zsabella's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“poor, unfortunate erik!”
this was not the dry, slow-paced classic that I was expecting! in fact, it works even better when approached as additional reading before viewing any of the theatrical adaptations. what I’m really saying is I’ve got the royal albert hall concert dvd on my shelf and I for one *cannot wait* to cry and watch all 2.5 hours of it for the first time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent
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: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Kidnapping, Torture, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Body horror, and Body shaming
Minor: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
andyandnormski's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Maybe I was influenced a bit by my love of the musical. Maybe I went into this with certain expectations, but I did not enjoy this as much as I really wanted to. The writing is overly flowery and needlessly dramatic. This makes it a slog to read through. If you go into this expecting it to be a sort of precursor story to the musical, be prepared to be disappointed.
All in all, I didn't enjoy this. I don't think I'll be reading it again. I'm not sure if I want to keep my copy either.
Spoiler
The plot. Where to begin with this? The plot wanders from scene to scene. It feels like it's trying to be told as a mystery but it doesn't quite accomplish this. Random events happen one after another, and we're told through Raoul's perspective that this is all caused by some nefarious plan the phantom (Erik) is orchestrating. And since Erik is hidden in the shadows and Raoul has yet to see him, we're told outright by Raoul that this is evil. It's hard to read it that way considering many scenes don't feel interconnected and most characters have little influence on the story. You could cut many characters out and it wouldn't alter the trajectory of the plot. Raoul's brother barely has a presence and he is killed off in the last chapter almost as an after thought, as if the author forgot about him and realized he was a loose end. This happens more than once. Characters are quickly introduced, then whisked away before their appearance even has a moment to breathe. Even Erik suffers from this. The near entirety of his backstory is introduced in the epilogue, again feeling very much like an after thought.Spoiler
And Raoul? It's rare that I see a main character that I wholly root against. He is incredibly unlikable. He's brash, deeply paranoid, and borderline hostile towards everyone around him right from the start. His behavior towards Christine can almost be described as a stalker. While much of Erik's behavior is questionable, Raoul doesn't fair any better. If this was a different story, both characters could be painted in an antagonistic light. Why this story is told from Raoul's perspective and not Christine's is a mystery to me.All in all, I didn't enjoy this. I don't think I'll be reading it again. I'm not sure if I want to keep my copy either.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Ableism, Suicide attempt, Torture, Stalking, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent
jobaji's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I thought this book was pretty interesting! It was told in a cool way, with Leroux assuming the role of a historian or reporter. Some of Erik’s lines were truly spine-chilling, but the themes of nature vs. nurture and showing compassion to those whom most people would turn away from were definitely worthy of further thought. It’s a slow read at the start, but towards the middle the story starts to pick up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Stalking, Death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Abandonment
linnylionheart's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Torture, Confinement, Kidnapping, Death, Gaslighting, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Classism, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, Blood, and Death of parent
mengzhenreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
You can feel the emotion pouring from every crevice of this book. Definitely different from the musical, but just as original, moving, and dramatic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Torture, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
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
streamthief's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I really liked a lot of the writing and much of the story was interesting but I had a lot of time enjoying reading the characters. It's not just that they are unlikable, I'm not sure how to explain but not my thing. Raoul is especially annoying which kinda of sucks because he narrates most of it. I did like learning more about Christine's dad and all that, but I didn't really like it. I didn't like erik either, I wanted him to be redeemable, but he just wasn't.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping
sxrxh_lenx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Murder
taelights's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
While I do prefer the stage version and the movie a lot more, I did really enjoy getting to read the original book which inspired Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical. I definitely have to give a lot of respect to this book for being the inspiration for my favorite musical ever.
The Phantom was truly creepy in this version and not sexy at all. While I do enjoy the more sexy twisted version in the book version was very interesting to learn about.
All the characters do pale a bit in comparison to the musical. But it was also interesting to get some extra context on inspirations for the musical.
The writing, especially the dialogue was a bit bad at times but I'm not sure if that's just how it is or how the translation is seeing as the original novel was in French. Or perhaps a bit of both.
I wouldn't recommend this book unless you are a fan of the musical or movie because honestly if I had read this without being a big fan of the musical I'd probably have dnf it but I only enjoyed it a bit due to the musical.
The Phantom was truly creepy in this version and not sexy at all. While I do enjoy the more sexy twisted version in the book version was very interesting to learn about.
All the characters do pale a bit in comparison to the musical. But it was also interesting to get some extra context on inspirations for the musical.
The writing, especially the dialogue was a bit bad at times but I'm not sure if that's just how it is or how the translation is seeing as the original novel was in French. Or perhaps a bit of both.
I wouldn't recommend this book unless you are a fan of the musical or movie because honestly if I had read this without being a big fan of the musical I'd probably have dnf it but I only enjoyed it a bit due to the musical.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship