Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, Fiction, Classics by Gaston Leroux

57 reviews

moyarb's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

3.0

I only knew The Phantom of the Opera by name only, never having read the book or seen any adaptations including the musical. I loved the atmosphere and compared to other classics, this was one of the easier ones to read. Since this felt like it was through Raoul’s POV, I saw this as someone witnessing a close friend/loved one experiencing an abusive relationship. The epilogue felt like a last ditch effort to “humanize” Erik. It was hard to feel sympathetic when throughout the book he was emotionally abusive and literally kidnapped Christine. He’s an interesting villain, but I went in thinking he was a tragic character. I really hate the villain with a tragic backstory trope because nowadays y’all will adore a white man even when he’s a piece of shit.
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ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition

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dark 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

3.0

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jmkendall0218's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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bookwyrmknits's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-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

2.75

I was more-or-less familiar with the plot before reading this book, since I've seen Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. However, comparing the musical to the original book is like comparing the movie adaptations of Dracula to their source material. You can see the similarities, but the adaptations better suit a modern audience. I'm glad I read this original book, since it is a classic and I'd been curious how closely the musical stuck to the original text, but I don't think I'll need to read it again.
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hjb_128's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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banned_book's review against another edition

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funny medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Not sure if I found the clownish character interactions funny on their own, or whether Christopher Lee's phenomenal voice acting made the story quality seem much better than it is. Either way, I enjoyed the immensely stupid plot. Always love a good and pathetic fictional man. If he's the clear loser in a nonsensical love triangle, even better.
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thesvnthsense's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

3.75

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cursed10fold's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

3.25

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elislittlelibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It took me quite a while to finish this book. The writing isn't hard to understand, but I felt like the pacing and storytelling was quite different from what we are used to today, so I think that was just unusual, hence the time it took me to read. 
While I'm glad I read this, I honestly expected a little more from it, though I can't put my finger on exactly what I was missing. If you'd like to read a classic, I can recommend this though, I quite enjoyed it!
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siglerbooknook's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

When I tell you I obsessed over this book in high school it is not in any way an exaggeration.
So of course, it was required reading now that I'm an adult to see if it was truly as good as I remembered.
My finding was rather complex. The over all plot was much more boring than I remembered, very slow, fully of miscommunication, and no real information until the very end. However, I caught many many details I didn't remember from earlier reads, including huge differences between the book and movies it inspired.
Over all I still enjoyed the story and this is one I'm glad to have in my collection to read again in future.
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