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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Received a free ARC from Netgalley
Sing Me Forgotten is a Phantom of the Opera retelling with an odd backstory of the Opera Ghost. Isda is a gravoir, part of a magical, disfigured group of people have been persecuted and murdered throughout the years because of their ability to control and manipulate memories. Cyril, who rescued her as a baby, uses her to manipulate the patrons in the opera house to make the operas seem better than they actually were in order to make more money. He also uses her to manipulate people in order to accumulate more power. She falls in love with Emeric when she hears him sing. She becomes his singing teacher and makes him good enough to earn a lead role in the opera. He learns to care for her and is distrustful of Cyril, who he knows is using her. Unfortunately she is exposed at a masquerade ball and now many people want her dead for the powers she has. Will her and Emeric be able to be together? I was disappointed by the book. I felt that there were too many magical elements and that there were too many plot threads that didn’t amount to anything in the story.
Sing Me Forgotten is a Phantom of the Opera retelling with an odd backstory of the Opera Ghost. Isda is a gravoir, part of a magical, disfigured group of people have been persecuted and murdered throughout the years because of their ability to control and manipulate memories. Cyril, who rescued her as a baby, uses her to manipulate the patrons in the opera house to make the operas seem better than they actually were in order to make more money. He also uses her to manipulate people in order to accumulate more power. She falls in love with Emeric when she hears him sing. She becomes his singing teacher and makes him good enough to earn a lead role in the opera. He learns to care for her and is distrustful of Cyril, who he knows is using her. Unfortunately she is exposed at a masquerade ball and now many people want her dead for the powers she has. Will her and Emeric be able to be together? I was disappointed by the book. I felt that there were too many magical elements and that there were too many plot threads that didn’t amount to anything in the story.
adventurous
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not really for me, but a cute retelling of the Phantom of the opera.
It is well built, checks all the boxes for what elements a story should have, has some interesting plot twists, a good and realistic ending. It just didn’t move me or capture my interest. It is a pretty good book though so I’m sure other people love it!
It is well built, checks all the boxes for what elements a story should have, has some interesting plot twists, a good and realistic ending. It just didn’t move me or capture my interest. It is a pretty good book though so I’m sure other people love it!
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had a hard time thinking about what I wanted to write for this story, because I thought it was really interesting and a very cool concept but I also deeply hated it. So let's get into it:
- I love the idea of a Phantom of the Opera inspired story. Throw in some teenagers and emotional angst and you've got me sold. Plus the phantom being a girl? SOLD SOLD. however, other than the fact that this is someone in a mask living under an opera house and a couple song references hidden in, the story goes beyond the lore of the Phantom and I haven't decided how I feel about it. Firstly, in this world Isla, the Phantom, is hidden away because she's a 'mutated' type of person (there's two like genetically mutated groups of people in this story) because they're usually killed at birth and she wears the mask because the mutation comes with a disfigured face. The opera house is brought into it because music plays into the magical aspect of the story (memory is a key thing, and music/singing is needed to enter the memories). So it's not as easy as how Eric is explained in the original story. The magic is a HUGE twist and I'm still not sure if I quite enjoy it- it was a tad confusing and I don't like how she had to carve runes into skin to change her powers.
With point one, I have a bone to pick with the names- If you're doing a genderbent phantom of the opera, you'd think you'd tease the names a bit, right? Like Erica and Kristen. We got the 'Kristine' fellow, though, being named Emeric and our 'Eric' named Isla. I don't like that one bit lol like bruh keep it Phantom themed or don't because like why. idk but this just bothered me because I'm a picky bitch.
- the romance: Cute, adored it, 10/10 would also have fallen for Emeric even if I hated all people and wished them hell. he's a cutie who can sing and makes caramels. I will say, he is WAY too forgiving and trusting of her and completely brushes aside the fact that she's got a death toll (by the end probs in the 100s??) but anyway he's neat hate the ending tho fuck that noise right this instant it made me so mad. literally like 5:30am and I'm fighting off sleep to finish and they do that to me.
- the whole "challenge" and fight aspect- Really cool! I will admit I don't delve too deeply into fighting scenes/check their reasonability but it seemed chill. very fun to have like gun fights in a Phantom themed thing because it just feels so disconnected from his funny little drama (lowkey I'm an Eric hater but that's neither here nor there) I still don't understand how the roof caved but whatever!
- The "villain": lowkey saw it coming lol like girls dumb but I'm gonna give it to her because she's literally only met one kind person in her life up to this point, yeah, she might be a bit naive. but his whole arc was crazy dumb and I think if he had just been smarter he coulda gotten power a lot faster. Also like this might be a BAD take but... when we hear his backstory and it's like 'oh my mom sold all her memories and forgot me so I HATE the (insert name of people I can't remember) and will rid France of them' felt REALLY inspired by H*tler and that was kinda crazy IMO for a phantom of the opera inspired story. like that dudes just a freak who wants to get with a minor, why is there like war and genicide looming in this world???
- the magic: I think the whole memory thing is terrifying and neat and makes me never want to sing again! hehe just kidding but the fact that like you only get 17 years worth of memory and so you can buy and sell that is crazy to me but neat and the whole singing part is weird but I'll give it to them because it fits the vibes
- the ending: hate hate hate. I got so confused for most of it and also I don't like when it's like a person is a key after like they've been different the whole time, it's like okay bro so I knew the ending on page 5 thanks. I also hated the romantic shift at the end because it's so dumb and the fact she doesn't have like the mental strength not to be a serial killer is crazyyyy good riddance to him tho ngl go sing and be famous my lovely tenor (idk if he was haha maybe she was, idc)
anyway, like I said I'm conflicted about this story. love Isla ngl and love Emeric but do I love the whole story? Time will tell if it stays in my personal book collection.
