seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Blood, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, and Sexism
enchantingreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Violence, Murder, and Kidnapping
They do mention the deaths, kidnapping, and violence, however, they do not go into to much detail. Near the end of the book, they go into a bit more detail revolving around thecharity_ix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Violence and Kidnapping
smithreads's review against another edition
- 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
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
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Torture
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Suicide attempt, Violence, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol, Classism, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
isabella_boytsan's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Murder
Moderate: Death and Torture
Minor: Kidnapping, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
silversparkles50's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Confinement, Body horror, and Trafficking
Moderate: Torture and Violence
Minor: Suicide attempt
maiahhtratchh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Kidnapping, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence
evaosterlee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual assault
wolfiegrrrl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Mostly, I wanted to see what Erik's deal was because he has so much more going on than what the adaptations of the character that I'm familiar with touch on. Now that I have listened to the entire book and its epilogue, I'd say that the best way to describe Leroux's Phantom is "the character whose OP backstory was created after the main story was written in order to explain how the mystery worked and prove that it was just a man the entire time!" but it honestly leaves me with more questions than answers. I also really wasn't fond of the sentiment about birth deformities being a sign of inherent inner evil to be pitied by the "beautiful" people of the world, so I don't really know what to make of that regarding Erik's character development at the end.
That being said, the novel was rather boring in how it mostly consisted of uneventful exposition dumps until the story picks up about halfway through when the Phantom and the Persian take more prominent roles. Their part of the story is still mostly large exposition dumps, but at least those dumps were entertaining in how absolutely buck wild they are. My main complaint is that having to follow a whiny, self-entitled Raoul around through the eyes of the narrator was so draining because he is a prime example of the Nice Guy trope and I can't really say I was rooting for him like we're so clearly supposed to.
It was fun to spot all of the story/character notes that the musical plucked out when reworking the plot into more of a dark romance. Having experienced Leroux's original work, I now have a greater appreciation for adaptations that play around with the fun and interesting concepts that are laid out in the novel.
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, Murder, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, and Racial slurs