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uparrowhead's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A classic which, in my opinion, deserves to be considered timeless; the Phantom of the Opera raises the question on how we should treat the truly low members of society.
The novel introduces the story of the Opera Ghost, which stalks the shadows of the Paris Opera House and hunts for mischief and mystery. Strange events emerge and connect as the singer Christine Daaé slowly begins her rise in fame with her heavenly vocals, supposedly learning to sing from the Angel of Music. The reader navigates through this episodic novel and slowly gathers the truths to the unfolding story.
The Phantom of the Opera places a great emphasis on concepts of love, obsession, desire, and pity. How can we learn to, not love, but accept someone who is supposedly heartless? How can we take pity on people who are seemingly monstrous? How does unrecieved love mould into an overpowering obsession built upon desires we are unable to satisfy? The novel feels like it is truly a love letter to these themes as both pain and pleasure are combined into the flowing story.
I have loved this ever since watching the musical, and the original story that brought it to life is absolutely incredible.
I can't get over how beautifully tragic the ending for this novel is. It ends in Erik's death for his own overflowing love of Christine, one which he had never experienced with another woman in his life. It just serves to show how much Erik wished for nothing but a normal life but was cursed from the endeavour ever since he was first born just for his horrific features, leading him down a path of using his wits and intellect for his own disturbing gains as a way to not acknowledge his pain.
The novel introduces the story of the Opera Ghost, which stalks the shadows of the Paris Opera House and hunts for mischief and mystery. Strange events emerge and connect as the singer Christine Daaé slowly begins her rise in fame with her heavenly vocals, supposedly learning to sing from the Angel of Music. The reader navigates through this episodic novel and slowly gathers the truths to the unfolding story.
The Phantom of the Opera places a great emphasis on concepts of love, obsession, desire, and pity. How can we learn to, not love, but accept someone who is supposedly heartless? How can we take pity on people who are seemingly monstrous? How does unrecieved love mould into an overpowering obsession built upon desires we are unable to satisfy? The novel feels like it is truly a love letter to these themes as both pain and pleasure are combined into the flowing story.
I have loved this ever since watching the musical, and the original story that brought it to life is absolutely incredible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Torture
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Classism, Death, Drug use, Violence, Stalking, and Suicide
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Self harm, Racism, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
smithreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Stalking, Violence, Death of parent, Body horror, Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, and Racism
toffishay's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was a bit disappointed by this book. I found it to be very slow and the writing style made it hard to keep up at times. It gets really slow in the middle and then all the action is in the last 50 pages or so. I also think that the approach of writing it almost like an investigative journalist was a detriment to the story; without the perspective of our main characters, I found it a little hard to connect with them. Of course, there are some very unfortunate racial stereotypes in here particularly with the character of the "Persian" who is never named beyond that. And as much as Christine fits into the characterization of a female Gothic heroine, she lacks the agency that would make me feel like this is her story. She is pulled around by everyone else, with just enough of a hint of a real character to make it disappointing that we get so little of it. Not terrible, but not the best. I think Wuthering Heights does a lot of this style and themes better
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Racism and Sexism
maeverose's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Whelp. That sure was a book.
My rating is mostly for the unintentional comedy of how ridiculous the book is. I know some parts are supposed to be funny but I think I was laughing at the wrong parts. I also just love the idea of some guy secretly living in an opera house and messing with people. Sadly though I was bored most of the time while reading this. I liked Raoul and Christine well enough (though they were both extremely naive), Erik was very different than I thought he would be (I didn’t know anything about his backstory and I had no idea he’d be so talkative and weird. I thought he’d be more brooding lol). I found it hard to imagine the descriptions of the opera house, especially when they went underground, though that’s likely a fault of the translation.
Speaking of the translation, I don’t know if my edition (paper mill press) is just a bad edition but there were quite a few typos and a lot of things were worded awkwardly, and I don’t think it was just the writing style, it seemed like a bad translation. Maybe I’ll have to do some research and see if there’s a better one.
I really wanted to like this but I think I might just not get along with classics that well. Every time I read a classic I feel like I would like it better if it had been written today. Same time period, story and characters, just a more modern writing style (and less misogyny, racism and ableism… although this story relies so heavily on the ableism I’m not sure how you’d write it without it…). I don’t mind the old language so much but I don’t like the overly dramatic repetitive dialogue that classics often have (this one had a lot of that). I don’t like how repetitive in general classics tend to be. Which is sad because I want to like classics. The stories themselves are sometimes interesting but then the writing and dialogue ruin it for me :/
That ending though… Erik really went to all that trouble… just to break down over a forehead kiss and decide to let Christine marry Raoul after all. THEN DIE. OVER SAID KISS. Dude..
Also, I can’t imagine a room of mirrors being that convincing that you’d have to have prior knowledge of what it is to know it’s not actually a forest. YOU’D SEE YOUR OWN REFLECTION. COME ON.
I think this is probably much better experienced via the actual musical rather than the book. I’ve never seen the musical but now I want to.
My rating is mostly for the unintentional comedy of how ridiculous the book is. I know some parts are supposed to be funny but I think I was laughing at the wrong parts. I also just love the idea of some guy secretly living in an opera house and messing with people. Sadly though I was bored most of the time while reading this. I liked Raoul and Christine well enough (though they were both extremely naive), Erik was very different than I thought he would be (I didn’t know anything about his backstory and I had no idea he’d be so talkative and weird. I thought he’d be more brooding lol). I found it hard to imagine the descriptions of the opera house, especially when they went underground, though that’s likely a fault of the translation.
Speaking of the translation, I don’t know if my edition (paper mill press) is just a bad edition but there were quite a few typos and a lot of things were worded awkwardly, and I don’t think it was just the writing style, it seemed like a bad translation. Maybe I’ll have to do some research and see if there’s a better one.
I really wanted to like this but I think I might just not get along with classics that well. Every time I read a classic I feel like I would like it better if it had been written today. Same time period, story and characters, just a more modern writing style (and less misogyny, racism and ableism… although this story relies so heavily on the ableism I’m not sure how you’d write it without it…). I don’t mind the old language so much but I don’t like the overly dramatic repetitive dialogue that classics often have (this one had a lot of that). I don’t like how repetitive in general classics tend to be. Which is sad because I want to like classics. The stories themselves are sometimes interesting but then the writing and dialogue ruin it for me :/
Also, I can’t imagine a room of mirrors being that convincing that you’d have to have prior knowledge of what it is to know it’s not actually a forest. YOU’D SEE YOUR OWN REFLECTION. COME ON.
I think this is probably much better experienced via the actual musical rather than the book. I’ve never seen the musical but now I want to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Death, Torture, Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Xenophobia and Fatphobia
incel behavior, controlling behavior, manipulationjessthanthree's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Racism
zos's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Such a neat story. I am not typically a mystery fan, but this was a favorite of mine for a long time. I read this book before seeing the musical/movie/adaptations.
When I read this for the first time, I remember being totally taken aback by the scene with the lake.
Probably won't reread, but I did enjoy it while reading.
When I read this for the first time, I remember being totally taken aback by the scene with the lake.
Probably won't reread, but I did enjoy it while reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Murder, and Stalking
Moderate: Death, Murder, Torture, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Racial slurs, and Racism
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