I was very happy to see I had received this arc! Nocturne hit the spot for me. I’ve been craving a more classical kind of story, and I enjoyed reading Grace’s story. This is a quick read and sometimes I think I read too fast… in the middle especially, it’s easy to start skimming because the pacing feels slow and I was eager to get back into the action. But overall I really liked this and I think fans of Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera will love it!

In Nocturne, Alyssa Wees tells the story of a newly-appointed prima ballerina, Grace Dragotta, with a mysterious patron. Part ballet and part fantasy, Nocturne evokes at times the Hades/Persephone story, at times Beauty and the Beast, and at times Phantom of the Opera.

Wees writes with beautiful prose, and moments of Nocturne are very artful, but in the end, this novel focuses a lot on aesthetic without fully developing its character or story. There are pretty setpieces that lead to nothing, and the story includes many scenes that feel inexplicable. As a result, the characters do not feel fully realized. Ultimately, I think that Nocturne would have been better as a novella, where its mythic, fairytale qualities could be cut and polished to a brilliant shine. As a full-length novel, though, Nocturne gets lost in itself..

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for an advance readers copy of Nocturne. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballentine for the advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book had some strengths, but also a lot of weaknesses. The prose in this book was hauntingly beautiful. I have so many quotes underlined that I would love to share, just because of how beautifully it is written. I was completely immersed in the world and able to picture it in vivid detail. Not only was the world described, but the character's feelings and thoughts as well.

However, the writing was the only intriguing part of the book. The plot was unoriginal, an odd mix between Beauty and the Beast, Hades and Persephone, and Phantom of the Opera. The characters had no depth, which made it hard to care about what was happening to them. The romantic plot line fell flat, ironically the most unbelievable part of the magical world. It felt like the author wanted to just write beautiful descriptions, but pretty writing is not enough to make a book great.

i’m not sure how to rate this because it goes both ways for me. i feel like i kinda got increasingly uninterested during the second half, and i grew more disconnected from the story. i found myself skipping the incredibly descriptive paragraphs in this book. i don’t know if i’d say it was overwritten, because there still were some beautifully written sections in this ! i’m not sure if i’d consider this a beauty and the beast retelling, because it was like a mixture of so many different things. a bunch of random plot points started happing during the last 10% and also just so much happened during the second half. i felt like a lot was going on, and i wanted more of some characters and less of others. still, i enjoyed the themes and plot of this story. the beautiful cover drew me in as well as the description (ballet, magical realism, and just everything). it had darker themes than i thought it would, and i wasn’t as fond as the themes of death (plus the portrayal of death personified) and such in this book (also just the dude’s name being master la rosa, i don’t know why). overall, i would give this 2.5-3 stars. i could see someone else really enjoying this. this just wasn’t for me, and that’s okay !

thank you to netgalley and ballantine for providing me with an eARC of this book !!

When I saw the cover of this book, and read the description, I was over the moon. Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast are some of my absolute favorite classics. The cover of this book is beyond gorgeous. Unfortunately, there was something about the writing style that I just could not get into. And the overall story just didn't hold my attention. I'm a huge fan of all things macabre and bizarre so I'm not sure what exactly about the story was difficult for me to connect to. I really thought I was going to love this one to Death (pun intended) but it fell a little flat for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

The cover of the book and the synopsis caught my eye from the start. Such a beautiful cover! The story started out really strong and I loved the entire first half. The last half of the book just wasn't for me. I know many will love this story and all the twists. I still recommend it for fans of fantasy.

Nocturne by Alyssa Wees is a haunting, unique, lyrical fantasy.
I stayed up all night to finish this beautiful tale.
Nocturne totally blew me away. I seriously could not stop reading.
When I had to stop reading to adult, seep or eat, I thought about this book!
Atmospheric, a spellbinding story, and writing that was just completely captivating.
The setting, 1930’s set in Chicago was done amazingly, it was like I was standing there watching it all unfold right before my eyes!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own”

Random House, Ballantine & Dell,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, BookBub, B&N, Kobo and Waterstone closer to pub date.

An absolute stunning and hauntingly beautiful tale. I was blown away by the creativity of Alyssa Wees.

