The story is about a ghost that seems to be haunting the famous Palais Garnier opera house in Paris, France. By the way, this is an absolutely massive and beautiful building. It is the perfect setting for this story. If I ever go to France, and I probably never will, I really want to visit this place. Anyways, back to the review...
This ghost seems to be holding the place hostage for money and a box seat. That's right, the ghost wants money, and he also has a fascination for one of their singers: Christine Daaé. The problem for the ghost is that Christine is already spoken for by one Vicomte Raoul de Chagny. They were childhood friends and a sure pick for marriage. The ghost, however, has other plans.
This ghost is, of course, not a ghost at all. He is a terribly hideous man that lives within the walls of the opera. His body looks as if he was a living corpse. This causes him to be shunned from society, but as it turns out, his heart is as ugly as his face. He's not a good person at all. He begins to play a deadly game to take Christine as his wife, whether she wants it or not. Raoul, our hero, will stop at nothing to save her from this horrible fate.
This is a fantastic story, but its delivery is not something I have ever run into before with maybe the exception of "Pinocchio." Because this book was originally a serial, that likely led the writer to write each scene is a charming and often humorous way. This caused a lot of the scenes to be unexpectedly funny. The characters sometimes come off as overly dramatic and even sometimes painfully awkward and real. It's kind of all over the place.
Even the evil Phantom himself has these weird awkward moments, like when he calls one of his enemies a "booby" to thrash his ego. This is an odd word for an evil genius to use, but it gave him a very real and relatable quality that helped more than hindered the presentation.
There are a lot of these awkward scene throughout the story as characters who are supposed to be living normal lives deal with a situation that is extraordinary. A lot of these weird scenes do not come with any explanation right away, but the author leads you on to explain it much later. He knew what he was doing, and I am very impressed with his writing. This book actually has an avant-garde feel to the tune of perhaps a Coen Brothers movie. The fact that this was achieved within the written word is fantastic.
I'm just going to say it: you should read this book! I recommend it, and I am surprised more people haven't tackled this one. The movies and the musicals seemed to have dominated the public eye more than the novel that inspired it. But this book was genuinely fun to read! Despite it having a horror premise, it was vastly entertaining! I was always looking forward to getting back to it, and I am even a little sad that it's over. Imagine reading a horror story where you are sad it's over!
Seriously, though. Pick this one up. It's a wild ride that you will not regret.
This blog was written on February 23, 2026.
Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, why not leave a comment below? I'd love to hear what you think. Also stop by my Amazon.com listing by clicking this link: https://www.amazon.com/T.K.-Wade/e/B07BQK9RTZ
Check out my books! Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment