Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, Fiction, Classics by Gaston Leroux
17 reviews
freddikb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
My only real knowledge of this story has been from the movie version with Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum (2004). I fell in love with the costumes and the tragic love story of the phantom, Erik. I was so excited to read this. My final thoughts, after the last page has been read, are not what I expected them to be….
Going into this story I had, I’ll admit, already my own thoughts based on the 2004 movie. I eventually learned that the movie and the book have differing takes on the story, on the way the relationships are portrayed. Or perhaps my eyes have become clearer to red flags?
My initial thought about the book was- this story portrays a toxic relationship between an emotionally abused man and a very naive/immature girl. Yes, that is what I said. I know there will be haters. “The Phantom of the Opera” is such a popular ‘love story’ for the ages and I am pulling out all the red flags. A man who was unloved by his family and emotionally traumatized by everyone, and never received the support and help he needed to work through that, the result- Erik became fixated on a girl, stalked her, became jealous of her friends, kidnapped her and held her in confinement. He threatens her friends, and all of these actions in the name of “love”. And Christine, she plays both guys, using their emotions and playing them. No. Just, no. So, so many red flags in this story. It was such a disappointment, but also helped me see that the movie is also not the best for me to watch.
Girls, if a guy says he loves you but then threatens, stalks, kidnaps, it is not love. I repeat- that is not love.
*What I have expressed are entirely my own thoughts. I was not compensated in any monetary way.*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Manipulationbanned_book's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Not sure if I found the clownish character interactions funny on their own, or whether Christopher Lee's phenomenal voice acting made the story quality seem much better than it is. Either way, I enjoyed the immensely stupid plot. Always love a good and pathetic fictional man. If he's the clear loser in a nonsensical love triangle, even better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting
kileyjojo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
This book is very dated. There are words used with negative connotations. Some of the phrasing is rather offensive.
Aside from that, the story is very dull. If you're interested in this novel because of the musical or the film adaptations, this is not the story you would expect. The characters are whiny and unlikeable. The pacing is odd. Any of the action and suspense is taken away by unbearable dialogue.
Aside from that, the story is very dull. If you're interested in this novel because of the musical or the film adaptations, this is not the story you would expect. The characters are whiny and unlikeable. The pacing is odd. Any of the action and suspense is taken away by unbearable dialogue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting
siglerbooknook's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
When I tell you I obsessed over this book in high school it is not in any way an exaggeration.
So of course, it was required reading now that I'm an adult to see if it was truly as good as I remembered.
My finding was rather complex. The over all plot was much more boring than I remembered, very slow, fully of miscommunication, and no real information until the very end. However, I caught many many details I didn't remember from earlier reads, including huge differences between the book and movies it inspired.
Over all I still enjoyed the story and this is one I'm glad to have in my collection to read again in future.
So of course, it was required reading now that I'm an adult to see if it was truly as good as I remembered.
My finding was rather complex. The over all plot was much more boring than I remembered, very slow, fully of miscommunication, and no real information until the very end. However, I caught many many details I didn't remember from earlier reads, including huge differences between the book and movies it inspired.
Over all I still enjoyed the story and this is one I'm glad to have in my collection to read again in future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism
hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
all could have been avoided if ableism wasn’t so prevalent 🙄 above all else, I am an Erik apologist. I love that problematic Angel of Music
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting
exclipse's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
deluna's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
ina_pages's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
To say I expected a lot from this book would be an understatement, and sadly they weren’t full met (although I think that might be a fault on my end). I grew up watching the movie-musical adaptation, and the touring theater cast was all I could talk about for months when they finally made a stop in my home country. I love this story with my whole heart, but the source material is leaps different from the musical by Webber.
This isn’t to say this book was bad though! I did enjoy myself while reading it. The language, although not the easiest to read, isn’t totally archaic and I’d even recommend it for people whose first language isn’t English. If anything the language, to me, was one of the best parts of this book. Gaston Leroux often droned on about music and gothic architecture; and while that may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I thoroughly enjoyed his analogies.
