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solaris_zip's Reviews (201)
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He asked only to be some one like everybody else”
What’s intriguing about “the phantom of the opera” is that the book depicts and shows that the truest monsters most of the times are not the ones we cannot see, cannot touch, the supernatural. Sometimes, the real monsters are the very people that surround us. Us humans.
Gaston Leroux brings some interesting insights, exploring themes such as passion, unrequited love, obsession, addiction and so on. By the end of the book you question whether to feel sorry for Erik or to despise him for his actions. But here is the thing. You can feel sorry for Erik’s background, for the prejudice attached to him from a young age, prejudice that lasted until his last breath. But you cannot excuse his actions. Erik is a sheltered individual, whom grew up hidden in the shadows, becoming the shadows itself. Failing to understand basic principles, such as boundaries and rules, when he sees Christine for the first time he grows obsessed. Blinded by a desire of wanting her, of needing her. Taking advantage not only of Christine naive persona, but her *vulnerability*. Coming to her as the “angel of music”, pretending to be so to keep her under her control. Manipulating and controlling her.
Erik is a degenerate individual that would go as far as to kill people for Christine, or anyone who obstructs his path. We can depict him as “naive” but that’s far from the truth. For years he demanded a monthly payment from the directors of the opera house, resulting in catastrophic events if failed to meet ends. He is more than just aware of what he is doing.
And that’s what’s scary. He is shown multiple times to feel enraged, if not resentful for the way people have treated him in the past. He wants people to *suffer* for the treatment they have unleashed upon him. And slowly but surely, his actions develop into something more sinister, more psychotic, unable to stop, unable to accept that his obsession is not required.
On the other hand we have Raoul. Who’s portrayed as the hero in the book. Christine’s real love interest and eventual husband. Here’s the thing, Raoul is not by any means a saint either. Not only he as well takes advantage of Christine vulnerability and constantly prays on it, he never actually takes the time to fully listens to her. Dismissing her concerns about the phantom as some silly imagination thing. And when he does believe her, he uses her as bait. He's might not be as bad as the actual murderer, Erik, but he mirrors the Phantom in the sense that for both individuals Christine is nothing more than an idealised prop in their game, rather than a person. Is the idea of Christine that’s exciting, rather than Christine as a person herself. Her words, her actions, her needs and wants get easily dismissed by both individuals.
It cannot be defined poetry. It’s more like diary entry, that doesn’t mean it’s bad, just is not structured like a poetry book. The topics are heavy, mental health and more. I all heartily wish the best to the author, you can truly feel the emotions going from rage to anger to sadness and acceptance multiple times throughout the book. However, what I did not like was the end. Nice message, but written in a general cliche way. I like how the author manage to show that you can heal at the end. I just wished it was structured and written better, not to fall under the category “I have found a new man -that respects me- so I’m starting to get better”.
Robin lives and yet he is in a coma? like jeeze Jason cannot catch a break. I understand after the injuries he had it was the only way, but at least show us him getting better, waking up from it. But no. We have 10 pages about the damn joker
I didn’t know what to expect, kinda disappointed. The book is rather slow paced and although it’s marked as an erotica read, surprisingly there is not a lot of such content . The book could have been better developed in the sense that there needs to be a better communication, connection between the main characters. Besides the little to non existent character development, where we go from grumpy and cold to suddenly in love?
It was such a sweet, despite the topic of the book, read. I liked a lot reading little moments from Cardan's perspective.
Not only it gives that extra boost to the main story, but it also makes you understand his character much better. At the end of "Queen of nothing" you're left with a "changed" Cardan, yet, we do not know much of this story. Why he is liked this, why he acted in a certain way. Surely, reading this book, gives you a small insight on why Cardan is Cardan. Not a justification of his actions and words, but an understanding.
