Beth Cato's Reviews > Nocturne

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

Nocturne is a mood more than anything. Set in Depression-era Chicago, it follows Grace Dragotta, a young ballerina left orphaned. Ballet is her life, and when she makes prima ballerina, she's thrilled--then disturbed when she finds out she did so at the behest of a new sponsor for the company, the Master. He quickly orders that she live in his mystical estate in Hyde Park, where she must dance for him each week (in case it was unclear, this is not a healthy relationship) and she eventually finds out who and what he is.

The book is very gothic and descriptive. Some will find it overwrought and purple, but it is effective in creating an atmospheric piece. The story clearly draws from Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and Hades and Persephone. The biggest problem I had is that it doesn't recreate those into something innovative. The plot is incredibly transparent from early on. The Master himself never feels realized to me, either. I never understood why she was truly special--the sorrows in her life were nothing unusual, sadly--and Stockholm Syndrome seemed like the biggest reason she fell for him. Grace herself does little of her own volition until the end.