Title: City of Night Birds

Author: Juhea Kim

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: OneWorld

Publication Date: 9th January 2025

Rating: 5/5

Cover:

Summary:

A terrible accident forces Natalia to make a devastating choice about her future as a dancer, in this sweeping novel of love and redemption

Prima ballerina Natalia Leonova was once celebrated across the world, her signature bravura in demand on stages from St. Petersburg to Paris to New York. But at the top of her career, an accident forces her into sudden retirement. Injured and alone, she turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past, still haunted by her relationships with two gifted dancers, Dmitri and Alexander. These men were responsible for her soaring highs, her darkest hours and, ultimately, both played their part in her downfall.

So when Dmitri resurfaces with a tantalising offer for Natalia, she must decide what she is willing to sacrifice in order to dance again – and for the chance to return to the great love of her life. Painting a vivid portrait of a world in which ruthless ambition, desire and sublime artistry collide, City of Night Birds unveils the making of a dancer with profound intimacy and breathtaking scope.

Review:

I realise it’s pretty early in the year to be saying this but I know that City of Night Birds is going to be one of my books of the year. It is absolutely stunning. Beautifully written with elegance, grit and lyricism, it is simultaneously a visceral character study and a depiction of true, unyielding passion for art. I have always loved the ballet, and did it myself for thirteen years in my childhood, so City of Night Birds had me completely gripped in its incredible evocation of the ballet world. However, whether you love ballet or not, doesn’t matter, because this is one of those books that sucks you in completely and compels you to care about Natalia’s often emotionally intense and brutal journey. 

City of Night Birds is a book about art and the way it can transcend everything else, becoming all encompassing and push past all limits. It is about what it takes to truly be an artist and to give everything of oneself over to the intensity of being at the height of an art form. However, it’s also a very human story, covering love, friendship, mental illness, tragedy and loss. I really cannot recommend this book any more highly and Juhea Kim is one hundred percent going to be an auto-buy author for me from now on. City of Night Birds is beautiful, visceral, passionate and poignant – an exceptional read. 

★★★★★

Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

Buy the book:

Waterstones | Blackwell’s