This book as being marketed as a Beauty and the Beast retelling, I think it needs to be looked at as its own story. I'd say it's more of a Beauty and the Beast inspired story than a true retelling. The writing style is gorgeous. The imagery it conjures is both dreamlike and haunting.

Our main character Grace has lived a tragic but fascinating life. The flashbacks of a childhood during the Great Depression mixed into a strange fairytale setting was one of my favorite aspects of the book. The combination of fantasy and historical is always a genre I like and I thought this was very well done.

As for the plot, I don't want to give too much away but one thing that really resonating with me was the theme of death throughout. It comes up in many different and unsuspecting ways. I can't say too much but the outlook on death was a refreshing one that we don't see to often in media and it really made me think about life and morality.

This book is for readers who enjoy dark fantasies and enchanting prose. And for any ballerinas out there as well!

Nocturne spoiler free review

“He is as handsome as a handful of snow melting in your hands, cold and shimmering, and as tall as a dream that goes on and on until morning.”

4/5⭐️’s

Firstly, I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Del Rey books for send me this eARC of Nocturne!

To me, there is nothing much more magical than a theatre and reading about this ballerina and her journey with Death and Sleep was SO magical. I definitely picked up some Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, and even a little bit of The Haunting of Hill House vibes. This story was eerie, magical, and romantic.

Something that I loved about this book is that the author took the time in the beginning of the story to really explain our MC and everything that she has been through. There were times that I was just so SAD. Finally, after all she has been through, our MC gets her big break, but at what cost?

Overall, this story was incredibly written. It was so lyrical and at times, I found myself having to take a break to ponder what I had just read and all that it meant. I would suggest this book to readers that are fans of eerie romances that will have you questioning what is going to happen next.

I received a copy of Nocturn from netgalley in return for an honest review.

A ballerina, a young woman who has spent her life as one of the cohort, dreaming of dancing her heart out as the prima ballerina, but not believing it will happen because even when whispers that her best friend (the current prima ballerina) is retiring as she knows there are other ballerinas that are technically better than her. Then a benefactor makes a large donation, and she finds out only as she’s whisked away that it’s in return for her going to live with him and dance a certain part of a ballet he created, and that everyone Sunday he wants to dance with her.

From there magic and love mix together and our ballerina finds herself falling in love while truly only wishing to continue practicing her art, whether it be the ballet she’s slowly through the years come to resent because of its rigidity but she’s learning to love again in the arms of The Master, or her violin that seems to give people near to her dreams of their death.

Personally, what I found myself drawn to was the lyrical way this book is written. I won’t write any quotes as the publisher asked any arc readers not to, and as the book is months away from release, I wouldn’t want to for fear it’d be changed, but honestly, I think that the lyrical way is perfect for the overall way that this book is written. It helps evoke the music that is supposed to be playing through the entirety of the scenes, and that I feel moves the main character.

Sometimes I’d stop reading and I felt like some of the scenes were still blowing through my head, parts of it still playing through my mind, words dancing to form scenes, and feelings of how she looked back on that moment in time. Those brief moments of joy, or of disgust, and the overwhelming moments where she just seemed to be stuck in melancholy.

I think it works with someone whose true loves were dancing, art, and expression through music, and playing the violin, creating music.

I honestly never really believed her love of The Master. She only really seemed to love him once he could offer her something she really wanted a chance to truly express herself through dancing instead of having to dance to someone else’s steps.

So, when I should have been biting my nails over the men, I was just irritated over both of them, and just wanted her to get her chance to truly express herself in her preferred method of art instead of being something to trick or beg.

But overall, while the story could seem a little slow, and the romance not that interesting to me, I did love the book, its lyrical quality, its exploration of character, and its reflection on art and what it can mean to someone. If that sounds interesting to you, I’d suggest looking into it, and keeping it in mind as it comes closer to the release date!

