Alyssa Wees

Nocturne

Christine

Haunting, perhaps, but it's not quite sure what it's trying to do with all its threads of myth and fairy tale and reality woven into overwrought prose. If it had stuck to a single retelling, maybe it would've read better - less convoluted, less mixing together of meanings - although there's no cure for the unceasing floweriness. I suppose, in a way, it could be called lyrical, ethereal or dreamy, but I stumbled through it looking for the story itself. Also, that's not a romance, that's just beyond strange - as a Hades and Persephone retelling, I would have taken it, but with Beauty and the Beast in the mix, absolutely not. Two stars for Emilia, I guess.
Update, later: I am knocking it to that ultra rare Christine 1 star. What in the world IS this book??? Grace made absolutely no sense.

87 pages in, the story can be predicted without reading any further. A quick skimming proved that to be true. 

The writing is trying to be lyrical, dream-like, and ethereal. Unfortunately, it gives off madness and confusions, instead. The MC needs intense therapy if that’s really her thoughts on her surrounding. 

Ah, the MC, quite insufferable in her obliviousness. Oblivious isn’t strong enough a word as the MC frequently dozes through life. Staring into the distance and not realizing it’s snowing (VERY OFTEN), tuning out important conversations to wallow in her own thoughts, mourning a friend who is still by her side, and creating a delulu-ship between herself and her mysterious patron are a few of many reasons I think she needs help.

Also, she’s never satisfied. Feeling as though she isn’t worthy and hasn’t worked hard enough despite the enormous amounts of praise people shower her in is one example. Thinking that living in a huge mansion with a library, art gallery, and extensive garden where the rent is one waltz a week while being chosen for the lead role in an original ballet is a punishment is worse, I believe. 

Ami Is Dreaming Again

87 pages in, the story can be predicted without reading any further. A quick skimming proved that to be true. 

The writing is trying to be lyrical, dream-like, and ethereal. Unfortunately, it gives off madness and confusions, instead. The MC needs intense therapy if that’s really her thoughts on her surrounding. 

Ah, the MC, quite insufferable in her obliviousness. Oblivious isn’t strong enough a word as the MC frequently dozes through life. Staring into the distance and not realizing it’s snowing (VERY OFTEN), tuning out important conversations to wallow in her own thoughts, mourning a friend who is still by her side, and creating a delulu-ship between herself and her mysterious patron are a few of many reasons I think she needs help.

Also, she’s never satisfied. Feeling as though she isn’t worthy and hasn’t worked hard enough despite the enormous amounts of praise people shower her in is one example. Thinking that living in a huge mansion with a library, art gallery, and extensive garden where the rent is one waltz a week while being chosen for the lead role in an original ballet is a punishment is worse, I believe. 

I have really mixed thoughts on this one. The writing was beautiful, lots of lovely sentences and visceral metaphors. There’s a blending of Phantom of the Opera and Beauty & the Beast and Hades & Persephone in the plot. But the first 40-45% of the book doesn’t technically have any fantasy elements, and when the fantasy elements finally DO show up, it’s unclear to the reader if the main character is dreaming, drugged, or hallucinating. So that made it difficult to set expectations. I also had confusion on the magic system. Overall, I came away with a sense of disquiet.

Liz Griffin

Vicky (A City Girl's Thoughts)

Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey Books (imprint of Penguin Random House) for giving me a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sadly I had to DNF. I'm not into dark romance, plus I thought this was a dark academia-ish historical fiction drama set at a ballet studio, not a Hades & Persephone retelling. I was looking forward to being immersed in 1930's Chicago, Illinois. There's also too much descriptive language used that was unnecessary. I really wanted to like this but I can't.

nothing could have prepared me for how aggressively i sobbed after grace said colombino

zombxing

Lacy W

Title: Nocturne
Author: Alyssa Wees
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Format: eARC
Series: NA
Star Rating: 3 stars

tw: death, mob killing, humans being sold, gun violence, decay of bodies, assault, extreme grief

A special thank you goes to Netgalley and Del Ray books for giving me a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.

So this book was interesting. It certainly was not what I thought it was going to be. I had thought that maybe it was a Hades/Persephone retelling but I don’t think it was. I think it’s more about the sandman or perhaps the grim reaper. Regardless of what it was, my feelings about it are mixed. I’m not sure if I truly liked it or not. I had the same feelings about The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh. I still think about that book to this day and I read it four years ago. 

I’ll start with the writing. The writing was very beautiful and almost graphic at times. It did work for what the book was about. While I enjoyed the metaphors at first, after a while, it got to be too much. I often have this problem. I enjoy metaphoric writing at first but then it starts to annoy me. I understand that a metaphoric style of writing is a good writing tool, I just think it could be toned down a little bit. 

Grace, who was the main character, was okay. Early in the book, she just seemed so weak and naive to me. I liked her more toward the end when she went into vengeance mode. I wish she had been that way the whole book. I think I would have rated this book higher. Before that, she felt weak as I mentioned above. I also loved the friendship between Emilia and Grace. That is what friendship and sisterhood should be. 

Overall, the book was okay. It was really the ending that I had a problem with. It was an odd ending and to be honest, I think it could have been stronger. But maybe that was the ending we were supposed to get all along. I don’t think the book could have ended any other way but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Overall, it was a bad book, I just had different expectations for it. One thing is for sure, this book is going to haunt me for a long time.

Nocturne

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