< Leroux also makes use of a lot of metaphors relating to the sea or bodies of water. One of my favorites lines in the book reads like this: “In the orchestra stalls, the drugget covering them looked like an angry sea, whose glaucous waves had been suddenly rendered stationary by a secret order from the storm phantom, who, as everybody knows, is called Adamastor. MM. Moncharmin and Richard were the shipwrecked mariners amid this motionless turmoil of a calico sea.” Beautiful.>
What I found I couldn’t stand with this book were the characters. The simplest way I could describe Raoul in this book is a whiny, wimpy, cowardly white boy who did nothing but cry at every little inconvenience. I hated Raoul so much from start to finish, it actually amazing.
Christine was just a hair better but barely. In all versions of this story, Christine is depicted as a foolish and naive girl of pure innocence—she is literally likened as an angel throughout the book. However, I didn’t get naive or innocent… I just got stupid. Maybe I’m just pessimistic and have little patience but Christine throughout the book really just read to me as an idiot. She somewhat redeems herself in the end but as the book as written in the perspective of an investigator from the future, you can’t really tell what she’s thinking and so her character fell a little flat to me.
Erik is my favorite character in the movie and in the musical, but in this book we don’t get much insight from him either which is a total shame. <The first couple chapters literally fly by without him actually being there. We live through it with just the knowledge of his presence which, I think, might be the point if the author wanted to establish him as something incorporeal only to shock the readers somewhere down the line to say he’s mortal. If it is, brilliant! If not well…> To me he’s a tad bit better than Raoul and Christine but he’s equally as whiny as Raoul.
Surprisingly the most interesting character in this book is the Persian who doesn’t exist in the other adaptations (I could be wrong, don’t quote me on that). His story in the movie/musical was given to Madame Giry. I think this was a good call for the adaptation as it deepened her character in comparison to the book. <(Madame Giry in the book didn’t read very well to me. She was boring and seemed almost as stupid as Christine. I really liked that they made her character more formidable in the adaptations as it gave a better representation of women in comparison to the book.)>
Overall, the book wasn’t horrible. It felt a little lackluster in comparison to its adaptations but if you’re into gothic horror or simply want to read the source material for Phantom of the Opera the Musical then I say go for it! Just don’t expect it to be anything like the movie.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicide attempt
seforana's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
giulianalb99's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Tenía bastantes ganas de leer este libro ya que me propuse a principios de año leer unos cuantos clásicos.
La verdad es que la trama me ha parecido muy buena pero muchas veces se me ha hecho un poco pesado y lento. Aunque eso no quiere decir que la pluma del escritor es una pasada, para mi gusto le sobran páginas.
La verdad es que hay muy pocos personajes de la historia que me hayan gustado y no he llegado a simpatizar con casi ninguno: Raoul me ha parecido bastante pesado y siento un amor/odio hacia Christine que no sabría ni cómo explicar. También me hubiera gustado que hubieran pasado más cosas en la ópera ya que me ha parecido que ahí no están casi nunca (sólo al principio y al final).
Por los temas que trata, me parece que es un libro que todo el mundo debería leer (aunque no esperéis una historia de romance bonita, porque este libro es básicamente horror y tragedia).
La verdad es que la trama me ha parecido muy buena pero muchas veces se me ha hecho un poco pesado y lento. Aunque eso no quiere decir que la pluma del escritor es una pasada, para mi gusto le sobran páginas.
La verdad es que hay muy pocos personajes de la historia que me hayan gustado y no he llegado a simpatizar con casi ninguno: Raoul me ha parecido bastante pesado y siento un amor/odio hacia Christine que no sabría ni cómo explicar. También me hubiera gustado que hubieran pasado más cosas en la ópera ya que me ha parecido que ahí no están casi nunca (sólo al principio y al final).
Por los temas que trata, me parece que es un libro que todo el mundo debería leer (aunque no esperéis una historia de romance bonita, porque este libro es básicamente horror y tragedia).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
Minor: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury