Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"All vibes no plot" girlies rejoice! Nocturne is just the book for you. This was so lovely and atmospheric and evocative that I adored it even though I had no idea what was going on in the 2nd half of the book. I didn't even care that nothing made sense because all I knew was how it was making me feel, and I love books that can just sweep me away like that.

Purple prose haters, this is NOT the book for you... while you could definitely call the writing overly descriptive/flowery, I thought it worked super well in this story and made everything feel so lush and romantic. I also really liked Grace as a character and thought the story's focus on her friendship with Emilia was beautiful. This book was like... the plot of Beauty and the Beast with the vibes of Hades and Persephone and the style of The Night Circus... but set in cold and dark 1930s Chicago with a fairytale flair. I ate it the hell up.

I requested this novel because of the absolutely gorgeous cover and the ballet angle. I had no idea it was actually a really inspired re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. Not only is Grace Dragotta a prima ballerina, but she is also a violin virtuoso. An orphan who was raised in the Near North Ballet in 1938, Grace has struggled to rise among the corps to become prima. She soon discovers that a patron, Master La Rosa, has made it possible for her to rise and soar. I'm not going to give anything away, but do yourself a favor and read this sweet, haunting novel. It's almost as perfect a fairy tale as could be.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Del Ray Books for this e-arc.*

I hate to do this, but I'm DNFing this at 50%. The premise - a phantom of the opera inspired tale - was intriguing, but halfway through and we've still made little progress or exploration of this. It's very character and prose focused, but I just don't care enough about the MC for that to carry it. And in the beginning the writing was beautiful and atmospheric, but as we get further on, the writing doesn't stay 100% consistent so it can't fully carry me either. When it comes out I might try it on audio since I know it will be short, but it really just could not hold me attention and after soft DNFing it in December, I never was interested enough to pick it back up again. 2.5 stars

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

wow well where to start...i found it very descriptive on everything....and that was a lot to read through for a simple explanation, it didnt bode well....

sorry to say though that this book wasnt for me....and though i can see most people enjoyed it, i wasnt one of them...

I wasn’t super impressed with this book. You know those movies that are really pretty to watch but have bad/no plot and flat characters? This is the book form of that. It’s beautiful to read, but the plot is substandard and the characters are bland. I did enjoy the first part of the book that is more about Grace and Emilia mainly focused on the ballet itself. But once Master La Rosa becomes more than just a shadowy benefactor, it takes a turn for the worse. I wouldn’t recommend this one unless you like lyrical stories

This was a beautifully lyrical novel that was somehow also overly descriptive and a mix between several different retellings at once. While I enjoyed the premise, the story felt very weighed down by the descriptions and the main points of the story. It felt like there was a lot going on but nothing was really articulated in a clear and concise way.

I want to thank the publisher for allowing me to receive an arc for this book, which I was super excited about at first....you can see where this is going. I had really high hopes because it had all the proper ingredients for a home run. However, it became extremely apparent this story was a mess by chapter 12.

At first, I thought this book was attempting to do a twist on Black Swan, then it had a slightly intriguing Phantom of the Opera homage (I thought it was a little TOO on the nose, but I pressed on), then it became apparent this was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, or so I thought. Do you see the issue here? She just cherry-picked the best parts of things that already existed then said "let’s mix it all together and it’ll be a hit." No, because soon you think you have the tone of this book figured out the plot disappears. I was LOST. The lore, the character motivations, it was all so DEEPLY uninteresting even though the ideas by themselves are interesting.

I’m not going to keep rehashing what people said about the very over-descriptive language that was used (which added no real value to the overall story) because they said it all. I will say that I noticed the word “thing” being used over and over again, which gave me Lightlark war flashbacks. It just felt like the author was trying way too hard to sound smart with the way she strung words together.

It took at least 7 chapters to get to anything remotely exciting. The main character was deeply uninteresting and the best part about her was her best friend who just disappears halfway through the story. I thought ya'll were sisters? Why didn't she call the police soon as she realized you were trapped in that house?

The King of Death/love interest character was bland. The author tried her best to make him “swoony,” but you can’t do that with a piece of cardboard. This was nothing more than two Gods picking a random mortal to play with because one was proud and one was bitter. Grace “holding her death in her heart” was not a compelling enough reason for her to be chosen. Death never gave other reasons for “loving her'' so I didn’t feel like the stakes were raised at all.

