The Phoenix of the Opera by Sadie Montgomery
|
List Price: Our Price: $12.45 You Save: $3.50 (22%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.10 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Phoenix of the Opera
Book Review: The Saga Continues
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonder saga that continues to give our dear Erik another chance at love and life. I love the way Sadie has captured his emotions and has taken us through his deepest of feelings and deepest of emotions. There is an Erik in all of us and she has brought this out...Excellent read!Book Review: Phantastic!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was amazing! It was very easy to read, very fast paced, never a dull moment. I really could not put in down and read it in one sitting. This book was true to the characters, you actually can beleive this is what happened to them. A definite must read!!!Book Review: Eric Lives!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a big POTO fan and couldn't wait to read this book. I was not disappointed! It was not only a great read, but the storyline kept me enthralled! I've read several "sequels" to Phantom, but this one is by far the best. I can't wait for next edition!Book Review: A Pleasant Surprise to the Continuation of the Phantom Story
Summary: 4 Stars
I love the 2004 Joel Schumacker's "Phantom of the Opera" movie starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. I became hooked on the Phantom tale as well as Gerard Butler (but that's beside the point). I among many other fans felt that there needed to be a continuation of the story. What happened to Erik after he disappeared into the mirror, heartbroken and alone? What became of him? What became of Christine and Raoul.....or of Meg and Madame Giry?
The end of the movie version shows us an elderly Raoul making a pilgrimage to his beloved wife's grave. After placing the Phantom's monkey barrel music box on her grave stone, Raoul notices a rose also laying there with Christine's diamond ring tied to the stem with a black satin ribbon. Raoul shows no surprise, no anger, no fear. Simply an acknowledgement, an acceptance. Here we are given a glimpse, a glimmer of hope that the Phantom did indeed still live even though in Gaston Leroux's original novel, his Phantom died 4 days after setting Christine free.
Ms Montgomery's story begins where the movie left off with Erik disappearing deeper into the bowels of the opera house to nurse his wounds and escape from those who would hunt him down. A young chorus girl and friend to Christine proves to be Erik's savior and later on becomes someone very special to him.
If you can open your mind and heart you won't be disappointed by Ms Montgomery's tale of hope, redemption, forgiveness and love. Erik does find love with Meg Giry and has children with her. Though Erik's life does not turn out to be a bed of roses, he has to learn to love himself before he can love others. In the end of her series, Erik does have the happy ending we all long for him to have.
In this the first novel of four, Ms. Montgomery's style of writing may take some getting used to. There are streams of conciousness which may first appear as long run-on sentences with no punctuation, but really was an attempt to get us into the deepest phyche of the characters and it became effective. It's a bit rough in the beginning, but if you have patience, her style smoothes out later on in the book and her streams become easier to read. There are point of view problems in the beginning. I found I had to re-read paragraphs just to figure whose head I was in, but again, she straightens out midway through and I didn't struggle at all after that.
With that being said, I couldn't put this book down. I was staying up late into the night. I cried, I laughed, I sighed. I cheered at the end of her fourth novel.
I also want to note that I feel the strength of her series comes with the character developement of Raoul. I don't want to give too much away, but I appreciate the way Ms Montgomery handled this character. Raoul often times is portrayed as the villian, or a weak character because Raoul was not a strong character in the stage show from its inception. In all the phan-fitcion I have read so far, Ms Montgomery's portrayal of Raoul is by far the most indepth, believable and honorable. I liked how the characters interacted, and in the end, a pleasant surprise ending that will have Erik fans feeling satisfied.
Book Review: True to Book and Opera History with One Exception
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a true Phantom fan. I have seen the opera 4 times and read Susan Kay's: Phantom several times. I am by no means a fan of all Phantom work (the London perduction is so different from the LA version that it borders on insulting) so I will write a fair review without bias. "The Phoenix of the Opera" hold very true to character form compaired to both Susan Kay's book verson and the LA (now Vegas) verson Opera. That is one aspect that I find hard when other authors take up a series, the character's personality and persona usually gets changed! Phoenix does a splendid job of not only capturing the character's real personalities, but also continuing the story on in true Phantom style. Other reviewers have chastized Montgomery's use of punctuation and character skipping. But if you follow the opera several, characters talk over each other at once often, so I felt Montgomery's character switching to be true to form. I did not agree that it was confusing. If you KNOW the characters and the history behind the story it was easy to follow the character shifts. Each personality was distinct and independent of each other and frequently flowed like a conversation, just from their point of veiws. Also, as far as the though skimming (or whatever others called it), the times that you read the characters thoughts, I also did not see what the big fuss was about. True there was no punctuation and the sentences ran together, sometimes for more then a page. But when you think of personal thoughts dont they usually run from one thing to another and sometimes even from one topic to another. I have never encountered this version of character personal thought before, but I found it an intersting way to portray self-internal dialog and not at all hard to follow. The other thing that was chastized was the ending and lack of resolution. Here again I must disagree. Without revealing the exact specifics, the book ends in such a way that all the previous questions were answered. True, some questions were created by the ending itself (what will happen next) but that only serves as a leway into the next book. Similarily, like how movies trail off so sequals can be made. The only reason I did not give the book 5 stars is the history it tells of Erik and the time between his carnival days and what becomes the material covered in the Opera. I feel Montgomery did a good job of intergrading both Susan Kay's book and the Opera but the fact that she has Erik go straight from the carnival to the Opera house (similar to the movie) I feel took away from Erik's history. She trys to make you believe he went from an ignorent carnival freek to the genious of "The Phantom" simpily by what he learned in the opera house and from Madeleine Giry. While that could be possible, I do not believe someone could develop the genies, trickery, and depth the Phantom has by this upbringing. If you want a more plausible history read Susan Kay's: Phantom. All in all I felt The Phoenix is a good addition to the Phantom series. I recently ordered the following books in the series eager to continue with Erik's story.