Not quite traditional reading fare for me, but every so often a fairy tale seems like a good idea. A very adult fairy tale, of course, in content, but still…
And so, this gothic adventure/romance made its way onto my reading list.
Nocturne is essentially a mash-up of The Phantom of the…Ballet, Beauty and The Beast, and the myth of Persephone.
It’s nicely done, magnetically narrated, and of course, as is de rigueur these days, with a strong feminist message. And a strong female protagonist to boot.
Young as she may be, Grace Dragotta has dreams and the drive to follow through on them. She wants to be a prima ballerina and soon, suspiciously soon, gets her chance, albeit under a patronage of a mysterious dark figure.
Soon she ends up living with him and slowly but surely unraveling his secrets, while engaging in a complex emotional web of ambitions and desires.
The tale borrows entirely too heavily from its inspirations, so it’s difficult to speculate upon its originality, but it’s clever about mixing and matching its elements, well rafted, and reads quite nicely. Entertaining enough for something different. Thanks Netgalley.

I've loved Alyssa Wees' lyrical style since reading The Waking Forest a few years ago. Nocturne was very reminiscent of The Waking Forest's eerie atmosphere, although the plot is completely different. Nevertheless, I really liked the way Wees blurred the lines of dreams and reality as well as past and present. This book is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast to some extent, but the story of the Little Bird play is also included, which is an original story that ties in nicely with Beauty and the Beast.
I wasn't sure what to think of Master La Rosa at first, and it became clear that it wasn't supposed to be your basic love story. I think the ending, while somewhat open-ended in terms of Grace and Master La Rosa's relationship, was very fitting.
Even though I read this in August, I think it's the perfect wintry read. I really, really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading more of the author's ethereal prose. 4.5/5 stars.

A solid 4 star book that kept me invested the entire way through. The pacing felt weird at some points but overall was not a big problem for me.

This book was so overdescriptive and overwritten it was exhausting.

I'm sorry to say, but someone must've kindly told the writer, who has a degree in English, that her prose is so overwrought it's ridiculous, surely? When I first tried her work, I found hers was the purplest prose I had ever read since some French classics, and that she had neglected characterisation and plotting in favour of being so absorbed in finding the next precious words to string together. In Nocturne, Wees has hardly improved on the pretentiousness or the purple.

The first thing you notice is the propensity for using a dozen words where one would suffice and needless wanderings that add nothing to the plot, and that the author overdescribes everything from the colour of the sky to a character's retching to the appearance of snow on a coat, and what's worse, can't create an emotion without going all purple prose and telling us everything about it, with analogies and metaphors that make you feel annoyed for how shallow they are and leaving you with the impression of a whiny main character that can only think of every single thing that crosses her head or her field of vision as if she's some addict to hallucinogens that absolutely has to describe every single little detail. And she comes off as empty, with no depth, no personality. A blank canvas to pour lovely-sounding but ultimately superfluous phrases over. Grace Dragotta has the quality of a receptacle mixed with a human camera.

Then, whilst you're wading through that purple prose mudlake all huffing and puffing, you try to make sense of the plot, which suffers from authorial lack of focus. What is the story here, really? What does this story want to be? I don't know, and I wonder if the author does, too. At first, it looks like Beauty and the Beast, but then all this has of B&B is Grace's imaginings about her patron being a "beast" and a "monster," and him being called La Rosa ("the rose"), which is too thin to be B&B. Is this Phantom of the Opera? It would appear so from the mysterious patronage for a talented artist, but then it's clear that La Rosa is no Erik and Grace is no Christine. She's not been chosen because he is a great connoisseur of ballet that wants to help an unsung talent shine, and she doesn't have an exceptional talent either. So, what is this?

Is this Hades and Persephone? It would make sense, it does make sense as such, what with the Underworld and the kidnapping and the souls, but then this male lead is... how to put it, Death that can be killed. Does that make sense? No. Then, is this Death and the Maiden? Gotcha! You think you've finally hit on the plot driving this... and then there's Death's brother and his love and something about souls needing a guide that can dance and sing them to their proper places in the afterlife and Grace killing Death to become Eternal Life... Are you there still? Have you understood? I haven't, either.