Speaking of Grace—and I should’ve mentioned this earlier—her backstory was so surface-level. At first, I thought the parts about her brother were about a dead boyfriend because of the way it was described. The author never went deeper than surface level of what it's like to be and feel alone after your entire family dies. She scratched the surface of grief and orphanhood, but never went beyond. And I LOATHE...DESPISE when authors don't give their female characters any agency over their own lives. Make it make sense because if I was her I would be raising hell because no one “sells me” or tells me what to do. She's supposed to be this stubborn, motivated, determined person who made it against all odds and she essentially gives in.

There were no other elements that kept me reading other than trying to figure out what the end game was for our “little bird.” Everything was extremely heavy-handed/explained through the premise of the ballet Grace was dancing so it wasn’t hard to figure out where this was going. I more so wanted to know “why” and what the point was.

Phew…I stopped reading 80% of the way through and skimmed to the end. The ending was predictable and yet made me so angry.

I was hoping for more out of this book, but overall I would give it about 3.5 stars. I loved the premise of the book and the story line itself, I just felt I wasn't connecting with the characters.

Title: Nocturne
Author: Alyssa Wees
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Growing up in Chicago’s Little Sicily in the years following the Great War, Grace Dragotta has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet Company. So when Grace is orphaned, she chooses the ballet as her home, imagining herself forever ensconced in a transcendent world of light and beauty so different from her poor, immigrant upbringing.

Years later, with the Great Depression in full swing, Grace has become the company's new prima ballerina—though achieving her long-held dream is not the triumph she once envisioned. Time and familiarity have tarnished that shining vision, and her new position means the loss of her best friend in the world. Then she attracts the attention of the enigmatic Master La Rosa as her personal patron, and realizes the world is not as small or constricted as she had come to fear.

Who is her mysterious patron, and what does he want from her? As Grace begins to unlock the Master's secrets, she discovers that there is beauty in darkness as well as light, finds that true friendship cannot be broken by time or distance, and realizes there may be another way entirely to achieve the transcendence she has always sought.

This wasn’t consistent read for me. What I mean by that: solid writing and descriptions, and I love the ballet parts. But….Grace and the other characters felt very one-dimensional and cliched, like the author tried to cobble them---and the story---together from a handful of other stories and myths, but didn’t make them unique enough to be believable. Grace was more of a puppet than anything else, barely taking any of her own initiative to do anything. As a whole, this just didn’t work for me, despite the dreamy ballet sequences.

Alyssa Wees lines in the Chicago area. Nocturne is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Ballantine/Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.)

What a beautifully written book. I really enjoyed the writing and the different fantasy aspect of this book.

Wees' lush sophomore novel leaps but stumbles, landing gracefully.

Grace has dreamt of becoming a star on the stage with her pointe shoes and strong command of ballet, but Chicago's Little Sicily is short of miracles. Left orphaned, raised by the ballet company, and now her best friend on the verge of leaving, Grace's dreams feel as substantial as shadows. Until she gets the part of the prima ballerina and catches the eye of the mysterious patron, Master La Rosa. Then under his generous patronage, Grace starts her adventure, following the sound of violin music and the beauty in the dark.

Wees draws on the similar prose that she used for her debut, almost overly descriptive, that distracts readers from the plot. While it works better in her dark romance than her genre-twisting portal fantasy, creating a fairytale atmosphere, the same problems remain. I struggled following Grace's plotline. I couldn't help but compare it to other Death and The Maiden stories – The Bear and the Nightingale, Keturah, And Lord Death, etc. It felt like Nocturne brought nothing new to the genre. However, the strengths would be the realistic and immersive scenery. I could almost imagine walking on the slick cobble steps during The Great Depression, hoping to catch a hint of tulle skirts and silk ballet shoes.

NetGalley Provided a copy. All opinions are my own.

Nocturne sounded like everything I would love in a book - 1930s Chicago, ballet, Italian heritage, romance - but unfortunately this story fell short for me. Although the writing itself and the word choices did give the air of darkness and magic, it was too heavy for me and I felt like I was dragging myself to read it. Some friends told me to DNF the book, but I needed to see it all play out, hoping that it would eventually redeem itself, but in the end, I felt just as cold and lonely as Grace.

The premise of this book is interesting - a fantasy set in the 1930s with a prima ballerina. The writing is beautifully descriptive, but at times it can be a bit much and takes you out of the story. I had difficulty connecting with the MC and wish there was more dialogue/interaction between the characters. I felt like the story didn’t really progress until about 150 pages in and it still felt somewhat confusing. If you’re a fan of lyrical writing, ballet, Phantom of the Opera, and mythology, then you will probably enjoy thus. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House-Ballantine for the arc.

This was so much more than I thought it would be. I struggled to fall asleep thinking of this after it finished, and it was the first thing I thought about the next morning.

