and eventually she changed her named for the stage to Katya Symanova. Eventually Katya had a sexual relationship with Boris Yanzkove, the choreographer of her dance company. Instead of being a source of pleasure, it was borderline sexual assault when Boris Yanakove preferred rough sex with Katya. Their relationship was not clear to me, do they care for each other or was there a hidden agenda.
Thank you Martha Anne Toll, Regal House Publishing, and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this novel in return for an honest review.

Katya and John's stories dance throughout each other's timelines to create an incredibly unique narrative in Three Muses. Exploring horrific, soul-shattering grief from the kind of tragedy that feels impossible to survive and overcome, every concept, from dance to music to psychiatry, plays a role in teasing out their stories.

Katya's relationship with Mr Y is very difficult to overcome. It's worrying that, even though this is set primarily through the mid-'40s to mid-'60s, no one ever tries to address the obvious grooming. Though nothing happens until Katya is of age, their 'working' relationship is never appropriate. With the imbalance of power and Katya's hero worship, her vulnerability is easy to manipulate. Besides this, the rest of Three Muses is wonderful.

"A strange banker, he was, dealing in the peculiar coinage of patients' memories. There was both burden and benefit in managing that depository."

I enjoyed that the theme is repeated and replicated often, but with such a subtle touch that you have to be paying attention. Katya's artistry is tempered so well with John's science, their personal griefs may not be equal in magnitude, but they hold space for each other with respect and almost awe. My favourite part of their relationship is how much they appreciate their differences and are willing to learn from one another. There's something so precious about how they interact with each other, making their relationship feel light despite the depth it contains.

There are parts I love about Three Muses that can get lost or overshadowed. While the narrative lost its way a few times, there are some beautiful, thoughtful pearls here that make it well worth the read.

"John remembered his family; he would always remember them. He was the guardian of their memory. The agonizing past; the crowded, aching present; the vast uncertain proliferating future; the collapsing, imploding, chaotic spectrum of time unleashed by tragedy. Without John - son and brother, brother and son - his family were dust motes swirling in history's cyclone.
He would remember."

Written in alternating timelines, this beautiful book is so worth reading. From the descriptions of ballet to the sensitive portrayal of a Holocaust survivor, so much emotion and love is a part of these characters. Excellent book!

This book was one of the worst I have read in a very long time, a huge disappointment because the premise was so intriguing. Marketed as literary fiction, it quickly devolved into YA-style prose then to bad bodice-ripper style/mass-market genre prose with a warped idea of what counts as erotic (dirty tights? ewww). The characters were not fully developed, nor were the supposed themes of memory, song, and discipline. To the contrary, the psychiatrist showed everything but discipline; I won't mention it to avoid spoilers. Supposedly the ballerina was struggling with a relationship with an abusive mentor, but she didn't seem aware of the dynamic even when her chatty friend complained about it. You can't heal if you're not aware of a problem. I only finished it because a prestigious publication had asked me to review it, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to write a full review about how bad it was. Many far more worthy books deserve attention.

Oof this is a hard review because does it happen to you that you like a book but don't love it but you can't really say reasons you didn't love it? That's what it happened to me with this one. I couldn't get into the story and not because of the writing, which I liked, but I just couldn't get into it. I found myself making excuses not to grab my kindle and rwsd because I couldn't find attraction to the book eve if the story is good. The book isn't long but is just that I didn't enjoy truly all happening but like in general. I don't know I just don't know how to give an opinion because I couldn't totally fall for it. You have a holocaust survivor and a ballerina and their lives collide but I felt the end to be just, not good for me. As a historical fiction reader I felt that side flat, it was more an insight of ballet and their lives than an actual WWII historical fiction book, and the romance it's not what I was expecting either but isn't bad hahahaa when I said I didn't know how to wrote this review I wasn't joking!!!! I have so many mixed feelings on this one...

I'd actually recommend it because I'd love to see other reader's opinions!!!

I’m not going to lie, I loved the premise but I couldn’t finish it. From what I did read of it, it’s certainly not a bad book, it just wasn’t for me. The writing style just didn’t gel with me. I have no doubt that many people will love this book.

Netgalley and the publisher gave me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and I thank them for it.

I mainly review books as a way of seeing novels that would not otherwise come across my radar - and this is a perfect example of that. This book is so many things - a love story, a holocaust story, a story about commitment and family and discipline. It's a painful pleasure to read, because Martha Toll knows that bad things happen and that we all take damage. This book was compelling and, although some of the themes are very sad, it is not a brutal book. It has softness and healing as well.

Writing reviews for books I've loved is always hard, because it's always the vibe, the characters, the plot. This is a beautiful book and I recommend it.

I love the cover and the premise of Three Muses by Martha Anne Toll but struggled to really get into the novel. While the novel is relatively short, I had to keep going back and rereading to keep things straight. Once I got into it, I found it to be an interesting story. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Three Muses by Martha Anne Toll is a moving love story tinged with trauma, telling as it does the story of John and Katya, two people who in very different ways are struggling to come to terms with their past while figuring out their identities and possible futures. The pair meet when John sees dancer Katya perform in her role as Prima Ballerina of the New York State Ballet and the beauty of her performance unlocks something inside him. John is training to become a psychiatrist in part as a way of dealing with his own childhood trauma - he was the only member of his family to survive a concentration camp which he did by singing for the commandant and his guests. Katya lost her mother at a young age but then began to study ballet and eventually works her way to the top of her career, but not without becoming trapped in an abusive and controlling relationship with a much older choreographer. The young couple seem to bring out the best in one another and it looks like they will be able to help with each other's traumas .
I liked the premise of this book very much, the idea of the value of art in dealing with trauma was an interesting one, and I enjoyed both protagonist's individual stories very much, but I struggled with believing the romance between them , it was a little too instalove for me, the emotional connection with the characters just was not there in the way it needed to be for me to love the book .
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own..