So, this isn't Beauty and the Beast, isn't Phantom of the Opera, isn't Hades and Persephone, and isn't Death and the Maiden. It's shreds of all of them ripped off and sewn together to form a quilt your dog would be offended to be offered to chew on. This has no coherence at all, no goal, no sense, no story to tell. Which is most likely why it's so overdescriptive and overwritten and why all the early reviewers strenuously zoom-in on the lush prose. If all you want is pretty words and no plot, then this is for you.

But not for me. I wanted a story, not to be treated to Alyssa Wees' command of the dictionary or any frustrated poet dreams she may have. I wanted to know Grace, which started interesting enough as an orphan girl in Chicago's Little Italy and ended up being a stereotype of Italians and ballerinas alike. I wanted to see her struggle due to the tragedies that took away her brother and her mother and left her to live off of playing violin in the streets, but we hardly get a few lines of that before she walks into a ballet rehearsal like a sleepwalker and the ballet instructor immediately adopts her and teaches her ballet for no reason at all. Everything is so extremely easy for Grace it defies believability. Nobody threatens her as a homeless child, nobody tries to take advantage of her innocence, everyone just adopts her instantly, and the only people who don't like her is the other ballerina that's her rival for the Prima Ballerina position. Even her patron makes it so easy for her: she's not the best dancer, Emilia is, Beatrice is also implied to be better, but Grace is selected to be the Prima Ballerina because her patron said so. We never see any hints of Grace's talent if any before Mistress bestows on her the title of Prima Ballerina Assoluta, which in real life is so rare only a few ballerinas have got it after a lifetime of dancing, but Grace gets it at merely seven years as a dancer?

The relationship between La Rosa and Grace, that would make for a good Death and the Maiden plot if it had been done well, is also strange. La Rosa doesn't kidnap her, or rather buy her like some expensive pet, because she's a great ballerina, doesn't kidnap her because she's beautiful, doesn't kidnap her because she has an arresting personality. No, he is obsessed with her death. Oh? Death is obsessed with her death, does that mean Grace's death is somehow so very beautiful in a macabre sense or something? No. Death is in love with Grace keeping her death in her heart, because apparently everyone else keeps theirs elsewhere! How does this ever make sense, I'll never know. And then, she ends up killing him, which makes even less sense. I mean, he's Death incarnate! He's not a Koschei the Deathless, who was ultimately a sorcerer that could be killed. He's Death, but somehow he can die. How do you even kill Death itself unless you are God? I'm getting a headache trying to make sense of this mess.

I found Death's brother more interesting, and wish his story with Catherine had more page time instead of being merely filler and a way to serve the heroine's nonsensically manic finale. I can't even describe that ending, not because of spoilers, but because of how utterly overdone and confusing it is. Suffice to say I won't recommend this book to anyone.

Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

Grace is finally getting what she's dreamed of, becoming the prima ballerina in her company, but when she meets her mysterious new patron, she discovers there is more to this world than meets the eye.

This story felt like a fairytale. The author's imagery was absolutely delightful! It kept drawing me deeper and deeper into Grace's story. And I definitely did not see some of the twists coming at the end.

I really enjoyed the characters, especially Grace and her friend Emilia. I loved watching Grace learn how to use her love for dance and music not only to help her through her own struggles but to help others too. I was rooting for her the whole way through.

If you're looking for a story reminiscent of Hades and Persephone, look no further! It combines the feel of myth, magic, and mystery as Grace meets and deals with forces bigger than herself.

As always, CWs:

-Character death
-Some kissing / fade-to-black scene

This is not my usual type of review for starters, because this book was “different”
So, I will be rating by Star system alone, with an explanation.
2 stars for that absolutely “STUNNING” cover. Whoever did that artwork is phenomenal! Any girl would love to have that over their bed.
2 Stars for this book reminding me of Rhianna’s song “Disturbia”. I absolutely love that song. So, I had to have enjoyed the book. It was just a bit, “different”
Wees just went all out with this book...

Thank you NetGalley/Alyssa Wees/Random House Publishing Group.Ballantine Del Rey/ For this eARC in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are of my own volition.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance (a wish! granted) to read this book before it comes out. I also like to add: thank god I read this now than paying 20 dollars for a mess.

