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The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera
Gaston Leroux | 1987 | Fiction & Poetry
10
7.0 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I love this book so much. It's got a little bit of everything and the story (kinda based on actual events?) plays out superbly.

Poor Christine has no idea that the Angel of Music she's being so thoughtful tutored by is the dreaded Opera Ghost.

The dashing Raoul determined to save his childhood friend.

The OG (you probably know his name but let's let that be a surprise for those that don't know!) who feels destined to wander the opera house.

It all starts with a hanging man, a man whose noose mysteriously disappears.

This story has been told many tests and I don't want to sound like a snobby purist but I honestly think this is the best version.
  
Fallen (Fallen, #1)
Fallen (Fallen, #1)
Lauren Kate | 2009 | Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
2
7.3 (37 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, Fallen. What do I think? Well I’ll start with the phrase, “I’ve read worse.” But not many.

Whilst that doesn’t seem like a good place to start it’s pretty much all I have for this book. A story based around ‘star-crossed lovers’, fallen angels, slight love triangles, blah, blah, blah, your get the picture. So the story centers on Luce, a girl who has been sent to a reform school and goes through her first couple of weeks there. The love element starts pretty quickly but in my opinion never really goes anywhere. He blows hot and cold and then there is a big realisation of love. It feels like a rehash of every other YA romance/para going.

The author has tried really hard to make it a different type of YA book. But seemed to lack the ability to structure the book in a way of you coming to realisations on your own as a reader. There were often times a Luce would be in a conversation, and then ‘think’ so far ahead of the story you felt push to that conclusion, or that it had been handed to you on a plate rather than having a light bulb type moment due to good writing.

I know there are others in this series, so it may be hard to judge this as a stand-alone book as the story seems to go somewhere within the last two chapters. But I honestly don’t think I liked it enough to bother with the rest. It felt like a chore to read and I don’t think it’s even worth reading to form your own opinion of it. Pretty disappointing on the whole.