I love an intricately woven tale with nods to Greek mythology, and the set up for this novel promised just that. Unfortunately for me, it didn't deliver what I had hoped. There is a lot of promise with John's heartbreaking back-story of being forced to entertain a Nazi kommandant and Katya's parallel story as a developing ballerina under the abusive spell of her choreographer. However, the way the stories met and intertwined fell short of their potential.

Thank you to Netgalley and Regal House Publishing for the eARC!

I loved reading about the ballet scenes as a former ballet dancer!
I was interested in this book because it combines my love of ballet with my love for historical fiction but sadly it fell a bit short. Not a lot happens plot wise, and the love story promised doesn’t really happen until the second half. I did also enjoy how music was looked at as a theme and how it can have different effects on people.

I was glad that unlike other WW2 stories, this book didn’t romanticize anything about the Holocaust and exposed the horrors that John/Janko experienced. Although I wish there had been a deeper look at the effects of his PTSD. Some things were a little weird with how suddenly John overcame his trauma when he meets Katya. He has trauma related to music but we barely get to see/explore his coming to terms with it, so it felt more like a plot point to connect the characters rather than exploring it as part of John’s character development.

The plot was unique but it didn’t feel fully fleshed out with flat characters, which as a character driven novel the characters should’ve been more developed. The “love story” is an insta romance but I didn’t enjoy the romance aspect at all. I much preferred the section where we’re shown John and Katya’s backgrounds

I didn’t hate it or love it, I finished it because it was quick and had decent writing. It feels more like 2 different books that are mashed into one and loosely tying the characters together. Even though it held my attention, the emotional connection I expected wasn’t there especially concerning the romance. I felt the emotional depth with John and his history but other than that I felt very disconnected from the novel. It was an interesting premise that just wasn’t executed well and lost my interest in the second half.

Martha Anne Toll’s beautifully written, dark, and tender debut, “Three Muses”, is about two characters who grow up on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. They both experience trauma and later connect through music.

In post-WWII New York, John Curtin is a Holocaust survivor who was forced to sing for a concentration camp kommandant who killed his family.

He receives a ticket to attend a ballet featuring Katya Symanova, the Prima Ballerina of the New York State Ballet. Symanova, who has worked her way up to her position in the company, is caught in an abusive relationship with a choreographer.

“Three Muses” is a prize-winning, haunting, and deeply engrossing love story.

The book cover is beautiful and clever, including a symbol of the brutality to be found within the novel.

A huge thank you to @NetGalley and @regal_house_publishing for providing me with a digital ARC.

Three Muses by Martha Anne Toll. Pub Date: September 20, 2022. Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟. This is the story of two people who are connected through one main theme, music. Katya is a ballerina and John is a holocaust survivor. Both experience tragedy in their childhoods that influence their futures. One night, John sends Katya roses following one of her stage performances and Katya feels seen. John struggles to connect with music again due to painful memories in a concentration camp where music kept him alive. The story is beautiful how the author blends these two characters together. The writing was top notch as well. Thanks to #NetGalley and #RegalHousePublishing for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

A short, yet difficult book about surviving the holocaust and being a successful ballerina. We start with the characters as they are quite young, we learn of their difficulties in life and how they adjusted to live in spite of these difficulties/tragedies in their lives. The ending is quite abrupt. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Three Muses grabs you with that gorgeous cover and a blurb about Holocaust survival and ballet, but it's so much more.  Martha Anne Toll has given us a tight novel about survival, family, choice, and discipline.  Not quite enough ballet in this reader's opinion, but still highly recommended.

This was such a beautifully told story, dealing with many difficult subjects such as trauma, loss and grief throughout. It was so well handled by the author and has an overall hopeful message of showing the gifts of life.

As someone who enjoys watching ballet and history, this was such a perfect book. The element of ballet being woven into this novel was a brilliant touch. I was mesmerised by this as the writing was absolutely beautiful, there’s no other way to describe it. The characters were easy to route for and feel for as well, which always makes the experience of reading all the more enjoyable in my eyes, as it truly feels you’ve joined the characters.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review!!
This book brings together two subjects that are of much interest to me, ballet and Holocaust history. The story follows the dual narrative of two people from the 1940's- 1960's. John (formerly Janko) was a young boy in Mainz, Germany. He and his family are sent to a concentration camp. Janko survives by singing nightly for the commander and officers. His family perishes, Janko survives and moves to the United States becoming John. He is taken in by parents who have lost their son in the war. John eventually goes to medical school studying to become a psychiatrist.

John travels to France and is given a ticket to a ballet called The Three Muses. Here he becomes entranced by Katya Symanov (formerly Katherine Sillman of NYC). Katya loses her mother at a young age and begins ballet classes as a means of escape. Dance becomes her world. Music and ballet bring the two of them together. For John music became a painful memory of his Holocaust experience and the guilt he feels by surviving. He collides with Katya and her love of music which fuels her love of dance.

The Three Muses is a beautifully written and heart wrenching story of love, loss and healing.