Scan barcode
brookey8888's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I am so sad that I didn’t love this. This has everything that I love but for some reason I just didn’t really connect with the story and it was very hard to get into. I did pick up towards the end and it got more interesting. I really only liked one character and he was hardly in it, assistant he needed more page time. The romance was boring they have literally no chemistry before. Like she has more chemistry with the “bad” person. I don’t know I might read the sequel just to see what happens but I was just bored a lot of the time and it was hard to like get into. That being said I do think you should pick it up if it does sound interesting to you. I also really appreciate the diversity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Grief, and Misogyny
caidyn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I received an ARC through Edelweiss and a physical ARC directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review!
CW: deception, pin-up magic shows, sexism, and stalking
3.5/5
Apparently this is the year of retellings! Unique retellings, too. Ever since I was a kid, I loved The Phantom of the Opera (musical, not the book). It captivated little Caidyn and still does, honestly. It's a very good story.
And I enjoyed this one, how it took that and did its own thing with it. Like, I could see the roots of both musicals, but this took those elements and made it into its own thing rather than directly copy both. That's something I appreciate. As much as I love retellings, I don't like it when I can see where it's going completely.
The world that this is in is very interesting, although it didn't pull me in as deeply as I wanted. My interest felt very surface, if that makes sense. I was interested and when I picked it up, I always read more than I intended to. But, I still didn't sink into the world as much as I know I could have. I did like the characters and appreciated the multiple perspectives. Honestly, I found Jack's the most interesting, which should surprise no one at all!
I found the writing poetic, but a bit wordy at times. Like, it was trying to be flowery and fancy, but it just came across as verbose. Not necessarily a bad thing, but at times I was pulled out of reading because of it. Where three words would have done to describe something, there's six or more used in a sentence. Basically, it could have been a bit more concise.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read and I definitely plan on picking up the rest of the books in this series!
CW: deception, pin-up magic shows, sexism, and stalking
3.5/5
Apparently this is the year of retellings! Unique retellings, too. Ever since I was a kid, I loved The Phantom of the Opera (musical, not the book). It captivated little Caidyn and still does, honestly. It's a very good story.
And I enjoyed this one, how it took that and did its own thing with it. Like, I could see the roots of both musicals, but this took those elements and made it into its own thing rather than directly copy both. That's something I appreciate. As much as I love retellings, I don't like it when I can see where it's going completely.
The world that this is in is very interesting, although it didn't pull me in as deeply as I wanted. My interest felt very surface, if that makes sense. I was interested and when I picked it up, I always read more than I intended to. But, I still didn't sink into the world as much as I know I could have. I did like the characters and appreciated the multiple perspectives. Honestly, I found Jack's the most interesting, which should surprise no one at all!
I found the writing poetic, but a bit wordy at times. Like, it was trying to be flowery and fancy, but it just came across as verbose. Not necessarily a bad thing, but at times I was pulled out of reading because of it. Where three words would have done to describe something, there's six or more used in a sentence. Basically, it could have been a bit more concise.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read and I definitely plan on picking up the rest of the books in this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Stalking, and Classism
More...