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siglerbooknook's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Phantom by Susan Kay is a must read for anyone obsessed with the story of the opera ghost.
I adored this book start to finish. It is gut wrenching and sad, hopeful and beautiful. Every scene is painted so vividly I felt like I was watching a movie.
I loved the glimpse into Erik's past and what made him the mad genius we know from the original novel by Gaston Leroux. Kay does a beautiful job weaving the little facts we learned originally into her tale in a convincing way that makes me feel like I only knew half the story before finding this book.
There are a few points of violence which became rather uncomfortable for me and several typos later in the book that made me read a sentence two or three times before I understood it and pulled me out of the story for a moment which is the only reason this isn't a perfect 5 star novel in my opinion.
I adored this book start to finish. It is gut wrenching and sad, hopeful and beautiful. Every scene is painted so vividly I felt like I was watching a movie.
I loved the glimpse into Erik's past and what made him the mad genius we know from the original novel by Gaston Leroux. Kay does a beautiful job weaving the little facts we learned originally into her tale in a convincing way that makes me feel like I only knew half the story before finding this book.
There are a few points of violence which became rather uncomfortable for me and several typos later in the book that made me read a sentence two or three times before I understood it and pulled me out of the story for a moment which is the only reason this isn't a perfect 5 star novel in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Body horror, and Body shaming
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Child death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Rape, and Confinement
Minor: Animal death, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Torture, Terminal illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Animal cruelty
ashkitty93's review against another edition
5.0
After all this time?
Always.
That quote can really apply to just about any romantic story, but especially the Phantom of the Opera. And this book, in particular. I'm coming back to this now after 10-ish years and it still holds up and I'm so content right now.
Okay, so here's my life story with this whole phenomenon. Apparently my mother had the musical cast album when I was a kid but it scared me (not something I remember, I was probably 2ish). Got obsessed with the musical to the point of writing fanfiction/drawing fanart/dressing as POTO for Halloween, loved the 2004 movie (ohhhh 2004 me, you poor dear) and read just about anything I could find to do with it, starting with the original novel (which I disliked at the time bc NOT ROMANTICCCC), the Phantom of Manhattan, an erotic retelling, even a book where Erik met Sherlock Holmes.
But of everything I read in that 2-3 year period of obsession pales in comparison to this book. This isn't so much a retelling as an origin story, a la [b:Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West|37442|Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, #1)|Gregory Maguire|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437733293s/37442.jpg|1479280]. Erik's life is utterly fascinating, from his infancy to his time spent among the Romany, honing his magicianship, to working as a mason and then an architect alongside some of the greatest minds in the world, and as an assassin in the court of Persia. This book really gives Erik a life of his own, something we are sorely without in the original Leroux novel. And all this so that when Christine and Raoul finally do surface in these pages, we can analyze Erik like any other character because we have a solid grip on where he's been and what he's had to deal with and rise above in getting to his house on the lake.
Susan Kay writes masterfully, weaving through everywhere Erik goes and pinning it all down in a historical context -- the amount of research staggers me. If nothing else, treat this as a historical fiction novel and be amazed.
Always.
That quote can really apply to just about any romantic story, but especially the Phantom of the Opera. And this book, in particular. I'm coming back to this now after 10-ish years and it still holds up and I'm so content right now.
Okay, so here's my life story with this whole phenomenon. Apparently my mother had the musical cast album when I was a kid but it scared me (not something I remember, I was probably 2ish). Got obsessed with the musical to the point of writing fanfiction/drawing fanart/dressing as POTO for Halloween, loved the 2004 movie (ohhhh 2004 me, you poor dear) and read just about anything I could find to do with it, starting with the original novel (which I disliked at the time bc NOT ROMANTICCCC), the Phantom of Manhattan, an erotic retelling, even a book where Erik met Sherlock Holmes.
But of everything I read in that 2-3 year period of obsession pales in comparison to this book. This isn't so much a retelling as an origin story, a la [b:Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West|37442|Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, #1)|Gregory Maguire|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437733293s/37442.jpg|1479280]. Erik's life is utterly fascinating, from his infancy to his time spent among the Romany, honing his magicianship, to working as a mason and then an architect alongside some of the greatest minds in the world, and as an assassin in the court of Persia. This book really gives Erik a life of his own, something we are sorely without in the original Leroux novel. And all this so that when Christine and Raoul finally do surface in these pages, we can analyze Erik like any other character because we have a solid grip on where he's been and what he's had to deal with and rise above in getting to his house on the lake.
Susan Kay writes masterfully, weaving through everywhere Erik goes and pinning it all down in a historical context -- the amount of research staggers me. If nothing else, treat this as a historical fiction novel and be amazed.
coliecat73's review against another edition
4.0
This novel is dark, as it delves into the phantom's dark past. Good read, but definitely for older audiences.
plasticbee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
prix's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot belive I just finished this book!