Hauntingly beautiful, orphaned Grace finds herself living in a sort of void, things never seeming quite as they should. She lives to dance - it's the one time when she really feels alive, when things are as they should be. When her best friend and the current prima of their dance company, Emelia, announces that she's leaving to get married, Grace is hoping but still surprised to find that she's selected as the next prima. It's not until the first showing of the ballet that Grace learns she's been handpicked as the next prima by a mysterious sponsor, Master La Rosa. Nor until the last showing that she's told he's paid enough that she's now going to live with him, eat his food and wear clothes provided by him, and dance one waltz with him every Sunday. She'll still be allowed to dance with their company during the week, but everything else is changing.

Convinced by now that her patron is something more, something monstrous, Grace tries to run. It's hopeless though, and she soon agrees to go without a fight. La Rosa's assistant, Mr. Russo, says that he'll answer her questions when they arrive at the mansion. He's not as forthcoming as he suggests though, and Grace finds herself with even more questions.

At times, I had to read aloud. To bring the words even more to life, and to slow myself from devouring it even faster. It may have been the speed at which I read, or some part of the writing, but at times things could get kind of muddled, a little too dreamlike. In a fairytale though, is it the storyteller's job or the reader's to keep themselves from being too swept away?

Told in 3 parts, I was drawn in by the end of Part One. That was also the point where I was texting friends that it wasn't out yet, but as soon as it was, they needed to pick up Nocturne right away!

I wanted to like this book, but it was not for me and I stopped reading at about the halfway point. The text was a little too flowery and lyrical for me. There are a lot of comparisons to Phantom of the Opera floating around, and it fits. Like Phantom, the heroine is… fainty. She doesn’t do much besides get overwhelmed and throw herself around. I don’t think I would mind so much if it weren’t for the Depression-era setting– I expect more grit and determination and less luck and lash fluttering from someone surviving the mean streets of Chicago in the 30s

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting and hauntingly beautiful novel.

Four and a Half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒
Nocturne by Alyssa Wees is a fantasy, about a young girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina set in Chicago from the end of World War I, through the great depression.

Story Recap:
Grace Dragotta had a rough life growing up in Chicago. Orphaned at a young age, and then her brother is brutally murdered by the gangs in Chicago, Grace plays the violin for money on a street corner, but she really wants to become a ballerina. After hanging out near the North Ballet Company, they take her in and train her to become a ballerina.

Eventually, she becomes the Prima Ballerina because she has a benefactor. The mysterious benefactor takes her into his huge home and only asks that she dance with him every Sunday evening. Who is her mysterious benefactor and why did he choose her?

My Thoughts:
The first part of this book reads like historical fiction, we learn about Grace and how she grew up. We see how hard she works to become a ballerina and her relationship with her best friend and fellow ballerina, Emilia. We meet Mistress, the matriarch of the Ballet company see how she rules the girls. This first part of the story is mostly straightforward as we learn about Grace’s life as a ballerina, but there is an air of mystery that made me uncomfortable and anxious to find out what more would happen next.

The book's second part is more about the Master or the benefactor. Things start to get more mysterious as the Master keeps his identity secret from Grace. We know not all is clear with the Master, but I had to read and find out what happens next.

I loved this beautifully written fantasy.
Recommendation:
I highly recommend Nocturne to anyone who enjoys fantasy. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, but this doesn’t influence my review. The trope of this book was a historical ballet paranormal romance, and I think this was too much for the author. The writing style was wonderful, but there were too many flashbacks, the intro of the “love interest” was at 50% of the book, and there was no chemistry or romance. The book and plot was confusing af

This book wasn’t for me. The author put a lot of work into the plot and all of that. But it just didn’t click for me.

Thank you Penguin Random House & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was ONLY 240 pages? This was the LONGEST 240 page book I’ve ever read.

“We played until there was nothing but music, and the music warmed us, like light”

Having been born in the midst of the Spanish Influenza, growing up during the Great Depression, losing all her family to violence and death, Grace has always known Death.

“Mobsters were thieves and murderers, violent and corrupt; Lorenzo was neither, never had been, but desperation scraped away his goodness like paint from a wall, chips and cracks over time until he was nothing but bones and teeth, raw and irascible beneath.”

I was both blown away and entirely over the lyricism of this book. There were moments where I was enamored by the writing. And then other times where I was skipping over pages because there was nothing valuable being said.

“But no-destiny is not destiny if it is not yours from the start, and so maybe I was always a little burning beast in my heart.”

The first quarter of the book was great for background & really set the stage. After that, it wasn’t until about 3/4 through the book, that something started to make sense. Or something was happening. I’m giving this 2 stars for the moments where the writing felt truly moving and beautiful.