Although I enjoyed it, I wished that all of these infos were present in the main books. Not only they would give justice to Cardan's characterisation but also bring something extra to the story.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A Persephone and Hades retelling but with a fae twist. A deal with the elf king brings you into a fantasy world where you’re meet with elves, humans, vampires, fairies, merfolk and so much more. The book is rather fast paced and a light enjoyable read. It’s pretty light hearted, with not many points of conflict, which is good just as it’s bad. In the sense that for a fantasy book, it was lacking that magical aspect. In a world filled with magic, elves, human queens there was so much rich history to explore, and yet, it was hard at times to understand how the magic system worked. The lack of conflict made the book a bit dull on some parts- the main conflict was luella, the main character, which struggle to see herself as the human queen, she felt she did not belong in the other side- spending the whole book struggling with this feeling.
Eldas (MMC) and Luella (MFC) were sweet, but didn’t had much depth to them. Their characters weren’t fully developed. My issue is that with Luella her main personality is being a healer. Besides that she doesn’t have a lot going on. Eldas, on the other hand, despite the sweet moments between him and Luella, still came across too strong and almost overpowered Luella in a way. The romance was a slow burn. There is a need for some extra angst, some motive, something to show the true colours of these characters. There is a lot, TOO MUCH, miscommunication between the two especially towards the end, and it was driving me insane. The miscommunication in a way made the little chemistry between the two of them feel almost non existent.
I do have to say, I did like Harrow (Eldas’s younger brother). And between him and the main characters he felt the one more well characterised. AND WILLOW. Willow my beloved. Three stars only for him. The bonus chapter was cute, and seeing a snipped from Elda’s pov was nice. I wished it was in the main book.
Overall it’s a light read, something you can read quickly especially during the holidays. But it’s quite forgettable because of the lack of events. It leans more towards a romance read with a sprinkle of fantasy. Hopefully the next inserts from this series will be better developed.
Eldas (MMC) and Luella (MFC) were sweet, but didn’t had much depth to them. Their characters weren’t fully developed. My issue is that with Luella her main personality is being a healer. Besides that she doesn’t have a lot going on. Eldas, on the other hand, despite the sweet moments between him and Luella, still came across too strong and almost overpowered Luella in a way. The romance was a slow burn. There is a need for some extra angst, some motive, something to show the true colours of these characters. There is a lot, TOO MUCH, miscommunication between the two especially towards the end, and it was driving me insane. The miscommunication in a way made the little chemistry between the two of them feel almost non existent.
I do have to say, I did like Harrow (Eldas’s younger brother). And between him and the main characters he felt the one more well characterised. AND WILLOW. Willow my beloved. Three stars only for him. The bonus chapter was cute, and seeing a snipped from Elda’s pov was nice. I wished it was in the main book.
Overall it’s a light read, something you can read quickly especially during the holidays. But it’s quite forgettable because of the lack of events. It leans more towards a romance read with a sprinkle of fantasy. Hopefully the next inserts from this series will be better developed.
fast-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
I feel there were a lot of things that could be explored. Jude’s role as queen, as a mortal queen. The struggles with the crown. Her relationship with her twin sister, which for the love of god, after being betrayed twice is insane the fact Jude has forgiven her so quickly. I wish to explore Jude’s and Cardan’s feelings more. What happened after he came back? After they go in that room being the throne, what’s their connection like? How do they rule together?
Overall, this is a good trilogy. I feel I would give 4 stars for the three books together. It’s mostly politically focus, which is not a bad thing necessarily, but sometimes there is an unbalanced between the political aspects of the book and everything else. Almost as if the author tried to squeeze as much stuff as possible. It’s good, and I love Jude and Cardan, but it’s not the best.
Unpopular opinion, I liked the cruel prince better than book 2. I feel book two was slower and more “heavy” in terms of the political talk. It was also rather confusing at times. I can see why people like it- considering we have way more Cardan and Jude’s moments- and they were nice and enjoyable to read, I also enjoyed reading the little snippets where Cardan’s real personality came out. But for the love of god, I hated the end. What was that? It happened all so suddenly. I feel, this book was rushed in a way. Jude’s and Cardan relationship went back and forth and it really annoyed me. Sure, they are enemies, but you cannot let them sleep together, forming a bond of sort on unspoken feelings and words, just to break everything away a few chapters down. And building this momento up and down, constantly. Too much. I’m sure there must be a reason on why Cardan did what he did at the end of the book, but gosh… if that annoyed me