The ending!!!! aaaa
The ending!!!! aaaa
jennifermreads's review against another edition
5.0
While I still have not read the original text of [b:The Phantom of the Opera|480204|The Phantom of the Opera|Gaston Leroux|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327867727l/480204._SY75_.jpg|2259720] *gasp*, I am such a huge fan of the musical that, when a dear friend said "You simply must read this", I searched far and wide for a copy and dove right in.
I loved that Susan Kay tells the entire life story of the Opera Ghost integrating, in the last chapters, details from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical. The author also credits Gaston Leroux's original work as well as the original Phantom film starring Lon Chaney.
Susan Kay weaves a remarkable story that adds so much to the Phantom character. This is a must-read for any fan of any Phantom works.
I loved that Susan Kay tells the entire life story of the Opera Ghost integrating, in the last chapters, details from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical. The author also credits Gaston Leroux's original work as well as the original Phantom film starring Lon Chaney.
Susan Kay weaves a remarkable story that adds so much to the Phantom character. This is a must-read for any fan of any Phantom works.
ainsleybelle22's review against another edition
1.0
I read this months ago and finally am making a review. I originally gave this two stars but after a lot of thinking and kinda refiguring my rating system, I bumped it down to one star. Every section of this book I would keep waiting for it to get better. And it never did. It had its brief moments, but there were to many things I couldn’t look past. The behavior of Madeleine disgusted me. It may offer some sympathy for the character of Erik, but not enough. Even though there were other things throughout, the part where it all went downhill was the minute he met Christine.
I guess I should say saw. He stalked her in her dressing room casually. Also I’d like to throw in he’s 50 at this point. Christine is barely 20 I’m pretty sure. He literally says he’s old enough to be her father. Moving on. My memories hazy and I’m looking at my annotations, but they meet several times and such, all the while Erik has nice thoughts about raping Christine. Like thinking this when she’s sleeping in her bed... ya. But y’all ain’t ready for the thing about to tell ya. He casually orders Christine a wedding dress, and one night is like “put it on” so they can act out an opera or something. Then she comes out and he decides he can’t do this so he sends her back to her room and commands her to bolt the door. Then he starts playing really “sexy” music and we no joke get Christine getting herself on to this sexy music. I wish I was joking. And then ~since this is a counterpoint~ the next time we get Erik he no joke is like “I would’ve lost control and raped her so I raped her with music instead”. Not exact quote but you get the idea.
So we get through more pages like Raoul wanting Christine to marry him and Erik being jealous. So basically they come up with this plan to escape Erik and Christine has this long monologue about how she loves Erik but not really and can’t give him everything he wants and yada yada. Erik’s home insane at this point and is basically a morphine addict and is cursing god and all this fun stuff. He overheard the Raoul and Christine “we’ll run away together” conversation and goes ballistic and steals Christine off the opera stage. And then christines is like why are you doing this and Erik’s all like I trusted you and worshipped you and “I’ve never even touched you!” Ya bud that’s basic human respect not winning the right to a girl. So basically we’re at the original plot of the book and Raoul is basically dying and they share a kiss and he realizes he can’t kill Raoul. Section ends.
For the delightful final section we get the POV of Raoul. He has a son now! Or does he.... because in this section we learn of the events leading up to like 16 years of the original book. Our lovers raoul and Christine get the heck out of their and are betrothed to marry. The problem is Christine promised the phantom an invitation to the wedding, and Raoul ain’t about that life. So he rips it up and Christine is pissed. She runs out and Raoul then starts drinking and is talking bout how naive he is when he delivers my favorite line of this section: “twenty years old and still a Virgin!” Poor Raoul. Anyways he goes on down to where the phantom is and instead is faced with his sidekick Daroga. He politely informs Raoul that Erik and Christine are currently in a room alone together with the door closed. Raouls like let me in there and the darogas like you have no right so Raoul has no choice just to stand there awkwardly. Apparently Erik is dying and Christine asked the Daroga to “be the witness” or some crap so I’m 95 percent sure that was some sketchy wedding ceremony. And then eventually Christine comes out with Erik’s cat and they both go home.
They get married a month later and then sail to England. Christine announces she’s pregnant and Raoul is frickin stoked. Christine however becomes worse and worse in health as the pregnancy progresses and finally the doctor says we need to perform a c section. Raouls like heck no fam the child would be 8 weeks premature. And then the doctor like nah it’ll only be a month premature. Raoul is shook. I’m shook (except I knew this was coming, but still, shook). So basically Raoul gives the ok and both Christine and our new boy Charles survive. Charles is not deformed and the doctor informs Raoul they shouldn’t have any more children. The cat dies several years later and then Christine does. Raoul goes through this whole chapter being like “his father would be proud of him” like wtf. It makes no sense that this is even happening.
I kinda rambled and this is more like an angry summary but here y’all go! I hope your just reading this review because you’re hecking bored and didn’t have to suffer through this, but if you did suffer I hope you can find humor in this.
Oh, and I don’t get all the five star rating
I guess I should say saw. He stalked her in her dressing room casually. Also I’d like to throw in he’s 50 at this point. Christine is barely 20 I’m pretty sure. He literally says he’s old enough to be her father. Moving on. My memories hazy and I’m looking at my annotations, but they meet several times and such, all the while Erik has nice thoughts about raping Christine. Like thinking this when she’s sleeping in her bed... ya. But y’all ain’t ready for the thing about to tell ya. He casually orders Christine a wedding dress, and one night is like “put it on” so they can act out an opera or something. Then she comes out and he decides he can’t do this so he sends her back to her room and commands her to bolt the door. Then he starts playing really “sexy” music and we no joke get Christine getting herself on to this sexy music. I wish I was joking. And then ~since this is a counterpoint~ the next time we get Erik he no joke is like “I would’ve lost control and raped her so I raped her with music instead”. Not exact quote but you get the idea.
So we get through more pages like Raoul wanting Christine to marry him and Erik being jealous. So basically they come up with this plan to escape Erik and Christine has this long monologue about how she loves Erik but not really and can’t give him everything he wants and yada yada. Erik’s home insane at this point and is basically a morphine addict and is cursing god and all this fun stuff. He overheard the Raoul and Christine “we’ll run away together” conversation and goes ballistic and steals Christine off the opera stage. And then christines is like why are you doing this and Erik’s all like I trusted you and worshipped you and “I’ve never even touched you!” Ya bud that’s basic human respect not winning the right to a girl. So basically we’re at the original plot of the book and Raoul is basically dying and they share a kiss and he realizes he can’t kill Raoul. Section ends.
For the delightful final section we get the POV of Raoul. He has a son now! Or does he.... because in this section we learn of the events leading up to like 16 years of the original book. Our lovers raoul and Christine get the heck out of their and are betrothed to marry. The problem is Christine promised the phantom an invitation to the wedding, and Raoul ain’t about that life. So he rips it up and Christine is pissed. She runs out and Raoul then starts drinking and is talking bout how naive he is when he delivers my favorite line of this section: “twenty years old and still a Virgin!” Poor Raoul. Anyways he goes on down to where the phantom is and instead is faced with his sidekick Daroga. He politely informs Raoul that Erik and Christine are currently in a room alone together with the door closed. Raouls like let me in there and the darogas like you have no right so Raoul has no choice just to stand there awkwardly. Apparently Erik is dying and Christine asked the Daroga to “be the witness” or some crap so I’m 95 percent sure that was some sketchy wedding ceremony. And then eventually Christine comes out with Erik’s cat and they both go home.
They get married a month later and then sail to England. Christine announces she’s pregnant and Raoul is frickin stoked. Christine however becomes worse and worse in health as the pregnancy progresses and finally the doctor says we need to perform a c section. Raouls like heck no fam the child would be 8 weeks premature. And then the doctor like nah it’ll only be a month premature. Raoul is shook. I’m shook (except I knew this was coming, but still, shook). So basically Raoul gives the ok and both Christine and our new boy Charles survive. Charles is not deformed and the doctor informs Raoul they shouldn’t have any more children. The cat dies several years later and then Christine does. Raoul goes through this whole chapter being like “his father would be proud of him” like wtf. It makes no sense that this is even happening.
I kinda rambled and this is more like an angry summary but here y’all go! I hope your just reading this review because you’re hecking bored and didn’t have to suffer through this, but if you did suffer I hope you can find humor in this.
Oh, and I don’t get all the five star rating
degenderates's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! I was introduced to the story with the ALW musical and proceeded to watch the 2004 movie and read Leroux's original novel (vastly different, as one might imagine!). In the process of this, I discovered that there are so many other Phantom of the Opera adaptations, including this one! I plan on watching and reading them all. As for this book, I found it truly moving. It's the first book I've ever read that I've had to set down because it makes me so sad, yet I didn't cry. I was too sad to cry. From the way Erik's mother treated him to Erik's actions in Persia, I was heartbroken from beginning to end.
My one complaint was the odd attractions and/or jealousy that existed between some of the characters, mainly dealing with Erik's relationship with Madeline and Ayesha. You'll see what I mean if you choose to read this. But that one disturbing aspect of the story was not enough to bring the book down a star! Anyway, whether you're a phan of the Phantom of the Opera story or simply desire to read a good book, pick this up! I highly recommend it.
My one complaint was the odd attractions and/or jealousy that existed between some of the characters, mainly dealing with Erik's relationship with Madeline and Ayesha. You'll see what I mean if you choose to read this. But that one disturbing aspect of the story was not enough to bring the book down a star! Anyway, whether you're a phan of the Phantom of the Opera story or simply desire to read a good book, pick this up! I highly recommend it.
cariboubob's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
marymcarter21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0