This book is probably one of the most bizarre books I've read in a while about 'death'. I expected something Phantom of the Opera inspired, since that's what you would think. A 'mysterious' benefactor? Or maybe something bit like Trilby or The Red Shoes? No. Not, not quite.

There is this girl, she had a very bad and traumatic life. Her mother died of illness, her brother was shot on the streets of Chicago in the 40's, and she became an orphan playing the violin in the streets. She also had an obsession with ballet and wanted to be a ballet dancer. So she wandered over to a ballet / opera house, creeped on them for a while until they adopted her and she became a girl in the company.

Over the years she has been hoping to get a prima role. Until one day, it happens, but she ends up getting a patron who starts obsessing over her, buying her gifts and roses. She is not told who they are, but one day she decides to spy on the person who keeps to their box and it's some weird demon with claws and a hooded cape.

This is where it gets messy. Apparently Death is obsessed with this girl - it's never really clear why other than that he fell in love with her 'death'. He starts stalking her and wants her to marry him. He takes her as collateral to his house (Death lives in a townhouse) which is also a gateway to the land of the dead and makes her dance and dance. He has a butler dude who basically is all 'you should not be here, you should deny him' which causes some issues.

I think the problem is that there is a lot of different things grabbed from various 'man in love with a frail, innocent girl' angle. Phantom, Beauty and the Beast, Hades and Persephone, the Maiden and Death, the list goes on. But it's wrapped around in this shit story about a ballerina who has not an ounce of personality and spends so much time moaning and moping about her dead brother and mom. The violin aspect which is also something the author wanted to focus on means little to nothing to the plot, other than she can play. The obsession that death has with ballerinas is ... important, but it's just so weird and apparently he needs her to dance to summon the souls so they don't go wandering all lost in the land of the dead.

The ending is also weird too. Like it's some kind of nod to something? Dunno know what the nod was, it was lost on me and I didn't grasp the outcome.

I've read better stories that have to do with Death. Save your money on this one before purchasing it.

This book is REAL MAGIC! Glorious and competitive world of ballerinas, kingdom of death consisted of lost souls in pain, an unconventional retelling of Beauty and the Beast sets in 30’s Chicago! I’m absolutely sold! This is more than I expected!

Once upon a time a girl was born in the thick of a plague: her name is Grace Dragotta : she grew like a weed in the garden of death, stubbornly clinging to the soil in the midst of so much tragedy. She got through the Mafia murders, the depression and the hunger. At young age she became orphan, losing her brother and mother.

She plays her violin at the streets to earn money. But only escape from her tragic reality is dancing. Then suddenly her dream to become a famous ballerina comes true!

Under the protecting wings of the mistress, she becomes the prima ballerina of Near North Ballet Company.

She thinks she earned this position with her hard work but she realizes she’s chosen by a mysterious patron named Master LaRosa: a prince who finally supported the ballet company and saved it from bankruptcy in exchange of giving Grace the position of prima ballerina.

Then Grace finds out she has to live with her patron to shoe her appreciation ! She is driven there, sleeping through the way, finding herself at an eccentric mansion located probably in Hyde Park.

From now on she’s going to eat his food, wearing clothes her master will provide. She’ll have access her master’s gallery, library and gardens. In return she will only dance with him: one waltz every Sunday at midnight!

As Grace tries to earn her freedom, she finds herself drawn into this mysterious beast who holds her free will into his hands, taking her to a dreamland called Nocturne where she dances for painful souls.

She can be the queen of this wonderland if she accepts to marry with her master. But what if she may have more lose than her freedom by accepting offer. Will she obey him and give her heart to see her loved ones again at this mysterious land? Will she dance for her master forever?

Overall: this is book lyrical, so unique, tragic fairy tale, heart wrenching fantasy! I absolutely loved it! Especially the epic ending took my breath away!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine/ Del Rey for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

Phantom of the Opera meets Ballet?

This story kept me spellbound until the very last page! Nocturne is a perfect magical story set in the dead of winter

I just couldn’t remember it this book down. It was sooo good and beautiful; from amazing word building, intriguing plot and amazingly written characters. It’s definitely a full 5 stars read for me.