(ALSO SPOILER BUT THE TITLE IS A SPOILER AND THAT PISSES ME OFF)
okay thanks xo
- I love the idea of a Phantom of the Opera inspired story. Throw in some teenagers and emotional angst and you've got me sold. Plus the phantom being a girl? SOLD SOLD. however, other than the fact that this is someone in a mask living under an opera house and a couple song references hidden in, the story goes beyond the lore of the Phantom and I haven't decided how I feel about it. Firstly, in this world Isla, the Phantom, is hidden away because she's a 'mutated' type of person (there's two like genetically mutated groups of people in this story) because they're usually killed at birth and she wears the mask because the mutation comes with a disfigured face. The opera house is brought into it because music plays into the magical aspect of the story (memory is a key thing, and music/singing is needed to enter the memories). So it's not as easy as how Eric is explained in the original story. The magic is a HUGE twist and I'm still not sure if I quite enjoy it- it was a tad confusing and I don't like how she had to carve runes into skin to change her powers.
With point one, I have a bone to pick with the names- If you're doing a genderbent phantom of the opera, you'd think you'd tease the names a bit, right? Like Erica and Kristen. We got the 'Kristine' fellow, though, being named Emeric and our 'Eric' named Isla. I don't like that one bit lol like bruh keep it Phantom themed or don't because like why. idk but this just bothered me because I'm a picky bitch.
- the romance: Cute, adored it, 10/10 would also have fallen for Emeric even if I hated all people and wished them hell. he's a cutie who can sing and makes caramels. I will say, he is WAY too forgiving and trusting of her and completely brushes aside the fact that she's got a death toll (by the end probs in the 100s??) but anyway he's neat hate the ending tho fuck that noise right this instant it made me so mad. literally like 5:30am and I'm fighting off sleep to finish and they do that to me.
- the whole "challenge" and fight aspect- Really cool! I will admit I don't delve too deeply into fighting scenes/check their reasonability but it seemed chill. very fun to have like gun fights in a Phantom themed thing because it just feels so disconnected from his funny little drama (lowkey I'm an Eric hater but that's neither here nor there) I still don't understand how the roof caved but whatever!
- The "villain": lowkey saw it coming lol like girls dumb but I'm gonna give it to her because she's literally only met one kind person in her life up to this point, yeah, she might be a bit naive. but his whole arc was crazy dumb and I think if he had just been smarter he coulda gotten power a lot faster. Also like this might be a BAD take but... when we hear his backstory and it's like 'oh my mom sold all her memories and forgot me so I HATE the (insert name of people I can't remember) and will rid France of them' felt REALLY inspired by H*tler and that was kinda crazy IMO for a phantom of the opera inspired story. like that dudes just a freak who wants to get with a minor, why is there like war and genicide looming in this world???
- the magic: I think the whole memory thing is terrifying and neat and makes me never want to sing again! hehe just kidding but the fact that like you only get 17 years worth of memory and so you can buy and sell that is crazy to me but neat and the whole singing part is weird but I'll give it to them because it fits the vibes
- the ending: hate hate hate. I got so confused for most of it and also I don't like when it's like a person is a key after like they've been different the whole time, it's like okay bro so I knew the ending on page 5 thanks. I also hated the romantic shift at the end because it's so dumb and the fact she doesn't have like the mental strength not to be a serial killer is crazyyyy good riddance to him tho ngl go sing and be famous my lovely tenor (idk if he was haha maybe she was, idc)
anyway, like I said I'm conflicted about this story. love Isla ngl and love Emeric but do I love the whole story? Time will tell if it stays in my personal book collection.
(ALSO SPOILER BUT THE TITLE IS A SPOILER AND THAT PISSES ME OFF)
okay thanks xo
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
If the main character weren’t so bland, this would be fascinating. Unfortunately it felt like a phantom of the opera retelling that really didn’t want to be a phantom of the opera retelling (but failed).
Can we talk about the cover? Gorgeous! Sing Me Forgotten is a gender-bent phantom of the opera and it is wonderful! I HIGHLY recommend this to any lover of Phantom of the Opera.
I'm a sucker for Phantom of the Opera tales. So finding this little gem got me excited since it was a female retelling... inspired story?
After finishing it, while I give praise to the authoress for doing something new, I felt the magic and the 'story' in general were not very befitting and tried to hard to hit the beats of the Phantom of the Opera tale instead of taking us in new angles and allowing the characters to 'grow'.
There is also no conflict between the leads, there is instant love which is great... but at the same time, it kind of dampers the story and you're just kind of riding through the plot looking for a twist and or danger ...
When people create magic for one-shot stories, I expect to read something that has its lore and magic use explained and or visual to that of the reader. This did not, and that is why the rating is like so.
After finishing it, while I give praise to the authoress for doing something new, I felt the magic and the 'story' in general were not very befitting and tried to hard to hit the beats of the Phantom of the Opera tale instead of taking us in new angles and allowing the characters to 'grow'.
Spoiler
The magic is what honestly killed the story. The whole backstory and its use in this was ridiculous and honestly there was a lot of confusion on the depth or scope in regards to the book. Like, I get that we have to explain the Opera Ghost bit, but really? Causing the main character to make illusions and erase memories once or twice and never really follow up on it again? giving a villain a backstory that hindered on this magic power with its dubious memory / illusion modifier? The opera house blowing up like the A bomb and police and or people don't seem to care. The lack of other magic beings like her... I could go on.There is also no conflict between the leads, there is instant love which is great... but at the same time, it kind of dampers the story and you're just kind of riding through the plot looking for a twist and or danger ...
When people create magic for one-shot stories, I expect to read something that has its lore and magic use explained and or visual to that of the reader. This did not, and that is why the rating is like so.
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced